Overclocking, an instance of taking a computer component such as a Processor and making it run at a higher capacity than is prescribed by the manufacturer, was once the prerogative of desktops only. Now, it is possible in the mobile world as well.
Tablets, which were consciously left untouched by the phenomenon, may soon have the overclocking feature, says Fudzilla. The website has reported that Nvidia’s graphics card partners may create a new market segment for overclocked tablets.
If it does happen, Tegra 2 processors from Nvidia can be bumped up from 1.2 GHz to 1.5 GHz, though users will still have to think about the effect it will have on the devices’ battery life.
Motorola Xoom was the first tablet with Honeycomb running on it, and it has reportedly been overclocked in the past, up to 1.7 GHz despite its fair share of problems in the market. For users it just means they have the option to boost its performance, if they are willing to void its warranty and drain the battery faster than ever.
Usually, companies underrate their components (such as processors) so that they can perform better than expected. Overclocking just takes advantage of this fact and runs the component at full capacity, or at higher capacity than what the manufacturer is willing to certify it for. But those who overclock the processor make sure these are capable of running at those speeds.
The main benefit of overclocking is better computing performance without any increase in costs. It’s not that there are no drawbacks to overclocking. The first is the warranty of the tablet or computer becomes void, and then the lifespan of the device is also reduced. The situation can get worse if overclocking is done improperly. So unless you are an expert computer technician you shouldn’t tamper with your device’s processor.