Newly built system - BIOS questions!

Hey all!

I just finished building my new system (the first one I've ever built myself!!! ) and everything seems to be working out OK. I am so excited that I was able to get this thing together. When I started, I didn't think I would make it, but I am happy to report that after 6 hours of work, I got it together and everything loaded up on the first shot! However, I am unsure of some of the settings in the BIOS. I am using a Gigabyte EX58-UD5.

The first issue I have is that the BIOS has my CPU clock ratio at 20, for a total of 2.66 GHz. The thing is, I have an i7-950 in there, which should be running at 3.06. Why would the BIOS default to a lower setting like that? Might there be something wrong with my processor? Am I safe to up the clock ratio to 23 to get my rated 3.06?

Second, is there a good BIOS walkthrough or tutorial out there that explains each of the options in depth? I want to get into tweaking, but I don't want to cause any damage to anything.

Finally, I am interested in playing around with overclocking. I am using the stock heatsink and fan that came with the retail i7-950. How fast could I up the processor without having to change the fan or sink? Is overclocking easy to play with? Is it dangerous? Like I said, I really don't want to mess anything up! Is there a good tutorial out there for overclocking? If RAM matters, I am using Corsair XMS3 3 x 2GB DDR3 1600 memory.

Thanks a ton for any help you can give!

Elader

Sounds like your CPU multiplier needs to be set higher. Have you upgraded to the latest BIOS? It's possible that there's an error that has been fixed in the most recent BIOS. I don't know, perhaps this 'bump' will bring in someone who does.

But still usually it's a good idea to catch up with the latest BIOS when you finish your build. If you need instructions on how to flash your BIOS look here: http://forums.tweaktown.com/f69/bi [...] ide-27576/

Be sure to use the BIOS based Q-Flash. Whatever you do, do not use the software based @BIOS. I think bilbat said it best (talking about @bios):

Speak of the devil!

I'll see if anything pops up - one of my projects for the near future is to hang out a bit at Extreme to try to find out what's up with the latest X58/P55 BIOS situation; a number have 'vanished' and some 'regular' ones (maybe, finally not beta - at least, no 'small letter' suffix...) have appeared in their places, and the convulsion seems to have occurred in Europe (where I usually go for BIOS), too... But, there's a lot on the docket: working on another set of P55 parameters, and trying to come up with an easier method to generate the buggers; gotta 'wipe' drives, and reinstall six of nine OSs (was running my four VRs, normally kept in two RAID0 pair, as one four drive RAID0 array to benchmark - turns out, the scuttlebutt is right - ICHs 'loose steam' in anything bigger than a two drive RAID0 - reads went from ~200MBS to ~175...), new ATI driver & AVIVO set; Office2010β hit TechNet... Gots to quit sleeping, it's such a time waster!