Five insane upgrades that you should never do

Cool It and Juice It!

Once you've eliminated bottlenecks and pushed your RAM's frequency as high as it can go, the real craziness begins. Increasing your RAM's voltage can give it more headroom--give it too much, however, and your modules will give up the ghost in return. Consider 2.4V and 2.2V the respective red zones for DDR2 and DDR3. To keep from involving the fire department, invest in an active-cooling product such as Corsair's Memory Airflow Fan; or if you really want to push the envelope, pick up a water block for your RAM and integrate it into your water-cooling loop.

Once you've taken your RAM to the bleeding edge and survived, slap your PC's case back together and crank it up. If nothing melts or starts to smoke, you're solid.

Strip Your PC Naked

Most computer users (you know, the sane ones) will never open their PC's case. A few may take the initiative to upgrade their video card or add an extra hard drive--and if you're reading this, you've likely done at least that much. But some seriously hard-core PC freaks spend about as much time tweaking their hardware as they do using it. For obsessive upgraders like them, normal desktop enclosures simply don't cut it. In this section we'll explain how to join the ranks of the truly insane enthusiasts by moving your rig into an open-air test bench.

Bleeding Edge vs. Bleeding Fingers

Open test benches--usually made from a few pieces of glued-together acrylic--provide several advantages over the boring old PC enclosures you're accustomed to seeing. Having quick and easy access to components becomes a necessity for extreme tweakers who push their systems to the limit through overclocking, as well as for users who constantly swap out parts. Also, placing the system in an open-air environment can greatly improve its operating temperatures and increase performance by allowing more overclocking headroom.

The risks that come with a test-bench setup are potentially disastrous. Since all of the hardware is exposed, the possibility of physical damage to your computer--and serious injury to you--increases exponentially. Let's face it, accidents happen. And moving from a normal, enclosed case to an open test bench is a little like stepping out of an amored car, stripping down to your skivvies, and hopping on a motorcycle. The margin for error decreases to nil. Curious children or pets should not be allowed to venture near the computer and its naked parts.

Choose Your Weapon

So you think you're ready to enter the world of the extreme PC modder? Luckily, you have a couple of good ways to set up an open-air test bench. If you have the time and the tools, you can build your own custom tech station with dimensions and features that fit your needs, using any old materials you have lying around; for ideas, see how one determined modder did it. For people who want to get in on the action quickly, a couple of well-designed test benches such as the HSPC Tech Station or the Danger Den Torture Rack are available for purchase. We recommend the Torture Rack for its sexy acrylic design and its ability to house water-cooling loops right out of the box.