Well I've been wanting to overclock my computer for some time now.Before I even mess with the overclock menu,I want to ask you guys first.I know i dont want to Harjun it.Here are the specs.
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 @ 2.66GHz
Memory: DDR2 1GB PC2-5300 667MHz
Monitor: Dell P991 1280 x 1024(soon to have flatscreen LCD)
Video Card: Nvidia GeForce 8600gt
Power Supply: FSP ATX 500w
Wheel/controller: Logitech G25
Sound & Bling: Some old speakers i found in the basement
Operating System: Windows XP Professional Edition
Keyboard & Mouse: Logitech G15 and logitech CLICK! Mouse
Case: Intrex 501 Black Mid-tower ATX Case
Would it be safe to overclock?


Btw since I created a thread here,I guess i could ask this question.Im having various problems with my monitor and even my video car.Its sort of doing this "Static snow flake thing".Is it because my computer is overheating or my video card is over heating or do i just need to keep it open and clean the dust out of it?Heres a video of what I mean.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=GVW-7G0cIE8
Its really getting ANNOYING when im trying to race for 10 laps straight and that appears on the screen or if im trying to drift on south city chicane route and my computer crashes on that certain corner -.-.

More importantly, what motherboard brand and model do you have.....?

I really had forgotten what I had really.I can't figure out what motherboard I have because I'm on vaca and im on a laptop so I really dont know what motherboard I have.

Quote from ImportFantasy :

Btw since I created a thread here,I guess i could ask this question.Im having various problems with my monitor and even my video car.Its sort of doing this "Static snow flake thing".Is it because my computer is overheating or my video card is over heating or do i just need to keep it open and clean the dust out of it?

Snow is most likely an overheating video card, in which case you need to shut down your computer immediately and address the issue before you run an demanding app like a game. If you have artifacts, you are probably doing permanent damage to your card. DO NOT keep allowing your computer to crash because of heat; expensive components will fail.

The first step is to blow out all the dust with canned air. Take the video card out and make sure there is no dust clogging the fan. Also check the CPU heatsink and fan.

If you're already overheating at stock specs, overclocking will only make it worse and so makes absolutely no sense.

Download a program such as Speedfan to monitor your temps. Your card has a sensor which can be monitored with Nvidia's own application; since I have an ATI card I use ATI Tray Tools along with Speedfan to monitor all my temps and fan speeds.

To be honest I would not bother with overclocking. Your hardware will overclock, but is it really worth the risk? Going past specs voids the warranty and may fry your equipment. It probably won't fry if you're careful, but the gains are minimal. Even if you manage 20%, which is a lot, that's the difference between 80 and 100 fps. That is noticeable, but not huge. I would recommend leaving everything alone and enjoying your already high-performance PC. LFS will benefit very little from graphics overclocking anyway; it craves CPU power. If you absolutely must have more performance, buy better hardware.

Hmmm good call.I always have to restart my computer and for it to go away.Then i get back on LFS and i go to a track like KY GP Long and BOOM right back on!I havent really bothered taking on the card yet because I have not built the computer and dont want to mess anything up.When I come back home,I will take a look at the video card to see if any damage and if any dust is on it.Thanks for the advice!

You don't have to necessarily remove the card, but in many systems it's difficult to get a good view of the fan without doing so. Point being, blow the dust out to ensure the fan is moving freely and air is flowing smoothly across the heatsink.

I just got an e6750 and have been testing some overclocks. Before you overclock it I find out what temps you are running right now, if you are having heat issues already then it won’t be a great idea.

The only reason I overclocked was to see what it would do, see the temps and what all the fuss was about with Intels and overclocking. No game I have at the moment is being held back by my CPU, if I need a little boost then I know what to do and what to expect.

Dell = Crappy motherboard = Limited if any overclocking.

Overclocking a pre-built is a no-no, you end up using software like ClockGen which is just rubbish. Unless you really NEED the extra CPU power, i wouldn't.

But you could get that E6750 to 3 GHz just fine, no problemo
Offcourse if you are sure of yourself and are careful, and now something about CPU overcloking.

Quote from Lateralus :

To be honest I would not bother with overclocking. Your hardware will overclock, but is it really worth the risk? Going past specs voids the warranty and may fry your equipment. It probably won't fry if you're careful, but the gains are minimal. Even if you manage 20%, which is a lot, that's the difference between 80 and 100 fps. That is noticeable, but not huge. I would recommend leaving everything alone and enjoying your already high-performance PC. LFS will benefit very little from graphics overclocking anyway; it craves CPU power. If you absolutely must have more performance, buy better hardware.

IF he has 80 FPS then 100 FPS would indeed be fairly worthless, but what about a newer game like Crysis, COD4 or SupCom? He CERTAINLY won't max those with his PC...

For me even with a Quad core (2.13 GHz Core 2) i find that SupCom is just SO system hungry, i get less than 20 FPS with everything maxxed (2x AA) on a big map or with lots of units. When overclocked by 40% (from 2.13 -> 3 GHz) i get an considerable improvement (ie enough to keep it looking fluid at the settings i use) SupCom is multi-threaded, however at the same time I can also run out of RAM. a 40% overclock isn't even the limit the CPU, just as much as i can be bothered to push it. If i were to be using a Dual Core (which usually get better overclocks / higher stable FSB's) E6750 i reckon that i could reach 3.6 GHz on air cooling, which is what i've seen others get, which would work out as a 35% overclock.

Frankly the bottleneck of that system will be the memory (Amount, then Speed), then the GFX card, not the CPU.

Overclocking anything voids the warranty, however i'd like to see some proof that they can tell. I know Intel Core 2's detect all the vCore that have been used, however i've yet to see anyone who's return request was denied through overclocking.

The other argument is that while overclocking something shortens the life-span of a component, the life span only decreases noticably when more and more extreme vCore is used. I've yet to fry a part by overclocking (although a number of UKCT members would disagree!) and i'm an overclock whore!

Quote from Lateralus :

Going past specs voids the warranty and may fry your equipment.

Unless you're the kind of guy who uses liquid nitrogen to cool your CPU you won't fry anything. The comp. will turn off/restart if it detects the smallest instability.
These are not the dark ages you're looking for.

Useless fact - To show off the Penryn CPU's Intel brought and extreme overclocker (From Xtreme Systems) in to do some benching in front of a live audience with LN2 and a Penryn Quad-Core CPU. Even though they were overclocked to within (and past) an inch of their life (ie 3 GHz -> 5.5+!), and running at vCore's in excess of 2.1v, out of the three he had, he only killed 2, which seeing as they were used for several hours each at incredible speeds shows that they are quite durable.

Bloody hell 5.5, I think I may have to wait for the Penryn after all!

As for ImportFantasy's 'snowflake' effect. I also have this problem. I clocked my 6800GT as far as I could on air cooling a while ago and it was running nice and stable. However the dust built up around the fan so much it actually blocked the airflow completely, resulting in that 'snowflake' effect similar to yours. This is now permanent on one channel on my card. If I switch to the other DVI port on the back however it works just fine with no artifacting.

I now check inside my case much more frequently because of this (and I also reduced my clock slightly).

Quote from Jakg :

IF he has 80 FPS then 100 FPS would indeed be fairly worthless, but what about a newer game like Crysis, COD4 or SupCom? He CERTAINLY won't max those with his PC...
!

Dont know if this would be classed as offtopic but that system will quite easily max COD4 by the look of it, im running basicly the same system and maxxing cod4 at 1600x1024 at 75hz doesnt even tend to put a strain on it, i havent tried single player tbh but multiplayer runs fine with all the eye candy, only things i dont use is aa/af with external programs
Just looked i have 2gb of ddr2 ram but looking at the box its recomend is 768mb :/