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I have an ATI X1650 PRO graphics card and i was wondering if it would be safe to overclock it. I have a 350W PSU which is around 2.5 years old and on the the graphics package box it say it is recommended to have 350W PSU or greater. I went to http://www.extreme.outervision.com/PSUEngine and at peak system load it said i use around 275W (with 20% capacitor aging).

Would it be safe to overclock with the PSU that i have?

Video Card Temps: around 55 degrees Celcius when idle and i've never seen it go past 64 when playing oblivion

Would overheating be a problem?

Thanks in advance for those who respond.

Please post about past experiences with overclocking as well such as damage to components. (note: i have never overclocked before)

I say try. Download a tool called ATI Tool and check your temps. 350 is quite low. You can buy a low end 450 PSU for around $55. What are you system specs and cooling arrangements?

Use ATI Tray tools to overclock, its your best bet, and the safest one too. Remember take it easy with overclocking, so just go in increments of 5-10mhz

Ive never had that card, but my friend bought that card late last year. Make sure you have good case cooling. He wound up melting his card nearly. His case temp went as high as 60C, but he had his fan set up all wrong.

hahaha, almost melted the card. Yeah just make sure your video card does not go above 65 Celsius, or you can mod the cooling on your card, for more efficient cooling.

Pentium 4 socket 478 3.0GHz prescott
2 x DDR 512
350W PSU
7200rpm IDE WD HDD
Sapphire X1650 PRO
CD/DVD drive never operating when playing games

*yea its an old processor and got an asrock motherboard

my computer case is left open and i dont have any case fans, just the ones on PSU, graphics card, and CPU

CPU : 52 celcius (idle)
Video card : 54 celcius (idle) highest temp 64 when playing oblivion
Motherboard: 43 celcius (idle)

the Catalyst control centre has the ATI Overdrive section for overclocking..... and it should warn me when temps get too high if it ever does when overclocking.... but what i want to know is if my PSU can support the overclocking (2.5+ year old PSU)

how much power would the graphics card eat up if i'd increase 5MHz for both GPU and memory?

Your cpu is a hog, I wouldnt opt to overclocking even with your case open. You dont have moving air gong through your machines, which is important.

does my CPU bottleneck my graphics card's performance?

I would think so, not a lot though, Problem is if you wanted to upgrade your cpu to something current, you'd need a new mobo. Obviously you want better performance from your gpu. If you have the money just get a better card, or you could try seeing how far you can get with that one first.