When overclocking, the overclocked component has an increased power draw.
To provide for this, its often necessary to increase the voltage its being supplied.
A common way to attempt to increase the stability of an overclock is to increase the supplied voltage.
This works, though it has limits, as providing too much voltage can damage or even kill components.
It also causes the side effect of increasing the heat produced by the component.
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Benefits of undervolting
Undervolting is the process of deliberately reducing the voltage supplied to a component.
When taken too far, this will affect system stability, however, there is often some wiggle room.
Combined, these effects help to increase battery life on battery-powered devices such as laptops.
The decreased power draw also helps to reduce your computers effect on your electricity bill.
There are a number of CPU voltages that can be changed.
Undervolting is often combined to great effect withunderclocking.
The underclocking process decreases the power requirements of the processor, allowing for even lower voltages.
Typical voltage changes are small, as PC components dont need much voltage and are sensitive to reductions.
The actual temperature change can be surprisingly large given the small change.
Computers can do this automatically
In some scenarios, computers actually do this automatically.
When a computer starts seriously overheating, however, it will almost always perform something called thermal throttling.
This should handle the thermal issue, as the CPU can be quite aggressive with it.
Conclusion
Undervolting is the opposite of overvolting.
It involves deliberately configuring a component to be provided with a lower voltage than the manufacturer recommends.
This typically doesnt affect performance directly, though if taken too far it can affect system stability.
It does reduce the system power draw and thermal output though.
