overclock

verb

over·​clock ˌō-vər-ˈkläk How to pronounce overclock (audio)
overclocked; overclocking; overclocks

transitive verb

: to adjust the settings of (a computer) to increase its performance beyond the manufacturer's recommendations
In fact, cash-starved students typically can overclock PCs for free, revving up their systems' performance by a third or more—a speed advantage that might cost $500 extra if they'd bought a machine with a faster processor instead.Steve Ditlea
Keeping tabs on your CPU temperatures is crucial when you're overclocking your PC's processor …Brad Chacos

Examples of overclock in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Users often buy budget memory kits that are JEDEC-rated only, without XMP profiles, and this feature automatically overclocks them if possible. Joe Shields, PCMAG, 25 June 2024 The lab also plans to overclock the computers and see how much of a performance boost the coolant might provide without damaging the electronics, Martinez says. Charles Q. Choi, IEEE Spectrum, 13 June 2024 The Tweaker section contains all the options to tweak and overclock your system. Joe Shields, PCMAG, 25 May 2024 Our 4070 Ti was from MSI, and the 4070 Ti Super was the PNY GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Super 16GB Verto; PNY's card comes with a 30 MHz game clock boost and 15 MHz boost clock boost, a barely noticeable increase that is typical of manufacturer overclocks. Andrew Cunningham, Ars Technica, 25 Jan. 2024 The situation is especially borderline for those who want to overclock their shiny new Ampere cards. Gordon Mah Ung, PCWorld, 2 Sep. 2020 This doesn't mean that B650 won't be able to overclock—AMD confirmed to us that B650 chipsets will remain fully capable of overclocking, just like older B- and A-series chipsets. Andrew Cunningham, Ars Technica, 23 May 2022 For reference, SkatterBencher used a system running a custom loop water cooler to overclock the 5800X3D to 4.74GHz. Joshua Hawkins, BGR, 16 Apr. 2022 As for the overall image, the XV282K’s direct rival is the LG 27GP950-B. Often regarded as the top pick in most expert roundups, the LG is a bit brighter and can overclock 4K refresh rates up to 160 Hz. Hunter Fenollol, Popular Mechanics, 23 July 2021

Word History

Etymology

over- + clock entry 2

First Known Use

1989, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of overclock was in 1989

Dictionary Entries Near overclock

Cite this Entry

“Overclock.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/overclock. Accessed 17 Dec. 2024.

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!