from heaps of stuff i have read in the past, increasing your cpu speed [in this case overclocking it to around 3k] appears to help raise the minimum fps in a game. it will of course vary on the game and the settings you have.
fasster cpu spd = basically everything you do on a putey will be faster, if it is cpu orientated will definately run a lot faster with a cpu spd boost. if it is not cpu orientated, it will only be slightly faster. Most games generally are helped but it still depends on the individual game. some games are cpu bound [limited] and others are video card bound [limited] . Benchmarking results are also influenced a lot by cpu and vid cards scores so a boost in either helps too. Non gaming stuff that would benefit would be stuff like - File Converting, File Compression like Raring up a file, Folding with your CPU, Photoshop, CAD. Probly lots more too.
booGz is correct on bios update!
increasing cpu speed causes it to run hotter. increasing cpu core voltage adds to this heat increase, so ideally you want to keep core volltage to a minimum or you will end up needing to get a better cpu cooler. so case ventilation and cpu cooler all help to run cooler.
risk- yes there is a risk but by reading up and knowing what you are doing beforehand minimises this to almost nothing. i have never fried a cpu yet . done lots of overclocking but. i use cpu-z to check my settings cos sometimes i have found that they are not set to what i thought i had set them to and you need to be sure or you could damage stuff and you def dont want to do that!
read what other people have done learn form their experience save your self a loty of time and heart ache and money if you buy the right parts first up.
Pretty much all reviews on new cpus have some sort of overclocking part where they see how well it overclocks. they will tell you what they have done and give findings.
read severaal reviews to get a better overall view .eaxch review will reveal some little differences. it all helps!
Overclocking vid cards - well i dont really recommend it , as they are no where near as robust and you dont gain much imrovement for straining the crap out of them like you do a cpu. but if you are after benchmark scores, it helps a little.