Page "Overclocking" Paragraph 11

All electronic circuits produce heat generated by the movement of electrical current.

As clock frequencies in digital circuits and voltage applied increase, the heat generated by components running at the higher performance levels also increases.

The relationship between clock frequencies and thermal design power ( TDP ) are linear.

However, there is a limit to the maximum frequency which is called a " wall ".

To overcome this issue, overclockers raise the chip voltage to increase the overclocking potential.

Voltage increases power consumption and consequently heat generation significantly ( proportionally to the square of the voltage in a linear circuit, for example ); this requires more cooling to avoid damaging the hardware by overheating.

In addition, some digital circuits slow down at high temperatures due to changes in MOSFET device characteristics.

Conversely, the overclocker may decide to decrease the chip voltage while overclocking ( a process known as undervolting ), to reduce heat emissions while performance remains optimal.