beginner to overclocking

[Sazdek]

so....i have this killer system. i bought the parts specifically so i could OC after i had all the little stuff set how i wanted it.

so this is why im posting. any "reliable" websites or i guess tutorials on how to do this without blowing up my pc? im not looking for some serious overclocking, just light to moderate tinkering. any advice, tips, tricks, experiences, etc would be greatly appreciated.

currently running an i5 2500k, msi nvidia geforce 560 titanium, asus p8p67 mobo. 700w modular psu. 8g (2x4) ram. stock heat sink (hence why i only want to lightly oc for now).

[BicycleMafioso]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sw_NISjMv44
This is what you want.

[Sazdek]

also forgot to add MSI software comes with it's own programs for overclocking and, im assuming, testing. MSI afterburner and Kombuster.

[Vashuna]

You can OC with stock heatsinks on the new generation Intel i5's because they have an internal heat sink that dissipates heat pretty well from what i've read.

[Wingwraith]

Actually, people are getting the 2500k up to 4GHz on the stock cooler. That CPU is simply amazing.

[BicycleMafioso]

also forgot to add MSI software comes with it's own programs for overclocking and, im assuming, testing. MSI afterburner and Kombuster.

That's for the GPU, not the CPU, though.
I assumed you wanted to overclock the CPU?
Although.
Overclocking the GPU isn't that hard. Just up the core clock in afterburner some, then up the memory-clock. Kombustor is the stress-test ^^

[Wries]

Have lost all links to good threads.

But you should flash the BIOS to the latest one. In one of the updates they enabled setting internal PLL overvoltage.

AI overclock tuner: Manual
Base clock: 100.0
Turbo ratio: By all cores (/by per core, whichever floats)
Ratio limit: Start out with say... 42! (Resulting in 4.2 Ghz)

Internal PLL overvoltage: on

CPU power saving mode: Off
Load Line Calibration: Ultra high
Phase Control: Extreme
Dutry Control: Extreme
CPU current capability: 100%

CPU Voltage controls: Manual. (It will presumably still push lower voltage while idling)
CPU Voltage: Will vary from chip to chip. A good guess would be that 4.2 GHz will be stable on 1.200 V

Then it's just run Prime, intel burn test and all other software designed to simply burn the CPU to see if you get a BSOD or not (AND YOU MUST CHECK YOUR TEMPS!). If you do, you return to settings and up your voltage.

[Sazdek]

That's for the GPU, not the CPU, though.
I assumed you wanted to overclock the CPU?
Although.
Overclocking the GPU isn't that hard. Just up the core clock in afterburner some, then up the memory-clock. Kombustor is the stress-test ^^

yeah i wasn planning on overclocking both =P probably my ram too.

[kidsafe]

I wrote a guide here: http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/...7-overclocking

[TanAxys]

for the record...

it's pretty hard to "blow up your PC" by overclocking

don't be too scared to try. As long as you know how to reset your board to stock settings, then there's really not much to worry about. You can do quite a bit without touching voltages, and over voltages are what cause permanent problems like fried memory.