New to overclocking!

[ThatOneDude]

So I have never overclocked anything in my life, and just a few months ago found out what overclocking is. My questions are how exactly would I go about overclocking my cpu, if I do this can I cause damage to it, or the mobo, and should I also overclock my video card???? my specs are below.

 

[Ayrton]

With them specs you do not really need to overclock as a Quad core @ 3.2 is quite respectable. Although if you do find the need to overclock then there are many guides on how to do so. Unfortunately I am no expert on Asus Mobos. Overclocking Graphics cards are simpler though, you can get software such as Riva-Tuner to do that job. Remember not to push them to high though and stress testing would be a good idea by what changes you make.

 

[salvage-this]

With an unlocked multiplier your safest (and easiest) way to overclock is to raise the multiplier. Your stock multiplier is set at 16 (works like 200mhz X 16 =3200mhz or 3.2ghz) you can raise your multiplier by .5 each time. So every time you raise the multiplier by .5 you will raise the overall speed of your cpu by 100mhz. The other route that you can take is to raise the fsb. This is a bit harder to do and has a better chance to result in damage to your system. The upside to this is that you can achieve more system performance because you end overclocking a lot more than just your cpu.

Overclocking 101 (really good guide)
http://www.computerforum.com/16346-overclocking-101-oc101.html

If you do not already have it, download AMD Overdrive. Use it to monitor your system and keep track of temperatures while stress testing
http://game.amd.com/us-en/drivers_overdrive.aspx

Happy Overclocking

 

[mtb211]

read the sticky thread

 

[danthrax]

read the sticky thread

Where I, and many other members on this forum, learned most the things they know about overclocking. A very good guide to OC'ing for a first timer.

 

[joh06937]

the most important thing to monitor is the temperature of the component. if you have a stock heatsink then you might end up getting an aftermarket one. that is more likely to happen with the cpu. most likely your gpu will be fine. the stock heatsinks on gpus are usually good for oc'ing.