Should I overclock?

You "would" but depending on how much you overdo it, you may notice a "little" or a "lot". That said, I wouldn't recommend it unless you feel it ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY. Overclocking can be extremely dangerous to the machine and the CPU if you don't know what you're doing, and even then if you do, it's still a very "touch-and-go" type thing. You may even need some additional cooling devices to control the CPU's heat, as rest assured, it will get hotter, hands down. I have friends who are certified techs and have been for years, and even they have admitted (when we talk overclocking) that they see no "real" reason to do it, other than just "tinkering around", and they don't even like doing it.

You really should post your specs, and what you use the PC for.

I OC'd my i7 950 from 3.07Ghz to 3.5Ghz, and I notice a pretty big increase in video game performance.
On Stock Cooling too, and it never gets too hot.

Would have OC'd it further, but I have a stock gateway motherboard... so I can't up the voltage in this BIOS.

The better question is, can you afford to lose a part should it break or go bad due to overclocking?

If you are not experienced at it, then overclocking your parts can be very hazardous to your wallet..

It really depends upon the CPU, the Motherboard, & The cooling you have for that CPU, that will determine what kind of difference it will make for you, obviously an experienced over-clocker would select a CPU, cooling solution, & Motherboard with a history of being great for overclocking specifically, so do your research mate...

It really depends how much you OC. Multiple core CPU don't notice so much with little overclock (1 - 200mhz) and gaming you may only notice a few fps difference. It should be able to number crunch faster though. I only noticed any proper difference after +300mhz OC. The system felt a bit faster and did render video faster but by then my stock cooler was unable keep the temps down.

If you have picked up an unlocked CPU like a black edition then the maker is basically expecting it to be overclocked. One good thing about having an after-market cooler is that you may even be able to re-use it on your next build project because a lot of them are backward compatible.

You will need an aftermarket cooler in most cases and especially on AMD CPU because their stock coolers can only just keep within the stated temp. Intel ones are a bit better.

You will need a case with good airflow and enough fans drawing out heat from the case

I would only overclock once you think it's the slowest cog in the machine. You should probably work on making sure your ram, GPU and hard drive are fast before overclocking.

Just like a car you need to remember that:

• It's going to run hotter
• It's going to use more power
• It might die sooner
• You might break something else
• The PSU might not be up to it (that's called catastrophic engine failure ;))

Remember to read forums for your CPU and see what people have overclocked it to and what their system was. Don't even think about getting your CPU to the next ghz bracket (unless they invent stock @ 3.8GHZ when you read this) without at least the top of the line air cooler or some water cooling.

Fail to prepare and prepare to fail.

Only over clock if you know what you are doing.

The fact that you don't seam to know tells me you also don't know how to do it.

Witch will result in you f*ng up some thing in your BIOS.

If you can overclock then I recommend doing it, it is a free performance boost.

Many CPU's can get a good 20-30% overclock just be sure to monitor your temperatures and test thoroughly for stability.

there are those who say that it can shorten the life of the part but it has not really been tested and if it does, the part would still become obsolete years before it fails.