Should I overclock??

[TicTac]

Ok, so I'm buying a new pc. Its kinda a build, but I've got a deal where I can chose the parts and a good company builds it for me. These are the specs:

AMD 3500+ Venice
1gb Gskill 400mhz RAM (or 'VT')
2 120gb HDs in RAID
Dell 2005fpw
Geforce 6200
Asus A8n-Sli Deluxe
Nec 3540a dvd+-rw

I am not hugely experienced with computers. In my laptop, I have a Pentium M 750 in my laptop, and reading around, I was a little dissapointed to see this 3500+ isn't going to offer much more in performance. (just relying off superpi times).

Overclocking voids warranties and cuts down on the life of parts? I woin't be doing much gaming, my most arduos tasks are probably some reasonably heavy photo-editing, and some online games (isnooker). Sometimes I have a lot of programs open at once.

So considering I have no experience in overclocking, I do not do anything too 'heavy', and I do not like the thought of no warranty . .probably a silly question,
would you reccomend overclocking? The only thought thats really making me feel its not a no-brainer is that I won't get much extra performance than my laptop. . .

Thanks
p.s I wouldn't mind a quick check that my systems ok as well

 

[_Korruption_]

I'd run it at stock to keep things stable. Overclocking is nice and will give you a good boost if you go to a significant amount, but sometimes inexperience will get in the way. What's powering that system?

 

[Spetsnaz Op]

I have been oc'in for a fair amount of time (since T birds, I'm not a veteran by [H] standards lol) and I generally don't overclock until I need to. For instance, if you have a top PC that runs all your games smoothly, why OC? I asked myself this quesion and I couldn't find a good reason to besides showing off benchmark scores (unless you have a mobile processor or one infamous for being a good OC like the P4 1.6A's and those celerons from before my time). Read reviews, see how far people got with your CPU and maybe slowly work your way up if you are curious. Do stability tests, etc etc. If you really don't need the extra speed now then I'd say it would be a good idea to stay stock (especially if you upped the voltage). That way when you need to OC to play Battlefield 5 or encoding HD-DVD's you will have a nice broken in CPU with plenty of life left. Also if you bought a retail box this can keep you in warrenty. Just something to think about. (not that you should be afraid to OC - if you do things right the CPU will likely last longer then you will ever need it for)

I wouldn't even try video OCing if you don't 3d game...you are just going to void that warrenty for no good reason.

 

[TicTac]

I'd run it at stock to keep things stable. Overclocking is nice and will give you a good boost if you go to a significant amount, but sometimes inexperience will get in the way. What's powering that system?

Oops, forgot about the PSU, its a Antec NeoHE 430W. That should be ok?

Spetsnaz Op - Thanks for the info, I understand what youre saying, and I think thats probably what I will do. Technically I do play 3d games, but they aren't very demanding I don't think.

Thanks both for the info