What to look for when shopping around for new pc

[BrianG]

I used to overclock my rig a while back, but found it didn't really give me all that much more perceived performance for the heat it produced. Not to mention possibly reducing the lifespan of the CPU. Raising the speed and maybe core voltage (increased to make the CPU stable at the overclocked speed) will require more power and create more heat. It depends on what you plan to do with it: are you going to be running games or applications where every last MHz counts? If the answer is yes, then overclocking makes sense. If the answer is no, then you don't gain a whole lot other than faster benchmarks.

And it's not just about the CPU; some motherboards are more "overclocking friendly" than others. Will the switching FETs be able to handle the increase in current that an overclocked CPU will pull? Will the rest of the board remain stable at the higher speed? This is where research in the mobo you are looking at is needed. Some boards may say the can overclock to whatever level, but read user reviews to know the true story.