What's the best o/c'er for the money

Ok' here's my situation. I've got this d*mn Comcrap that really is a decent computer all around, but it has their proprietary mobo in it that can't be o/c'ed. This is a common known fact bout Compaq. So, even though the mobo is actually fairly nice and quick, it has the via vt82c694x chipset, it is proprietary and it bugs me . So I want to replace the mobo with something that I can access the multiplier and mhz. Besides, what good is a rig that can't be put to the test? And I need to find cheap ways to enhance my F@H production.
So here's the lowdown on my setup. It's a socket 370 Pentium /// 800 and the mobo is atx form with 5 pci slots and 1 agp slot & 3 Sdram pc133.
And if I can change the mobo in it, will the new mobo be able to recognize the os (windows Me) thats partitioned on the hardddrive without a reinstall?
I guess on the other hand, in everyone else's opinion, is it worth it to replace the mobo in this thing or leave it alone and start over from scratch, robbing this one for components? It's got some nice components in it, cdrw (sony), dvd (???), & a 40 gig 5400rpm hd. Any and all input here is very much so appreciated.

Your best bet to get away without any reinstall issues would be to get another VIA chipset mobo. The 694T is Tualatin compatible, so you could upgrade later. The Abit VH6T is only $70 and has SoftMenu III so it must have overclocking features. It is an Abit after all!

Yeah. that was my goal. And believe it or not, the Abit vh6t was the one that I had decided was the best bet in my opinion. Just thought it would be wise to ask for opinions before I go and spend that dollar... Thanx for the reassurance.

My old Abit BH6 was pretty good, still have the thing too, hehe

Well, just got the VH6T in today. Got to read the manual and finish backing up my hard drive (man, didn't realize just how much I had till I started doing a complete backup of all files, so far 25 cdrw's and still need about 15 more...) I'm kinda nervous about making the change, this Compaq system has me guessing to whether or not the way they originally set it up will end up being compatible with a different mobo. I know all the components will be, but the way they were with their proprietary bios, I'm not sure a different bios won't have problems initiating the os. Maybe I'm just too green at this, but that's what makes it so fun!
Wish me luck.

All the older Compaq machines I've worked on had proprietory mobo, power supply, and case. If that's the situation with your system, there will be more work than you think to install the new mobo. The BIOS thing should not be a problem. Getting the harddrive, old operating system, and drivers to work will be a pain, but it can be done. Sometimes it's easier just to reinstall Windows over the top of the old operating system when you do a mobo change. Sometimes when I do a mobo upgrade, I just go into safe mode to test the system to see if it works, then reboot with the system boot disk and reinstall Windows immediately. That way it keeps your old settings, but will automatically load all the default drivers for your system. You'll still need to install your chipset .inf files and updated drivers afterwards once you're up and running (plus 4 in 1 VIA drivers in your case).

It does have a proprietary mobo. Thats the reason I decided to replace it. But the psu worked, most all the components worked ( the floppy cable had to be changed), the power switch, hdd led, & pwr led connector was proprietary, I had to pull the ends out of the plastic connector housing and attatch them individually. ( and that sucked too!). I've got it to post into dos using the floppy boot disk I created before I started this. I can get into all the new mobo bios options (soft menu III, etc...) but I can't get it to read the old os on a partition. I can boot to dos and display the drives directories, run scan registry (which finds no errors), run scandisk (still no errors), Basically everything but recognize windoze . Any words of wisdom before I do the dirty and format. If I do that, I lose my version of winMe and have to go with win98 till I can afford another.

Ule be better off formatting anyway after replaceing the mobo, basically u have ripped out the PC's heart and replaced it, windows aint gonna like it, and even if it did, it wouldn't be as stable and quick as it wouldbe it you reinstall

Go for a reinstall, please tell me it's win98SE ... 98 was aweful.....

Yeah, it's SE.
Whoo, didn't realize just how long a 40 gig hdd takes to format.
It's going to take all night. But, I've gone for it, And the computer was already running faster without even trying yet. I think this mobo is awesome. I'm really going to enjoy pushing it

Well, success! ( Finally) after major hdd problems and fdisk issues ( basically the idiot behind the keyboard ) I'm posting this with the new mobo installed in the Compaq without changing out anything else. Took me two days, and 4 fdisk sessions and 4 low level formats and a couple of unsuccessful installs of variations of Windows. ( Formating a 40 gig hdd takes about 5 - 6 hours on the average ) But she's up and running stable so far at factory settings. I'm going to load my Folding on here for a good burnin while I spend the next who knows how long updating all my software and loading all my work and play stuff back on here. Thank god for cable access ( was getting on the average of up to 3.3mbps download per bandwidthplace.com cable/dsl test) Right now at idle load I'm running 34c, let's hope the o/c in this things near future goes this well.