Any Overclocking help for a noob?

[Hedgeh]

Hey,
I've got a (fairly) new system and wanted to ask a few questions before I do anything.

1. How risky it it? I know alot of people do it but I'm really not sure if its worth invalidating my warranty.

2. How do I safely overclock? By that I mean whats a good place to limit it to avoid damage and is there any programs that would be better then the software from my mobo?

3. What more do I need? At the moment I have a fairly in-adequate cooling set up and PSU. What kind of things would be good?

Here are my sytem specs:

Athlon 3500+
Geforce 6800GT
Abit AV8 3rd Eye
160 GB HDD
1 GB Geil value
360W PSU (MUST upgrade)
Chieftec Dragon (Wouldn't mind a Wavemaster if it helps with cooling )
1 fan cooling the HDD.

Thanks for any help you can offer.

[Snaga]

Doesnt the Abit provide simple overclocking options? Via the 3rd eye?

[Hedgeh]

Yeah, it's also got some uGuru program for overclocking.

[BUFF]

if it's like my KV8 Pro it probably runs slightly overclocked (204fsb) straight out of the box
uGuru is more than adequate for basic overclocking.

[noah]

just remember to go up in small increaments like 5-10mhz and for overclocking the gfx do a google search for coolbits, then you can do it in your graphics card options, same small increaments apply here too, though there is an auto-overclocker that tests it for you

http://www.guru3d.com/ have good guides for gfx cards and should have coolbits or a link to it

[Rcb]

if you're a n00b, do NOT overclock.

[noah]

if you're a n00b, do NOT overclock.

forgive me for being flippant, but how are you gonna learn if you never try?

i dont mean to be rude, just that a little overclocking is usually ok as long as you accept the inherant risks, i tend only to do it if i need it, but some just do it for fun yeah you might break something, but nothing risked nothing gained. although some may say with a rig like that theres no need!

[noveltylamp]

If you are going to overclock sort your cooling out first. But anyway, it's worth it if you can get a 20% overclock at least.

With inadequate cooling you'd probably only get an extra 10% and a lot more heat. Which just isn't worth it.