Booth Martin wrote:
Here are my questions: 
1-If overclocking is a good thing, then why don't the sellers see the 
hardware at the higher ratings?
2-Is it possible to buy hardware at the higher clock speeds?
  
Actually, they do sell it that way.  E2180 is a 2.0GHz version of the 
E2160, which runs at 1.8GHz.  There are sometimes differences, such as 
additional cache and whatnot, but often the only difference between two 
CPUs is the rated speed.
My guess is that it costs the chip manufacturer nothing to sell a 
higher-rated chip at a lower speed.  Who knows, maybe it costs more to 
test for the higher speed?  I don't know.  But if there's more demand 
for the lower speed and they have faster chips lying around, I don't 
suppose they mind selling them.
Note also there are two types of overclocking.  One simply involves 
changing the system bus frequency, while the other involves raising the 
voltage.  Changing the clock speed is simply shifting into a higher gear 
- does nothing to the chip.  Raising the voltage, though, is definitely 
closer to over-revving the engine and it will reduce the life of the 
chip.  However, for enthusiasts who get a new CPU every year or two, 
that isn't much of a barrier.
Me, I only overclock using bus frequency.  My CPU and hard drive both 
run pleasantly at about 85-90 degrees, so I don't expect to see any long 
term damage from what I'm doing.
Joe
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