Since the introduction of the microprocessor in the late 1970s, enthusiasts have been pushing their processors to the limit by giving them more power. As PCs became mainstream, as nanometers got smaller and as processors began using more silicon, “overclocking” a desktop’s processor became a common practice for anyone looking to add a little oomph to their computer’s performance. Nowadays the practice has become so common that many of the major PC manufacturers offer computers with already overclocked components.

However, as popular as overclocking may be in desktops, it has yet to experience the same popularity in notebooks – mainly due to space limitations and current technology that prevent notebooks from being cooled effectively. That’s not to say that people aren’t trying. Several Web sites are dedicated to educating users on how to overclock a notebook’s processor – a process that involves cracking open the notebook, revealing the motherboard and, in most cases, voiding the manufacturer’s warranty.

The good news is that the problem of overclocking notebooks is well on its way to being solved. Already a few major PC makers are beginning to ship overclocked notebooks. And between computer enthusiasts experimenting with somewhat unconventional means of cooling, PC manufacturers developing cooling systems for their products and even processor manufacturers getting in on the game by offering “unlocked,” meaning they can be overclocked, mobile processors, it’s only a matter of time before overclocking a notebook becomes common practice.

The obvious pros of overclocking include the instant performance boost you’ll experience. But, as with any process being used to modify your computer beyond the specifications of the manufacturer, there are significant risks associated with overclocking. The most expensive of these risks being frying your processor, followed closely or sometimes even eclipsed by damaging circuitry or other components linked to your motherboard. If you give the processor more power than it can handle, the motherboard will usually do its best to keep up. Without proper precautions in place, and a superbly clean line of power, malfunction should be the least of your worries. If you’re lucky, you’ll have no issues. However, depending on your fate in this game of chance, you could end up with strange video artifacts, hard drives disappearing, devices malfunctioning, or worse: random and unfounded Blue Screens of Death. In a worst-case scenario, you could be stuck replacing an expensive motherboard, not to mention the possibility of burning up other components, including the processor, memory or video cards.

It’s also important to understand the origins and risks of the process. Overclocking on a desktop used to involve modifying the multipliers in the BIOS, giving more power to the processor. Of course today, do a simple Google search of “overclocking” and you’ll get immediate access to a plethora of downloadable software that will overclock just about any component of your desktop for you; some even test how far you can take your hardware without your intervention. Many PC manufacturers even offer systems with processors that have been overclocked to the highest safest amount that they have recommended (just remember, it’s pretty typical practice for manufacturers to void your warranty if you go over the shipped overclocking value).

All of the BIOS tools are great, but they don’t combat the risk that notebooks face: overheating. Traditional desktops and towers utilize cooling systems to keep processors and other components from overheating, which commonly occurs when increasing the processor’s wattage. The process always carries the risk of heavily increasing the need for greater amounts of thermal dissipation. Some of the high-performance PC manufacturers (like Alienware) implement liquid cooling in their desktops to cool overclocked processors and prevent the motherboard from failing, or taking other components out with it. Anyone overclocking a processor should also seriously consider immediately investing in a larger heatsink – a device that is bonded via a thermal transient paste to the microprocessor, keeping it from overheating by absorbing and dissipating excess heat onto the heatsink and finally into the air. And therein lies the problem for notebooks.

Notebooks, by the nature of their design, are not conducive to overclocking. The physical layout of a notebook is more compact and generates greater amounts of heat in a highly condensed space when compared to a much roomier desktop or tower. The memory, the hard drive, the graphics card – they’re all right on top of one another generating more heat in a smaller area. And with all of the components essentially squeezed into a notebook PC, there’s simply just no room for a bigger heatsink or a cooling system – at least, in the traditional sense.

Computer enthusiasts are notorious for coming up with some of the more unconventional ways of overclocking their processors, even if it’s just for a moment. There is no shortage of videos on YouTube showing mods using every technique from using liquid nitrogen (that’s below -320° F) to cool the CPU to dunking their entire PC chassis into a vat of vegetable oil just to be able to overclock their processor to 5 GHz for two minutes.

While it’s definitely best to leave the development of next-gen cooling systems to the pros, we see this behavior with any technology: people try to accomplish feats with the technology given to them. Perhaps one brilliant engineer, or even a particularly innovative enthusiast, will come up with a cooling system that uses very simple and cheap conventional materials that allow existing OEM technology to be pushed to the next level. It’s this kind of simple and practical innovation that eventually makes it to your next desktop or notebook PC, and pushes OEMs to be more innovative in their future designs.

While most people who practice overclocking are simply enthusiasts looking to push the limits, these experiments have a legitimate place in the gaming world. Gaming applications stress the PC like no other application can. The graphics, sound, physics calculations and A.I. algorithms – to name just a few – all require a great deal of processing power not found on your typical notebook (you’re not going to see many notebooks at your next Battlefield 2142 tournament) and it’s tempting for notebook owners to want to increase their processing power. The bigger players are already working on ways to accomplish this, and it’s just a matter of time before overclocking notebooks takes hold. So, if you’ve been thinking of squeezing some more GHz out of your processor and turning your desktop into a deep fryer that would put McDonald’s to shame, you might want to hold off buying that two-gallon jug of vegetable oil for just a little while longer.