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Glite Dictionary
to overclock

to overclock

3 8.5
Make a computer part run faster than the maker recommends to improve performance
  • verb
  • /ˈoʊvərˌklɑk/
  • Specialized
translation icon : aumentar la velocidad
  • Many gamers choose to overclock their CPUs to boost performance during intense gaming sessions.
  • overclocked processor
  • overclocked CPU
  • overclocked chip

That's right, I could even overclock this PC completely remotely.

Examples

  • Why would someone want to purchase a 680 when they could buy a 660 or 670 and overclock it to the same levels?

    Blog text (15)

  • The 448 Core 560 Ti's are a great value under $299; overclocked, they beat the 570's stock clock speeds in many games.

    Blog text (12)

  • But still, we will soldier on and overclock things some more.

  • Because AMD can apply more voltage, they can overclock farther and end up coming out ahead.

    Blog text (15)

  • The second build, you could get a 2500k and overclock the crud out of it.

    Blog text (22)

  • I've even overclocked my GPU and love the increase in speed.

    Blog text (23)

  • While the Sandy Bridge chips will overclock a little better and cooler, a Z77/3770K will still work great and give a little future proofing.

    Blog text (34)

  • The main thing is that Nvidia doesn't want people overclocking their cheaper cards to match the performance of the top-end cards.

    Blog text (15)

  • Once complete, I'll still have my 2.66 GHz i7, which I could overclock if I wanted to 3.2 on stock air with no problems, but I probably won't.

    Blog text (6)

  • I had overclocked an i5 3570K to 4.3 GHz at 1.25 Vcore.

    Blog text (11)

Synonyms

to rev up
vsto overclock
  • Informal
1 5.1

To make a car or motorcycle engine run faster

is used to increase component clock speed beyond manufacturer recommendations for better performance
to overspeed
vsto overclock
  • Specialized
6.9

To make a machine or vehicle run faster than its safe speed limit

is done for performance on electronic components rather than for vehicle safety

How Fast

to overdrive
1 6.3
to overclock
  • Specialized
3 8.5
to speed up
161 2.5
to run
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

overclock infinitive
overclocked past
overclocked past participle
overclocking present participle
overclocks third person singular

Morphology

overclock = clock (transparent) = over + clock

The verb is directly formed by prefixing 'over-' (excessively) to 'clock' (clock/clock speed), yielding the predictable meaning 'to increase clock speed beyond recommended limits'.

Etymology

Overclock comes from over- meaning 'too much' and clock meaning 'a clock' that sets the speed of a machine. So, to overclock a computer is to make its clock run faster than the maker recommends to get more speed.