Biting the bullet and exploring OC a little (i7 975)

[CaptKornDog 195]

Well, having my i7 975 processor for a few years now, and the warranty pretty much gone...and still trying to chase down FS9 and FSX stutters (see my big post http://forum.avsim.n...n-fs9-stutters/)...I've decided to explore some conservative overclocking.I have a slight understanding of the basics. However, with so many different processors and tutorials out there, I can't decide which is the best one to follow. Again, I'm not trying to get a 5.0 GHz machine or anything that is guaranteed to break the envelope.In my BIOS I've always seen a tab labeled "Extreme Tweaking" and right near the top there is a CPU automatic mode with two additional options, "i7-crazy-3.75G" and "i7-crazy 4.2G". The description says that selecting these options will automatically adjust the appropriate voltages, multiplier settings, etc.For someone totally new to overclocking, and running on an air-cooled system (at idle my system runs around 35-42 C, in FS9 with Firefox open and a few of my other usual processes, it peaks around 58 C; averages 42-52 C), is selecting one of these automatic options the easiest way to overclock and most conservative? What is the highest I should be comfortable taking the temperature to, 60-70ish?). I understand I'll need to monitor temperatures obviously and stress test (anyone have suggestions/tutorials for software, Prime95?), but are the automatic options the best way for set-it-and-forget-it?Thanks.

[tfm 23]

Like yours, my old PC was / is a 975 on an Asus Rampage II Extreme.Don't attempt any overclocking unless you have a good CPU cooler: the Noctua DH-14 has a good reputation and is the one I would use.Don't use the pre-set options: they will send too much voltage to the CPU and may cause damage.Then try this for a 4.4GHz overclock:AI overclock - manual CPU Ratio setting - 33 CPU configuration CPU Ratio Setting - 33 C1E Support - disable Hardware prefetcher - enable Adjacent Cache line prefetcher - enable Intel Virtualization tech - disabled CPU TM Function - disable Execute Disabled bit - enable Intel HT Technology - disable Active Processor Cores - all A20M - disabled Intel Speedstep tech - disable Intel C-STATE tech - disabled  BCLK frequency - 133 PCIE frequency - leave it alone for now DRAM frequency - leave it alone for now UCLK frequency - leave it alone for now QPI frequency - auto Dram timing control - leave it alone for now EPU II phase control - full phase Load-line calibration - enable CPU differential amplitude - auto Extreme OV - disabled  Current voltage 1.54v - 1.812v - 1.35v (May be different) Cpu voltage - 1.385v or as near to this as you can get CPU PLL voltage - leave it alone for now QPI-Dram voltage - leave it alone for now Current voltage 1.131v - 1.508v - 1.111v - 1.508v IOH voltage - auto IOH PCIE voltage - auto ICH voltage- auto ICH PCIE voltage - auto Current voltage X.xxx v, X.xxx v, X.xxx v ,X.xxx v DRAM Bus voltage - leave it alone for now DRAM REF voltage - leave it alone for now Debug mode - string Keyboard TeakIt comtrol - disabled CPU spread spectrum - disabled PCIE spectrum - disabled CPU clock skew - auto IOH clock skew - auto Take it from there. Assuming you can boot into Windows, you will need to test that you have achieved reasonable stability. Try downloading OCCT and running it for an hour or so. This lets you monitor temperatures and voltages. It will shut down if it detects the temperature getting too high (by default it is actually over-conservative: the Tjunction temperature can safely reach nearly 100 degrees centigrade though aim not to exceed 80 degrees centigrade).You are unlikely to get it right first time around. You may have to settle for a lower overclock to get a stable PC at reasonable temperatures and voltages. You may find that you have too much RAM to get a very high overclock (the more sticks of RAM you use, the harder it is to reach the highest CPU overclock - but you will want to keep at least 3 sticks in the right slots to retain triple channel operations). Your main variables are:1. CPU Ratio Setting: unlocked on the 9752. BCLCK Speed: default is 133: you might be able to push it to 200 or so(CPU speed is the product of those two variables).3. CPU Voltage: aim for the lowest that will deliver stability at your chosen combination of 1 and 2. People set their own limits. There is no magic number as each processor is slightly different BUT (i) higher voltages carry more risk/ will reduce component life faster and (ii) voltages above 1.4v definitely carry noticeably greater risk and (iii) it is probably imprudent to exceed 1.42v for any length of time.You may find that tweaking some of the other settings helps, but in my experience this is very marginal at best. You may also be able to tweak your RAM timings. However, I would start by getting a stable overclock with the CPU using conservative /default RAM settings, and then working little-by-little towards an optimal solution.RgdsTim