PRLog (Press Release) –
Sep 24, 2007 – Processors work on a fetch-execute cycle. each tick of the clock, in theory, they get a bit of data... and by tick of the clock here, we don't mean a second, we mean the tick of a computer clock. Depending on the speed of your processor, this is anywhere from 233 million ticks per second for a 233, to 800 for an overclocked 600MHz Athlon chip.
So, you can get, on your average computer, 400 - 500 bits of data per second. Well, wrong actually... because not every clock tick is taken up by getting the data. Every _fourth_ is. Well, what about every other 3? you ask.. they are taken up with _finding_ the data, _getting_ it, and putting it back. So, you say, your processor runs at a quarter of the speed that in theory it should be able to do? Well, yes. And there's no way around this, unfortunately. But, we can make the clock speed a little faster, and it is the clock speed that dictates the speed of the processor... (within reason).
Therefore, you can set the clock ticks on your 233 to 266, and it'll run at 166 MHz. Yes. Unfortunately, the more clock ticks there are in relation to what your chip is _supposed_ to run at, the hotter it Gets. Therefore, you need to install heatsyncs/fans. In fact, the AMD Athlon 600MHz overclocked to 800MHz, the fastest PC at the time of writing has a minature fridge that cools the chip, which is its own special metal box. The tower-sized case also has a box the size of a mini-tower underneath for the cooling system. ;)
For this increase in temperature of 200MHz, the chip is cooled to -37 degrees centigrade. that's cold. ;) (Note: AMD chips generally run a lot hotter than Intel ones). ((Not a problem unless u have no heatsync)) - see the micron section, below...