If you want to play it safe then an external hard-drive might be useful to backup your data in case you're worried something may go fry. Personally, I wouldn't even bother - you can just take the drive out and plug it in to another computer to backup files (provided they are NOT in 'my documents'). Chances of damaging anything is extremely low, or practically zero if you know what you are doing. I think you could get over 20% performance gain on stock cooling. 80% if you get good air cooling and have the motherboard and memory to match.


To overclock you will require a motherboard that supports it (or you can try windows based programs but they DO NOT ALWAYS WORK), and also memory that can run at speeds higher than 400mhz. Preferably faster than 667mhz. I would just get 800mhz memory, since it's el-cheapo now. 2 gigabytes or more is a must. I am upgrading to 4.

OK, your computer and motherboard have a number of parts

CPU ---- this is what processes everything.
Front Side Bus (FSB)  ---- this is what connects the CPU to the North Bridge.
North Bridge (MCH) ---- this is what connects with graphics card through the PCI-E bus, and connects to the RAM.
Memory (RAM) --- where open programs are stored.

Essentially, CPU speed is determined by FSB*CPU multiplyer (which is a MAXIMUM of 10 on your processor). SO the only way to overclock the CPU is by overclocking the speed of the Front Side Bus. However, the speed of the memory is also dependant on the front side bus. Memory speed is determined by FSB*Memory multiplier (or divider, same thing). So essentially you need a motherboard, memory, and CPU that can handle the increased clock speeds.

Anyway, the FIRST THING YOU SHOULD DO, is check that your BIOS has overclocking options. If it doesn't then you can't. Do this by entering system setup, a prompt will always come up just after you turn computer on, which says to tap a key a few times to enter system setup. You will need to have a way to manipulate the Front Side Bus (FSB) or system base clock... it should be 200 on your computer. If there is an option for that anywhere, then you can overclock, if not, you can't (that's why if you want to overclock you don't buy HP or DELL)

THEN

http://forums.pcper.com/showthread.php?t=441458
(that's for Core 2 Duo's, the E2180 will overclock in exactly the same way)


Also, be clear on how to enter BIOS and how to reset CMOS. Use Coretemp for temperatures (make sure temp doesn't go over 70) and OCCT 1 hour test for stress testing.

I hope I didn't discourage you. My processor is 2.40ghz, and when I started overclocking I only wanted to get to 2.67ghz. I eventually realized how easy it is, and then went up to 3.2ghz. I've been running for about 2 years at 3.0ghz (25% overclock) with no problems with the computer.

Fozzer wrote on Apr 27^th, 2010 at 7:43am:

But if you make sure everything is cool, aren't you set? 

You monitor temperatures as they increase. If they go over 65 you call the quits. Damage won't happen at that temp unless you're pumping a whole lot of volts through the proc / socket.