# Overclocking & Power Shards

> Canonical source: [Overclocking & Power Shards](https://satisfactorybase.its-live.dev/guides/overclocking)
> Language: en

Version check pending: The printed exponent and combined Somersloop power examples need reconciliation with the current building model.

Clock speed 1–250 %, one Power Shard per +50 %, power grows with the exponent 1.321928 for production buildings and linearly for generators – with the full table.


## Basic rules

- Clock speed can be set from **1 % to 250 %** (in 1 % steps or typed freely with decimals; the UI accepts 4 decimals and evaluates expressions such as `120/140*100`).
- **Underclocking** (< 100 %) needs no shards. **Overclocking** needs one :icon[Desc_CrystalShard_C] [Power Shard](/wiki/items/power-shard) per +50 %: 150 % = 1 shard, 200 % = 2, 250 % = 3.
- Overclocking is unlocked by the MAM research *Power Slugs – Overclock Production* (1 Power Shard, 50 Iron Plate, 50 Wire).
- The **production rate** (inputs and outputs) scales **linearly** with the clock: 250 % = 2.5× the rate.
- A Resource Well Pressurizer's overclock applies to all satellite extractors of the well at once. The Geothermal Generator and the AWESOME Sink cannot be overclocked.
- “45-81 rule”: rates that are multiples or divisors of 45 or 81 give finite percentages; the UI rounds otherwise.

## Power draw of production buildings and extractors

`P(clock) = P₁₀₀ × (clock / 100 %) ^ 1.321928`

The exponent is log₂(2.5): doubling the production costs 2.5× the power.

| Clock | Power factor | Power per output unit (relative) |
|---|---|---|
| 10 % | 0.0476 | 0.476 |
| 25 % | 0.1601 | 0.640 |
| 50 % | 0.4000 | 0.800 |
| 75 % | 0.6836 | 0.911 |
| 100 % | 1.0000 | 1.000 |
| 125 % | 1.3431 | 1.074 |
| 150 % | 1.7091 | 1.139 |
| 175 % | 2.0954 | 1.197 |
| 200 % | 2.5000 | 1.250 |
| 225 % | 2.9223 | 1.299 |
| 250 % | 3.3577 | 1.343 |

Consequences:

- Underclocking saves energy per item: two machines at 50 % need 80 % of the power of one machine at 100 %.
- Overclocking to 250 % costs 34 % more power per item but saves buildings and their build cost.
- Idle draw is 0.1 MW per building, even when the computed draw at a heavy underclock would be lower.

Examples (P₁₀₀ from the game data):

| Building | 100 % | 150 % | 200 % | 250 % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| :icon[Desc_ConstructorMk1_C] [Constructor](/wiki/buildings/constructor) (4 MW) | 4 | 6.84 | 10 | 13.43 |
| :icon[Desc_AssemblerMk1_C] [Assembler](/wiki/buildings/assembler) (15 MW) | 15 | 25.64 | 37.5 | 50.37 |
| :icon[Desc_ManufacturerMk1_C] [Manufacturer](/wiki/buildings/manufacturer) (55 MW) | 55 | 94.00 | 137.5 | 184.67 |
| :icon[Desc_OilRefinery_C] [Refinery](/wiki/buildings/refinery) (30 MW) | 30 | 51.27 | 75 | 100.73 |
| :icon[Desc_Blender_C] [Blender](/wiki/buildings/blender) (75 MW) | 75 | 128.18 | 187.5 | 251.83 |
| :icon[Desc_MinerMk3_C] Miner Mk.3 (45 MW) | 45 | 76.91 | 112.5 | 151.10 |
| :icon[Desc_WaterPump_C] Water Extractor (20 MW) | 20 | 34.18 | 50 | 67.15 |
| :icon[Desc_OilPump_C] Oil Extractor (40 MW) | 40 | 68.36 | 100 | 134.31 |

For variable-power buildings ([Particle Accelerator](/wiki/buildings/particle-accelerator), [Converter](/wiki/buildings/converter), [Quantum Encoder](/wiki/buildings/quantum-encoder)) the recipe's min/max range is scaled with the same factor.

## Generators

Generators scale **linearly**: `P = P₁₀₀ × clock`; fuel and water consumption scale linearly as well. There is no efficiency gain or loss – overclocking only saves buildings. (The game data contains an exponent of 1.6 for generators that has not been applied since Patch 0.7/1.0.)

| Generator | 100 % | 250 % | Fuel at 250 % |
|---|---|---|---|
| :icon[Desc_GeneratorCoal_C] Coal-Powered Generator | 75 MW, 15 Coal/min, 45 m³ Water | 187.5 MW | 37.5 Coal/min, 112.5 m³ Water |
| :icon[Desc_GeneratorFuel_C] Fuel-Powered Generator | 250 MW, 20 m³ Fuel/min | 625 MW | 50 m³ Fuel/min |
| :icon[Desc_GeneratorNuclear_C] Nuclear Power Plant | 2 500 MW, 0.2 rods/min, 240 m³ Water | 6 250 MW | 0.5 rods/min, 600 m³ Water |

## Combined with a Somersloop

Power = `P₁₀₀ × clock^1.321928 × (1 + used slots / total slots)²`. Fully slotted at 250 %: 3.3577 × 4 = **13.43×** the power for **5×** the output (2 × 2.5). See [Somersloop production amplifier](/guides/somersloop-mercer).

## Rules of thumb

- For whole numbers of buildings prefer underclocking the last machine (no shard needed) over overclocking the chain – underclocking also saves power per item.
- Overclocking **miners** is worth it: shards are finite, but nodes are more limited – 1 Miner Mk.3 on a pure node at 250 % gives 1 200/min (= a Mk.6 belt) and replaces 2.5 miners. See [Resource nodes & miners](/guides/resource-nodes).
- Generators have no penalty, so overclock them freely to save space.

## Where shards come from

| Source | Amount |
|---|---|
| :icon[Desc_Crystal_C] Blue Power Slug (596 on the map) | 1 shard per slug (Constructor, 8 s → 7.5/min) |
| :icon[Desc_Crystal_mk2_C] Yellow Power Slug (389) | 2 shards per slug (12 s → 10/min) |
| :icon[Desc_Crystal_mk3_C] Purple Power Slug (257) | 5 shards per slug (24 s → 12.5/min) |
| Total from slugs | 2 650 shards (5 300 with a Somersloop in the Constructor) |
| Synthetic Power Shard ([Quantum Encoder](/wiki/buildings/quantum-encoder)) | unlimited; 2 Time Crystal, 2 Dark Matter Crystal, 12 Quartz Crystal, 12 m³ Excited Photonic Matter → 1 per 12 s; 0–2 000 MW |
| AWESOME Shop | Synthetic Power Shard for 10 Coupons |

One slug of each colour is consumed by MAM research; 3 slugs are unreachable. Details: [Power Slugs](/wiki/collectibles/power-slugs).

In this planner every machine node has a clock-speed field; the Power shards total in the summary strip counts the shards your plan needs – see [Using SatisfactoryBase](/guides/using-satisfactorybase).


- [Power Slugs](/wiki/collectibles/power-slugs)

- [Power Shard](/wiki/items/power-shard)

- [Somersloop production amplifier](/guides/somersloop-mercer)

- [Power grid](/guides/power-grid)