A motherboard with poor VRMs or an insufficient amount of them will see the VRMs hit dangerous temperatures. Since overclocking raises power consumption, you’ll want to make sure your motherboard has enough voltage regulator modules (or VRMs) to handle it. You’ll also have to consider the quality of your motherboard too. But most moderate and even significant overclocks usually won’t impact your CPU in any meaningful way. Second, you’re operating outside of the limits of your CPU when overclocking, which could reduce its life span due to higher temperatures and voltage. That doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t overclock, but your potential overclocking headroom is much lower than using a more advanced air or liquid cooling system in your PC. This is particularly problematic if you’re using a stock cooler, which typically has poor cooling capability. First, the chip runs hotter and uses more power, often to the point where the efficiency is significantly worse.

When you overclock a processor, a couple of things happen. Fitbit Versa 3Ī word of caution Jacob Roach / Digital Trends

Xtu overclock