overclocking it will help, especialy if you are trying to run higher GPU rates as well. I find that if card is able to go through an entier 3DMark2001SE bench mark without glitching, or showing artifacts then it is stable. The card I am refering to is a AGP Radeon8500 and these observations were before i watercooled and put ram sinks on it.
The best way to find out if you are getting better performance is run 5 3dmark tests at your normal mem rate, and find the average, then do the same at its over clocked. The reason to do the averaging is because 3d mark scores tend to flucuate from test to test.
Slapping ram sinks on it should always help crank out a few extra Mhz if ya feel ya need it.