Do the longterm benefits of overclocking outweight the risks?

You see, I'm about to receive an Inspiron 1520 with Intel Core 2 Duo 2.2GHz with a 256 MB nVidia GeForce 8600 GT.

I've read a lot about overclocking, and I'm becoming more and more hesitant the more I read. The fact that it's a laptop may make it hard for me to keep it cool, as I read a lot of people use heat sinks to keep overclocked computers cooled (though it may just be for desktops, I'm not too entirely sure). Also, the fact that overclocking also reduces the processor's lifespan also worries me, as this laptop has to last me at least 5 years+. Now, I'm not the most hardcore of gamers, but I do like to have lag-free games when I play.

So, is overclocking really all that worth it?

 

Overclocking the 8600m GT in my 1520 hasn't resulted in any noticeable heat increases. Dell's newest cooling system is impressive; either that or the 8600m GT is just a very well thermally designed chip.

 

Is it worth it? Depends on whether or not you need the bit of extra performance. If you have a decent computer, then you won't need to overclock in the first place, and then no, it isn't worth it. If you absolutely need the bragging rights you get with those extra 30 points in 3dMark, then it might be worth it.

If your computer is already 5 years old, and too slow to play games then overclocking might also be worth it.

In short, only you can decide if it's worth it. In general, the risk is pretty small, but it will usually void the warranty. And you might get the occasional crash because you went 2MHz too high, which is just annoying. And generally speaking, you won't see huge changes to performance from overclocking.

No, I don't think it's worth it on a new computer with specs like yours. Your mileage may vary.

 

Usually OCing the gpu will net some decent performance increase in games yet can last just as long. That is because you only need the higher clocks when gaming, otherwise you can back down the clocks to keep cool. So with this process, you won't notice a dramatic reduction in component life.

If you keep an eye on ur temps u will be fine. Remember, it's extreme heat for short periods of time that will kill your laptop, not slightly increased heat over a long period of time. Whenever you hear of fried components it's because they were ran at extreme temps and died. It's not because they were running at slightly higher temps than stock for a year causing damage.

Realize that components these days have years and years of expected lifetime. So by OCing a component a little (and increasing the temps a little) will reduce this "expected lifetime" by a couple weeks/months. So when your computer is expected to last 10 years, and you reduce that to 9 years and 6 months by OCing it doesn't make a much of a difference.

 

It shouldn't be a problem as long as you keep an eye on your temps. The biggest OC killer isn't heat (comp is more likely just to crash)- it's voltage. In CPU overclocking, raising the VCore just a bit can significantly degrade the life of your CPU. Since you aren't doing any volt modding, as long as you keep temperatures and stability in check longevity should be preserved.

On the other hand, there are risks inherent to overclocking. I too am getting a 8600GT equipped laptop, and personally I will not overclock until the laptop begins to struggle. I overclock to extend the life of my computer- if it allows me to game for an extra few months, I consider it an excellent choice. However, overclocking this early in the life of the laptop will probably do more to degrade life than extend it.