I had that! Then I found that if I overclocked my CPU from 2.6GHz to 3.2GHz, it increased the RAM voltage automatically and the system stopped crashing. So ironically, I overclocked my PC to improve its stability...

I just built one. There was no thrill, I'm glad it's over and it works.

Years ago, I used to really enjoy building systems and being able to now is still a valuable skill but, now I'm older, I just want stuff to work. I'm eternally grateful for the current console cycle that has slowed the PC upgrade race to a crawl.

I'm trying to think how CPU's that are soldered to a motherboard would affect me and thinking back I did manage to fit two CPU's to 1 motherboard the last time round (Early Dual Core followed by a Quad Core with more umph) but because of the aforementioned stagnation of the upgrade race it's getting to be a long time between these upgrade points reducing the likelihood/requirement to upgrade.

I don't like having to deal with non-standard bios and drivers, paying for over/under-spec parts, ones I don't need, or a place to stick ones I decide I do need after the fact. Also if you break the sticker you void the warranty. I deffo don't like that.

I've nothing against building your own system, but to be fair:

Non-Standard BIOS: Never really come across this beyond a splash screen.
Non Standard Drivers: If it's a standard component then standard drivers are going to be available. I always wipe the installed OS from off the shelf kit
Paying for over/under-spec parts: Fair point, but if you do a spec your own Dell, or whatever then you get whatever you ask for.
Warranty: That bit just isn't true in the UK, at least. I doubt it's true where you are - most countries have legislation that say the warranty can't be voided like that.

Don't get me wrong, if I suddenly wanted an all signing PC then I'd probably build my own, but my days of building machines for others is loooong since over.

Haha, never heard of overclocking being a fix to an unstable computer :) I think I've only had the issue twice, once I forgot to plug in one of the extra power cables and the second was a dodgy old PSU and new RAM.

Yeah, at standard speeds it kept under-volting the RAM, which caused crashes. And the BIOS (for some daft reason) wouldn't allow me to manually tweak the voltage. When I upped the FSB though, that caused the BIOS to increase the RAM voltage, thus fixing the problem. Weird, but I'm not complaining. And 3.2GHz from 2.6 originally isn't a bad little boost!

I bought my 2500K with the intention to overclockbut still hhaven't got around to it. Doubt I will either, bit pointless buying the K really.

Same here!

I've got a nice big red overclock button on my mobo too. I've been meaning to open 'er up (nj) and clean it out 'cos I'm getting a lot of fan noise when I start it up, also I need to clean out the dust filters etc. Might be tempted to press that button when I do.  :-O~~~

Go on, press it, you know you want to. I might give it a go sometime if it doesn't make my computer any louder. I rather like it being fairly quiet.

I've got a nice CPU cooler (a gelid tranquillo), which should be next to silent no matter how hard it's working, according to the reviews anyway. I built the PC around 18 months ago, and it's done everything I want it to so far with no problems, so haven't seen the need to overclock as yet, but as I'll be tinkering around I'll push it and see what happens. What motherboard have you got?

Same here, not had any trouble running anything so left it as it is. I haven't played any recent games though so that might change if I ever get 5 minutes to myself.

I was a little underwhelmed with Windows performance after this upgrade, probably due to my HDD slowing things down. If only I could run the whole lot in a RAM drive.

I can't remember the exact model of motherboard, it's a Gigabyte something, and I can't remember the chipset models to think of the name of the thing. GA-xxxxxx

And I just use the stock cooler which is quirt running stock speeds at least.

Most recent game I've played it Deus Ex, couldn't run the dx11 mode, but turned it down to 9 (maybe 10. Was that vista only? I have trouble following such things) and I could max it out on my Ti560. As people have pointed out before, a decent machine will last a while due to the stagnation of the consoles. Right, time to power off and press my ZOMGGOFASTERSHIT button. (nod)

You couldn't run a 12 year old game :O I need to get around to playing that, got it free with my graphics card.

Hopefully see you soon unless the red button of doom does something it shouldn't.

I'm back. Things do seem a tad quicker, but it's also made me realise exactly how much dust I've got in my PC. I'm going to wait until the holidays and borrow some compressed air from work, take it apart and give it a good seeing to (YJ).

I've just run CPU-Z to see how much of a jump the overclock's given me. However, what I forgot to do was run it before I pressed the button. I cannot compare. (fail)

Edit - the game's ace.

Given that it was possible to run Deus Ex on a Pentium 200, this isn't a huge achievement you realise?

FUCKIN' OWNED BOY!

You're all a shower of cunts.

Haha, that's fantastic! 

Yeah, and I really mean it, especially about that Mr. Bastard. Jeez, what a /bastard/. :-@