It really depends on what your overclocking and how it scales.
For example my Q6600 GOSLACR (A known good overclocking chip) has been running for well over 2 years with over a 40% overclock with zero issues, a very small voltage increase and sensible temps.
I successfully overclocked a GTX460 (another known good overclocker) to simply stunning speeds with a massive improvement in performance using basic software.
However my latest aquisition a 5870 scales very badly with an overclock. It needs loads of voltage, gets very hot and makes little or no improvement.
The best option is to search the overclocking community and find out what's hot and what's not.
So yes IMO overclocking is well worth the effort with the right hardware and lots of testing but it's not for everyone. You really need a basic grasp of what you're doing or at least some good instructions.
My success has always showed on my 3dmark scores and been very noticeable in game.
I've never melted or damaged anything but once you start modifying voltages have no doubt it's more than possible.
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