Overclocking

The maximum BIOS overclock I was able to achieve was 4.36 GHz, a core voltage of 1.44v and RAM at 1.66v, my memory clock references also needed to be set from .75v to.76v and I also needed to raise my PCH to 1.12v and QPI link to 1.31v. Not bad for a mainstream motherboard. Temperatures with the overclock were 35C at Idle and a max of 78C at load.

Smart 6: Quick Boost

As per Smart 6: Quick Boost performance tuning, I chose Twin Turbo. With a click of a button and a reboot, the processor was running at 3.52 GHz. For a novice, this is a great tool to help increase performance but it does change your BIOS settings and if you choose to revert back to normal speeds, you will need to reset your system via the BIOS. The other factor is that by using the Quick Boost as an overclocking tool, you need to be aware that it does set your QPI clock ratio down to 18X (normal is 36X), so you are running at half QPI and it does default your memory to 1066MHz plus your overclock. Yes, you are increasing processor power but you are taking a hit on memory and QPI performance. In any case, Quick Boost is a useful tool if you don't have the time for traditional performance tuning.