I am wondering about over-clocking my CPU. It is a PIII 450 MHz with Gigabyte GA-6BA motherboard. The case has little or no ventilation and I am wondering whether I can over-clock the CPU without it breaking down and whether the CPU should be fitted with extra cooling. Also, how much can I over-clock? My friend has the same chip and has over-clocked to 568 MHz with a bus speed of 122 MHz (he thinks). His case has more ventilation than mine and has run his PC that way for a couple of years without extra cooling for the CPU. Can I do the same to mine?

For readers who do not know about over-clocking, it is when the CPU is run at a clock and/or bus speed (usually higher) than specified. Keep in mind that whenever you try to over-clock a CPU you must have ventilation as CPUs produce a lot of heat when running at their normal clock speed so you can imagine what heat will be produced when you over-clock! So, the bottom line is that you must have more than adequate ventilation if you wish to over-clock. You mentioned that your computer has the same CPU as your friend’s computer. However, if you don’t have the same motherboard as your friend, then you may not be able to over-clock to the same speed. When a CPU is over-clocked, it sends less clean signals to the motherboard and this can cause the system to crash or freeze. This also works in reverse. When the CPU is over-clocked, it is more sensitive to flawed signals received from the bus which can cause the computer to crash. Honestly, I would not try to over-clock my computer with a ten foot pole as I prefer to have a computer that I know will work and is stable rather than one which is unstable and could be damaged through over-clocking. But the decision is up to you!