How do you know if you've gone too far?

[ytoledano]

My machine:
P4 2.4GHZ FSB800
Abit IS7-E
2* Corsair CMX256A-LL 2-3-2-6-T1
Gigacube Radeon 9600PRO/Geforce4 MX 440

I've been wanting to start OCing but I'm afraid of frying something. My main concern is that I won't know when I've gone too far.
1. Is there a safe frequency I won't have a problem reaching which will improve performance just a little?
2. Will increasing my BUD speed make my memory run not synced? Should I change the DRAM Ratio?
3. How do I know when to stop OCing? Are there any good tools for that?
Appriciate the help!

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[speeduk]

1. Safe frequency = Whatever you can set it to on stock voltage without it crashing. Run prime95 for a few hours to test for stability. If it produces an error, up the voltage slightly or lower the FSB.

2. If you have 200mhz memory, change ratio to 5:4 and set the FSB higher. Not sure about BUD???

3.Only stop overclocking when temperatures are over 55C loaded and you cant up the voltage any more (1.7v for P4's is a safe max I think).

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[svol]

Yeah above 1.7V you can get NSDS (Northwood Sudden Death Syndrome) although the chance is very small.

But if your PC runs cool and stable on a higher speed yuo don't have to worry about anything.

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