Asus P7H55M-SI - locked BIOS settings

[xandermac05]

I've just spent rather a long time researching basic CPU overclocking for my Intel i3-540 (which presently sits at the stock 3.06GHz). Having gone into my BIOS to start fiddling, I've realised that all meaningful settings for overclocking are greyed out and inaccessible. Having poked around online, it appears that this is because it's intended as a System Integrator board (I only bought it because it was incredibly cheap at the time, and the board seemed bloody fantastic for the price).

So um... any suggestions? Or am I stuck at 3.06GHz until I replace my motherboard? Could I reasonably complain about this and try to get Scan to replace it with a similar board, if an OC is totally impossible?

It seems an awful waste, seeing as the i3-540 is apparently an OC monster...

 

[videl]

Well you could try complaining...I don't know how far that'll get you though...lol...
You can get another board...but if you don't have the money then idk...
Or you can take a risk and use a bios editor to unlock the greyed out feature on that motherboard...there are 3 bois editors... for all three bios manufacturers...AMI, Pheonix, and Award...you can get the utilitys from bios-mods.com http://bios-mods.com/
And if you want to take the risk but need help actually editing the bios I could probably do it for you...but then I would not take any responsibility if the board renders unusable...lol..doesn't sound that convincing I know...lol...but I have successfully done it on two boards...well you choose... good luck

 

[xandermac05]

Well you could try complaining...I don't know how far that'll get you though...lol...
You can get another board...but if you don't have the money then idk...
Or you can take a risk and use a bios editor to unlock the greyed out feature on that motherboard...there are 3 bois editors... for all three bios manufacturers...AMI, Pheonix, and Award...you can get the utilitys from bios-mods.com http://bios-mods.com/
And if you want to take the risk but need help actually editing the bios I could probably do it for you...but then I would not take any responsibility if the board renders unusable...lol..doesn't sound that convincing I know...lol...but I have successfully done it on two boards...well you choose... good luck

I didn't exactly complain - I was honest about my problem - but Scan did accept a return for my motherboard. The problem now however is that I've gone with an MATX board and case, so if I was to upgrade I'd have to upgrade the case as well as the board itself and I really can't afford all that at once.

I think the plan is to just stick with what I have for the time being and whap a GTX460 in when the prices drop, then further down the line at upgrade time I'll replace the board & case and weigh up overclocking my i3 or replacing the proc as well. Hell of a lot cheaper that way... and I reckon 3.07GHz should still last me a while, especially given that I have a queue of games already bought that were unplayable on my "gaming" laptop (severely limited by its 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo, especially for single-threaded stuff like The Witcher that runs a single core into the ground).

Thanks for the suggestions though!

 

[videl]

lol...alright that is also a pretty wise decision...I myself need a new mobo and to upgrade my graphics and can barely afford only one of em...lol..and not to mention the need of an ssd...lol

 

[xandermac05]

lol...alright that is also a pretty wise decision...I myself need a new mobo and to upgrade my graphics and can barely afford only one of em...lol..and not to mention the need of an ssd...lol

Ahaha "need"? You sound familiar, sir...

 

[videl]

lol...yes I really do think I need an SSD...sooner or later I'll get one...but motherboards first place...then graphics...and then maybe the ssd...or graphics and ssd switched...idk I have a good graphics card but it's not dx11 and that's why i want a new one...