BIOS guide: how to overclock your CPU

You can access your BIOS settings by switching on your PC, then pressing the appropriate key when the power-on screen appears. This is commonly the “Delete” key, but some systems use one of the function keys instead. If you’re not sure what to press, keep an eye on the screen as the information is often briefly displayed here.

Very nearly all PCs offer a BIOS interface similar to what you’ll see below, but the precise layout and terms used vary between different motherboards. If you can’t follow our examples exactly, consult the manual that came with your motherboard.

The overclocking settings we show you here are normally only available on desktop motherboards – laptops do let you configure various BIOS settings but overclocking is not normally available. Depending on your CPU and board combination, not all the settings we show may be available, or they may have no effect.

If you change a setting you didn't mean to, you can always quit the BIOS and discard your changes, or revert to default settings. For more details, see the accompanying feature in issue 202 of PC Pro magazine.

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