Some folks, when it comes time to build a new system or upgrade a component or two, intentionally seek out parts that are known for their overclocking potential. There are several legendary items in the annals of hardware tweaking lore, most notably the Celeron 300A and the Pentium 4 1.6A & 2.4C - CPUs that routinely delivered 50% more oomph than what was marked on their box. They didn't actually come with Clark Kent glasses and a showy red cape, but they might as well have.

Getting this free performance requires a bit of know-how and a willingness to tinker. Overclockers are the equivalent of modern hot-rodders, reaching under the hood of everyday, maybe pedestrian equipment, and making it breathe a bit of fire. Not the sort of thing you'll be doing to the ho-hum Dell at the office, but when it comes time to wring some extra framerate out of the game du jour... yeah, that's the ticket.

Aiding and abetting this, some video card manufacturers (XFX, BFG Tech, and others) are marketing and shipping factory-overclocked variants of existing hardware, such as the nVidia 8800GT and 9800GTX, as well as the ATI Radeon 3870. Admittedly, these come with a price premium, and take the fun out of it for us, but they're guaranteed to work at the advertised speed while remaining under warranty. They're not typically pushed to the absolute limit of what the silicon can bear (though in some cases, they're pretty close). Consider this option if you'd like a tentative first foray into the world of OC. The increased price of these components obviates the "free performance" aspect of the equation, but you might see a touch more performance.

Going one step further are high-end enthusiast boutique system builders, folks who do build overclocked, high-performance rigs for a living, and who bring to bear any number of tricks of the trade -- hand-picked, quality components, water-cooling, and a host of experience. They are also, unfortunately for most of us, terrifically expensive. Again, not so much with the "free performance" side of things.

No, what we're after are the little brothers of the expensive bad boys. We want a lower-clocked CPU that shares a fabrication process and architecture with a new flagship processor (a practice called "binning" separates the guaranteed top performing components, which will then command premium prices), especially one that's just been rolled out, for example. Look for a second-tier version of that hot video card which has all the same performance features, but is just set to run at a lower speed. There's a good chance that these components could catch up with (and sometimes pass) their more expensive brethren in the right hands. The question is, are those hands yours?

Without going into an excessive amount of minutia, causing everyone's eyes get glassy and we suffer a rash of Scanners-esque cranial decompressions (not only are they messy, they really cut down on page views), here are some of the basic concepts:

• Heat is the enemy. Not only can it damage components, it can introduce errors, and is the ultimate reason that parts can't just be clocked up infinitely. There's a reason that the record-setting overclocks are done with exotic setups involving Liquid Nitrogen, phase-change cooling, thermo-electric Peltier coolers, and so on. When a chip gets too hot, the electrons jump in the wrong direction because they can't help themselves, which causes processing errors.
  
• Even though you're buying a less-expensive component, make sure you're still getting quality parts. Check the reviews of hardware sites you trust, and those of other consumers (many retailers helpfully include this feature nowadays). This serves two purposes -- it's less apt to break, and it's more likely to perform well.
• Don't go nuts right out of the gate. If 90% of the folks said that they got a 35% overclock out of the same thing you've got in your hand on a similar setup, start your search for the redline conservatively, say around 25%. You can then take incremental steps towards the edge of the envelope.
• There are a lot of factors that go into a good, stable system overclock -- the capabilities of the CPU, the motherboard's chipset & memory controller, and the RAM itself. It takes time to find balance, and one weak link can undermine the most determined efforts.
• Just because your BIOS says it can do it doesn't mean you should try. Some motherboard manufacturers leave speed and voltage options available in the BIOS that are way, way, way out of the realm of usefulness (a 700MHz front-side bus?), and occasionally wander deep into the territory of, "Dude, that's just stupid and asking for trouble" (2.0 volts for a CPU that normally uses 1.15).

Note; Attention; Warning; Hey, You, There In The Back: Overclocking can completely hose your hardware. By pushing it beyond its factory-tested limits, often with the application of extra power, you run the risk of damaging those expensive bits of silicon that make the shiny stuff happen. You're also apt to void your warranty.

Obligatory Disclaimer: Big Download is not responsible if you break your stuff. Do your homework. Be careful.

Rafe Brox spends an inordinate amount of time annoying people who think they know more than he does. When not causing friends and enemies alike to /facepalm electronically, he can be found extolling the virtues of the weird peripherals in his life, from kettlebells to the Trackman Marble. If you, too, would like to tell Rafe exactly how wrong he is doing it, the target coordinates are rafe.brox AT weblogsinc DOT com.