Noob question on Overclocking

[Whatsacomputer?]

So what exactly is, overclocking?

-How do you do it?
-What do you need to do it?
-Are there any dangers in overclocking?/Contraindications of overclocking?
-What can you overclock? MB? CPU? Videocards? RAM?

Thank you

 

[wolfeking]

1. Depends on what your OCing. CPU: Go to BIOS and look for either BCLK or Multiplier and voltage depending on your chip. Video card, You need to do it through your OS with a program. RAM can be done in BIOS.

2. Good cooling.

3. You could fry your chip, but that is unlikely. The more common effect is it becomes unstable.

4. GPU, CPU, RAM, Northbridge.

 

[swchoi89]

So what exactly is, overclocking?

-How do you do it?
-What do you need to do it?
-Are there any dangers in overclocking?/Contraindications of overclocking?
-What can you overclock? MB? CPU? Videocards? RAM?

Thank you

To add to Wolfe's response:

Overclocking basically refers to speeding up the frequency on your CPU.

For example, my CPU i5-3570K comes with stock frequency of 3400Mhz (I think) which is just a number representation of how fast processor can handle tasks.
When you overclock, you're making your CPU run faster to do faster calculations or something like that.