Overclocking & Somersloop Guide
Both overclocking and Somersloops raise a building's output — and both cost power non-linearly. Here is exactly how much, with the real formulas from the game data.
Overclocking: output is linear, power is not
Slotting Power Shards raises a machine's clock in 50% steps up to 250%. Output scales linearly: at 200% clock a machine makes exactly twice as much (and consumes twice the inputs). Power scales with clock1.321929, so at 250% clock you get 2.5× the output but about 3.36× the power. The reverse is true too: underclocking below 100% is more power-efficient, which is why many late-game builds run slightly under 100%.
Somersloops: double output, quadruple power
Somersloops amplify output without using more inputs. Each one fills a share of the building's slots: output = 1 + (slots filled ÷ total slots), up to 2× at full. Power scales with the square of that — full slots means double output at 4× power. An Assembler with 1 of 2 slots gives ×1.5 output for ×2.25 power.
| Building | Somersloop slots |
|---|---|
| Constructor | 1 |
| Smelter | 1 |
| Assembler | 2 |
| Converter | 2 |
| Foundry | 2 |
| Refinery | 2 |
| Blender | 4 |
| Manufacturer | 4 |
| Particle Accelerator | 4 |
| Quantum Encoder | 4 |
Packagers, miners, and fluid extractors cannot be amplified.
When to use each
- Overclock when power is plentiful and you want fewer machines / simpler belts.
- Underclock when power is tight — more machines, but more output per megawatt.
- Somersloop your most expensive, lowest-volume parts, where doubling output for free inputs is worth the 4× power.
Crunch the exact numbers with the overclock calculator and Somersloop calculator.