Clock signal

thumb|upright=1.5|A computer BIOS on an ABIT NF7-S [[motherboard with an overclocked AMD Athlon XP CPU, running at 2,442 MHz]] In computing, overclocking is the practice of increasing the clock rate of a semiconductor device, such as a processor, beyond its rated speed, potentially increasing its performance. Overclocked devices, however, may have shorter lifespans, become unstable and unreliable, and in extreme cases, be permanently damaged. Many manufacturers do not cover damage from overclocking in their warranties, while some allow it inside a predefined safety margin.

in electronics, oscillating signal to coordinate circuits

frequency at which CPU chip or core is operating

device used to synchronize a circuit

'''AMD Cool'n'Quiet''' is a CPU dynamic frequency scaling and power saving technology introduced by AMD with its Athlon XP processor line. It works by reducing the processor's clock rate and voltage when the processor is idle. The aim of this technology is to reduce overall power consumption and lower heat generation, allowing for slower (thus quieter) cooling fan operation. The objectives of cooler and quieter result in the name Cool'n'Quiet. The technology is similar to Intel's SpeedStep and AMD's own PowerNow!, which were developed with the aim of increasing laptop battery life by reducing

Enhanced SpeedStep is a series of dynamic frequency scaling technologies (codenamed Geyserville and including SpeedStep, SpeedStep II, and SpeedStep III) built into some Intel's microprocessors that allow the clock speed of the processor to be dynamically changed (to different P-states) by software. This allows the processor to meet the instantaneous performance needs of the operation being performed, while minimizing power draw and heat generation. EIST (SpeedStep III) was introduced in several Prescott 6 series in the first quarter of 2005, namely the Pentium 4 660. Intel Speed Shift Technol

Underclocking, also known as downclocking, is modifying a computer or electronic circuit's timing settings to run at a lower clock rate than is specified. Underclocking is used to reduce a computer's power consumption, increase battery life, reduce heat emission, and it may also increase the system's stability, lifespan/reliability and compatibility. Underclocking may be implemented by the factory, but many computers and components may be underclocked by the end user. Underclocking is the opposite of overclocking.

measure of processing speed: the average number of instructions executed for each clock cycle

digital circuit without clock cycles

technique used in synchronous circuits for reducing dynamic power dissipation, by adding more logic to a circuit to prune the clock tree (disabling portions of the circuitry so that the flip-flops in them do not have to switch states)

method of computer bus operation that transfers data on both the rising and falling edges of the clock signal

technique in computer architecture whereby the frequency of a microprocessor can be automatically adjusted "on the fly", either to conserve power or to reduce the amount of generated heat

Digital circuit synchronized by clock signal

right-angled fractal canopy

mechanism that sets the ratio of an internal CPU clock rate to the externally supplied clock

phenomenon of a synchronous digital circuit's clock signal arriving over multiple paths at different times

the misconception of only using clock rate to compare the performance of different microprocessors

the average number of clock cycles per instruction

dynamic frequency scaling for GPUs