overclock
verb
over·clock
ˌō-vər-ˈkläk 
overclocked; overclocking; overclocks
: 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
Steve DitleaKeeping tabs on your CPU temperatures is crucial when you're overclocking your PC's processor …—Brad Chacos
Brad ChacosExamples of overclock in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
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
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
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'overclock.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Overclock.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/overclock. Accessed 15 Jul. 2024.
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