Overclocking advices needed

gpanag93

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Mar 31, 2013
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18,510
Hello everyone! This is my system:

Cooling
Case: Thermaltake V3 BlacX Edition http://uk.thermaltake.com/products-model.aspx?id=C_00001820

Case Fans: XILENCE Transparent Blue Led 120mm x4(top, bot, front, back) http://www.xilence.net/en/products/fans/fans/transparent-blue-led-120.html

RAM Fans: Kingston HyperX Fan http://www.kingston.com/us/memory/hyperx/fan/

CPU Fan: Coolermaster Hyper TX3 EVO http://www.coolermaster.com/product.php?product_id=6740

Motherboard
Gigabyte GA-EP43-DS3 http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=2846#ov

RAM
KVR800D2N5/2G x2 http://www.ec.kingston.com/ecom/configurator_new/PartsInfo.asp?ktcpartno=KVR800D2N6/2G

GPU
MSI R5750-PM3D1g http://www.msi.com/product/vga/R5750-PM2D1G.html

CPU
Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor E8400 http://ark.intel.com/products/33910

PSU
Cooler Master GX-Lite 600W(RS-600-ASAB) http://www.coolermaster.com/product.php?product_id=6789

Questions:
1. How far can i push the CPU? I was thinking about 3.5Ghz but i think that my cooling system is good for 3.8Ghz. How can i decide how far can i go?
2. I heard about RAM overclock but i don't know anything about it. What can i overclock on it? The voltage? The frequency? Will i get a big difference?
3. GPU overclock is something else i 'd like to do but if there is something i love on this PC it's my MSI graphics card, but still, any improvement is well welcomed, so again same questions with the previous one: What can i change, what should i be careful, is it worth it?
4. After overclocking what should i be careful about? I mean, overclocking is a direct void of the warranty, so should I give the pc a maintenance now and then? Like more often cleaning from dust? Often change of thermal paste?

Thank you very much for your time to read all of this, any reply is welcome!
 
Each individual unit of a given model of cpu will overclock differently, so you can't tell ahead of time how far you'll get. How I'd determine how far to go is to keep going until I hit my personal voltage limit (I'd keep it a few steps below the official max acceptable voltage), then step the speed down until it's stable again, and finally see if I could step the voltage down and still have it stable. This is figuring overnight stability tests after each change. Alternatively, if you have a target speed, you can stop once you get your system stable at that speed. I've read that it's usually not worthwhile to oc the ram, and some video cards are better than others for overclocking. Others can probably give you a better answer to #4.