Clock multiplier

Clock multipliers on AMD Ryzen CPUs are never fixed. Clock multipliers on many modern Intel processors are fixed; it is usually not possible to change them. Some versions of processors have clock multipliers unlocked; that is, they can be "overclocked" by increasing the clock multiplier setting in the motherboard's BIOS setup program. Some CPU engineering samples may also have the clock multiplier unlocked. Many Intel qualification samples have maximum clock multiplier locked: these CPUs may be underclocked (run at lower frequency), but they cannot be overclocked by increasing clock multiplier higher than intended by CPU design. While these qualification samples and majority of production microprocessors cannot be overclocked by increasing their clock multiplier, they still can be overclocked by using a different technique: by increasing FSB frequency.