What kind of overclock can I expect? And what's the easiest way?

[barrizzle]

Ok, so I just built me a gaming computer (yeah, it's probably not the best, but I was on a budget!) not too long ago to take advantage of the Steam Summer sale and games I frequently already play such as World of Warcraft (which I know isn't heavy GPU dependent) and Team Fortress 2, but I also got some good benchmarkers like Metro 2033 and Final Fantasy XIV (which I abhor playing) to test my setup which is:

HAF 922 (All stock fans, except top and side have Coolermaster 200mm)
GIGABYTE GA-Z68A-D3H-B3 Z68
Intel i5-2500k @ 3.3ghz
8GB G.Skill DDR3 1600mhz RAM
EVGA Superclocked GTX 560 (might buy another soon to SLI)
CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX850 PSU

and I just ordered a Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus to replace the stock Intel CPU Cooler.

I was just wondering what kind of overclock can I expect on CPU/GPU and what should I do to achieve them? Any downsides to overclocking?

 

[SMOKEU]

I can't help you with the GPU as I have no experience with GTX cards, but with the CPU you should be able to get 4.5GHz if you have a good processor using that cooler.

No one can tell you what kind of overclock you can get because no 2 CPUs are 100% identical. The overclocking performance varies from batch to batch, and the CPUs made from the centre of the silicon wafer tend to be better than the ones made from the outside of the wafer. I don't really want to get into a big discussion over this, but have a look at "CPU binning" on Google.

There are plenty of overclocking guides on the net, just search for "Sandybridge overclocking" on Google. The downside to overclocking is that you get more heat, more power consumption, potential stability issues, and your components will have a shortened lifespan.

If you have any issues or questions with overclocking, just ask and I'm happy to help.

 

[Theocnoob]

Aim for 4.5Ghz on the CPU.
Don't know how the 560 clocks. the Ti clocks well. Can reach 1000Mhz sometimes.
Let us know once you have your cooler.