There are a number of things you should do to ensure that your overclock is as successful and trouble-free as possible, the first of which is to update your motherboard's BIOS. Unless you're a total enthusiast, you've probably never updated your motherboard's BIOS -- fear not, for it is not a difficult task. There's also a remote chance that the BIOS you currently have is already the latest one available, in which case you can skip over this entire section if you so wish.

While I can't give specific instructions for every single motherboard/manufacturer out there, I can outline the general process. Most of the time, your motherboard manufacturer will either provide detailed on-line instructions for the process, or provide a Windows wizard-based flashing utility. The usual DOS-based process is as follows:

1. Determine motherboard manufacturer, model, and PCB version (hopefully you've already done this)
2. Determine your motherboard's current BIOS revision (the BIOS screen showing detection of drives usually contains a BIOS revision string near the top -- it can either be a number, letters, or a combination of both)
3. Locate the manufacturer's BIOS download page for your motherboard
4. Download the appropriate BIOS (if a newer one is available), and possibly a flashing utility if necessary (sometimes the flashing utility comes in the .ZIP file, and sometimes it doesn't)
5. Find a working, error-free floppy disk, and make it bootable (the formatting utility in Windows can do this, right-click on A: and click Format)
6. Extract the .ZIP file you downloaded, and place the extracted files on the floppy disk. If there is too little space on the disk, you can delete everything Windows put there except for IO.SYS, MSDOS.SYS, and COMMAND.COM
7. Reboot your computer, and make sure it boots off the floppy disk
8. Follow the instructions you read on the manufacturer's site. Most of the time it's as simple as typing "awdflash newbios.bin /py" (for non-Award BIOSes, the commands differ slightly)
9. Turn off your computer, then turn it back on shortly, go into your BIOS setup, select the Load Optimized Defaults option, and then adjust accordingly

Sure, this procedure seems like a lot, but it really isn't in practice. You have to be extremely careful while performing these steps, however. You have to be absolutely sure that the BIOS you downloaded is meant for your motherboard, as well as making sure not to disrupt the power to your computer. While it is possible to fix a misflash in many cases, you can easily avoid having to go through that painful procedure merely by exuding some care and cautiousness. If you have any problems, whether it's finding the correct BIOS, or fixing something you've broken, feel free to post on our forums and ask for help. Someone will be glad to help.

An updated BIOS usually leads to a more reliable and faster system, as well as improving overclocking functionality.