Complex OC'ing requires knowing the purpose and limits of every BIOS setting of the motherboard you are working with. And experience helps.
I think there is about 4 levels (well, 5, if you count "insane"). First, there are the lazy ones who rely on Windows based utilities. None of us recommend that. For one thing, there are too many Auto voltage settings.
Second are the cookbookers. They are also lazy, but at least they are trying to use the BIOS. Typical post: "Give me a list of settings to run my i7-930 at 4.0 GHz in a Bit-Basher 3000 motherboard." This doesn't work because all components are different. A good example - the G'byte G41M-ES2L is a lovely little entry level Core2 motherboard. Depending on the sample, the upper limit of the FSB freq is between about 340 MHz and 360 MHz.
Third are those who have a pretty good knowledge of the BIOS and a good practical knowledge of overclocking.
Fourth are the real experts who do know about every BIOS setting. That's really not that hard. It just takes time and persistence. There's this wonderful invention called the internet where you can discover all sorts of arcane things: "What's clock skew? Why is it important? When does it apply?"
Then there are the insane. They are the ones using liquid nitrogen to cool CPU's and chipsets.
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Overclocking since 1978 - Z80 (TRS-80) from 1.77 MHz to 2.01 MHz