What is undervolting?

[jakeh13]

I'm not quite sure what undervolting is. I assume it means to reduce the amount of volts the graphics card or CPU uses but wouldn't this have ramifications? Wouldn't this slow your system down since your components have less power to work with? Does it reduce heat produced by the components at the sacrifice of performance?

 

[kanewolf]

Yes, undervolting is lowering the voltage to a device, usually the CPU. It is done to reduce heat. Some CPUs can tolerate lower voltage and sill have the same performance. Others have to have the clock speed lowered also.