Maximum PC

I'm new to overclocking. I recently built an AMD computer with an FX 4170 and ASRock 960GM U3S3 FX 760G motherboard. FYI - I did use a cheap after-market Heatsink, but it is much better than the stock one provided by AMD.

Obviously the motherboard is not the finest, it's only ~$60 and is a 760G architecture (which I'm sure is pretty basic), but I was still able to OC the card to 4.5 (4.2 is stock) by upping the bclock. I did try 4.6, but the computer crashed during the Sisoft SANDRA test, so I backed it down to 4.5.

As to my question, which component provides the biggest impact in OCing?
**Is it the CPU that dictates how high you can go, or can the motherboard limit the amount you can OC?
**If I used a higher series motherboard (say, a 9XX series) would I be able to OC even more?
**If I were to start twiddling with the voltages (or whatever else) would I be able to OC a lot more, or would I see just a .1 or .2 increase?

Any information is greatly appreciated.

Overclocking unfortunately is more of an art, not a science. Not every part can be overclocked, and even same model numbers can't overclock the same as others. To that end, it's a combination of the CPU and motherboard. Also tweaking with the voltage does increase your overclocking ceiling, but you also have to be careful with it.

Thanks, Latios.

And I realize there are many factors at play when OCing - i7 3570k A will behave and OC differently than i7 3570k B...etc., etc. For the sake of my question, let's remove the CPU from the equation.

I guess my real question revolves around the importance of the motherboard: Am I deluding myself into thinking that more expensive motherboards will provide better OCing capabilities and potentially higher numbers?

Let's take my original ASRock 960GM with the 760G NB and pit it against the drastically more expenses ASUS 990FX with a 990FX NB.

CPU is the same. I perform the same bclock tweaking - do my odds of getting higher clocks speeds improve with the ASUS, or will I get essentially the same speeds from the ASRock? And if I could get higher clock speeds, would the potential differences be significant enough to warrant spending another $100+?

Well, TIM doesn't matter, we all recommend Arctic Silver 5.

So taking the randomness factor out of the equation as you want, I'll throw in what I do know that is more or less the science part.

• Cooling - Obviously the higher you drive your clock speed, the more heat. The more voltage you give it, the more heat as well. You'll want a really good cooler. Contrary to what some may say, moderate overclocks (we'll say up to 25% of stock) will do fine with an air cooler like the Cooler Master Hyper 212. If you start going into heavier overclocks (over 25%), then watercooling is more or less a necessity.
• A good power supply - You want something that provides clean power to your computer. Shouldn't be a problem if you get a reputable brand (*cough*Seasonic*cough*). And you'll need something that provides 50W more than what you need on stock.
• A motherboard with good power house keeping circuitry - The VRMs. The more VRMs, the more you can push and... don't count me on this, the more stable your overclock will be.

I think that's about it.