Speed up your CPU and boost you graphics card, add sophisticated features to your wireless router, increase your network's range, and beat the rising energy cost by tweaking your CPU's power consumption for that extra efficiency. Be a hacker.

While negative images usually go with the word "hacking", it is actually about being a do-it-yourselfer. Hacking isn't the exclusive domain of geeks anymore. In a period of free information and ubiquitous gadgetry, anyone can be a hacker.

Looking at it positively, hacking means opening a Web browser instead of your wallet to boost your PC and Wi-Fi network. Check out these 5 easy hacks that will help you get more functionality from the tech you own.

Overclock your system's CPU

You can speed up your CPU by 10% or more with a little effort. Start by looking up your motherboard model, downloading its manual, and updating its BIOS to the newest version. Reset the machine to default configuration and then enter the BIOS settings. Just press F1 or Delete as the system is booting. However, a reset might require you to change a jumper switch or press a button on the motherboard.

Overclock your graphics board

nVidia and ATI offers free tools to overclock higher-end video cards. This little adjustment can boost your graphics performance without requiring you to tune BIOS. The result is a faster speed as well as smoother video.

Click Device settings under Performance in the nVidia Control Panel. Then select GPU, click Custom, and raise the clock speed. In the ATI Catalyst Control Panel, select Auto-Tune under the Overdrive section. This option slowly increases the clock speed, testing each one in sequence.

Underclock your PC and save energy

Underclocking your hardware can save energy and reduce heat. Follow the overclocking procedure to underclock your system, but reduce the speed of your chip instead of increasing it. You can also click the Windows Power Options control panel and update the advanced settings. Select Processor power management, and select the maximum and minimum processor states to update their value.

Set the values between 5% and 100% to speed up the CPU when needed. You can set a lower maximum if you're using the PC mainly for e-mail and other principal tasks.

Add a reflector around your wireless antenna

Fitting a passive and simple parabolic reflector around the wireless antenna can improve your Wi-Fi network's range and focus the signal precisely where you want it. It can also even improve network security. You can download Parabola Calculator to know the correct antenna shape and the maximum size of the reflector that the router's antenna can accommodate physically.

Add advanced features to the wireless router

With an expanding network, you need to add features to the existing wireless router using a third-party firmware. This hack can improve antenna power, set up a VPN, improve your wireless security, isolate Wi-Fi traffic from the wired network, configure a repeater to blanket a much bigger Wi-Fi area, and much more.