overclocking is more for fun than anything, imho. i'm very very new to it, but i've had good experiences, and i'm definitely the type who wants to get the very most i can out of a little cash input. i've spent plenty of time oc'ing my setup to the very edge of its air-cooled goodiness, and i came out on top. nothing fried, nothing burnt. you get a slight increase in power, but really, it's not all that big of a deal. raw power only goes so far. what's going to make your computer run better is a decent OS which is well-configured. as far as i'm concerned, that's the bottom line. a 500mhz running on a very customized stable release of debian linux will run better than a p4 3.2 on windoze me, with no service packs, and lots of junk bogging it down any day. i've seen this happen with my own eyes. just my .02, but it's still a good time to overclock, and watercooling IS expensive, but has it's positive sides. i'm sure you've heard people rant and rave about how great watercooling is, but sometimes it doesn't work out positively. some people actually lose performance and end up with higher temps, for many many reasons. maybe the block isn't sitting right. maybe the radiator is blocked. maybe the pump doesn't have enough head. maybe there are air bubbles ANYWHERE in the system. know what you're getting into before you try it, but above all else, have fun with it. that's what this sort of thing is all about. it's not some dick-slinging contest ;-)
|