i7 950 + Rampage 3 Formula OC BIOS recommendations

[xeromist]

Mainly you'll see people shying from OC software because it is often harder to tweak an active system (depends on software) and generally even inexperienced overclockers are more intelligent than a piece of software. The software is getting better I suppose but I don't think it measures up to someone who does a little bit of research on overclocking their platform.

What you may find is a good approach is to start making small changes in the software until you find the practical limit there and then move to the BIOS to see if you can get higher clocks or lower voltages. It will give you a chance to get a feel for your system with a little bit of help before you go deeper.

BTW, these days you would have a very hard time "blowing up" a system because there are safeties built in. The key is to make small changes so that you can find sweet spots. Making large changes or changing more than one thing at a time will leave you guessing at exactly where the sweet spot is.

[ThingsandStuff]

Thanks for the advice xeromist. I did some more research and finally found some good videos on BIOS settings. Here's what I'm at for now. (Too hot for my liking, still trying to figure out the whole voltage thing.)

[Six Foot Ginger]

wow that is hot, shoot for something allot bit less crazy on that part maybe 3.6 or as fast as you can make it without a voltage bump

[pcjunkie209]

BTW here is a pic of my setup to give you an idea of my cooling situation, just above the CPU are 2 x 140mm fans pulling air straight out the top of my case. There is another at the front of the case.

Ya that cooler is no good in that case at 4.0. The setup we(ginger and I) had with that cooler at 4.0 was no good unless I lade the Pc on it's side. ?? Even then all I could get was 3.8 and it was pushing 85c. So I would take Raja advice but don't buy H50. Garbage!!

[Six Foot Ginger]

agree with Junkie buy a newer high end water cooler.

[V2-V3]

I have been looking at an H100 and it should be more than capable of holding a 4GHz Overclock.