OC for 2700k on Sniper M3 mATX

[Caldezar]

I got a great deal through work on a 2700k and Sniper M3. I've read great things about the board, so I'm hoping it pans out as a solid OC'r. My concern is that the CPU power lead is only a 4 pin, and this will be my first push at a Sandy Bridge i7 OC. (Come from a mostly AMD OC'ing background, and I've heard these can be a bit fussy.) Under reasonable cooling (H80) what should I be expecting from this board/CPU? And should I be concerned about only having a 4 pin CPU power lead? I'm not looking to break any records, and I know generally what the CPU will do. Just thinking about that dang 4 pin. Remaining parts for the build arrive tomorrow and I'd like to get an idea of where to start.

If anyone's running a similar setup, some BIOS numbers wouldn't go amiss for your successful OC's as a starting point. ;)

2700k
Sniper M3 mATX
H80
XFX 850W XXX Ed.
16GB (4x4GB) Mushkin Blackline 1600
Fractal Design Define Mini
etc., etc.

[Perineum]

4.5ghz is usually the sweet spot between voltage and heat. Some cpus don't even require additional voltage at that speed. The voltage jumps are huge from 4.6 to 5.0ghz, very disproportionate.

H80 cools that cpu fine as long as you're not running the voltage up trying to get 5.0ghz

[frontier204]

Let me know how it goes - from my overclock of a AMD Phenom 9950 off a 4-pin connector, the Sandy Bridge shouldn't overload the connector. If you can get a Sandy Bridge to draw as much as that monster without getting unstable I'll be surprised...
The uncovered VRMs are more of a concern than the 4-pin connector IMHO, although if Gigabyte uses the same FETs as what got my Phenom 9950 through the Chimps Challenge at 3.0 GHz you won't have a problem

[trayton]

I'm running both of my 2700K's at 4.5GHz, I can easily push them higher and I'm not a great OC'er I don't play with much lol as I'm still learning. But from my friend who is a good OC'er and watching him work anything over 4.5GHz was pushing it and causing more heat etc. As mentioned above 4.5GHz seems to be the sweet spot.

GL HF :)

[Perineum]

Well the 4 pin power won't matter at all depending on the CPU. I've used some 2600K's that would do 4.5 locked to stock voltage.

.... and they were 24hr Prime95 stable, too

[Caldezar]

Thanks for the responses. I'll be working on it a bit this weekend and we'll see where I get.

[zsamz_]

the real sweetspot is 4.7-4.8 no heat n low voltage 1.2-1.36v

a good cpu will take you to 5.0+ 1.36-1.42v