Safe voltage for i7 950?
Try to make an OC setting that doesn't need more voltage. You want a stable OC for gaming and the 950 is still powerfull enough for most games. Don't fry your CPU.
20% OC should be sufficient. If you have a good cooler.
20% OC should be sufficient. If you have a good cooler.
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Joocyfroot
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1.375 is intel recommended max.
They always give a safety net above recommended, but I would never venture into that area on a CPU that you actually plan on using. The gains usually aren't worth the risk.
If you're air cooling you will most likely be limited by heat before you are limited by voltage.
Not sure how experienced you are with OC'ing, but do keep in mind that heat increases exponentially with voltage increases. Meaning a small voltage increase can have dramatic effects on the core temps.
Also keep in mind that if you are using an aftermarket cooler it's almost guaranteed that you're VRM is getting less cooling than they would if you used a stock cooler (well unless you've mounted a fan specifically to cool the VRM). VRM quality can vary from motherboard to motherboard and lower quality VRMs will run hotter. You can buy heatsinks for them as well, so if you don't already have heatsinks I would highly recommend spending the 20 bux to get some if you are set on playing with voltages.
I would suggest taking MadmanCK's advice anyways. For gaming, overclocking an i7 to it's limits is probably not going to translate into a whole lot of difference in real world performance.
If you are dead set on getting your rig to it's limits I would suggest reading a few guides.
Edit: To clarify why I mentioned issues with VRM cooling, increasing the voltage on your cpu will in turn increase the heat produced by the VRM. The VRM is responsible for switching the 12v supplied by the PSU via the motherboard to the voltage required for your cpu (roughly 1.2v in the case of the i7 950). VRMs can fail if they produce too much heat, which would most likely result in a bricked motherboard.
They always give a safety net above recommended, but I would never venture into that area on a CPU that you actually plan on using. The gains usually aren't worth the risk.
If you're air cooling you will most likely be limited by heat before you are limited by voltage.
Not sure how experienced you are with OC'ing, but do keep in mind that heat increases exponentially with voltage increases. Meaning a small voltage increase can have dramatic effects on the core temps.
Also keep in mind that if you are using an aftermarket cooler it's almost guaranteed that you're VRM is getting less cooling than they would if you used a stock cooler (well unless you've mounted a fan specifically to cool the VRM). VRM quality can vary from motherboard to motherboard and lower quality VRMs will run hotter. You can buy heatsinks for them as well, so if you don't already have heatsinks I would highly recommend spending the 20 bux to get some if you are set on playing with voltages.
I would suggest taking MadmanCK's advice anyways. For gaming, overclocking an i7 to it's limits is probably not going to translate into a whole lot of difference in real world performance.
If you are dead set on getting your rig to it's limits I would suggest reading a few guides.
Edit: To clarify why I mentioned issues with VRM cooling, increasing the voltage on your cpu will in turn increase the heat produced by the VRM. The VRM is responsible for switching the 12v supplied by the PSU via the motherboard to the voltage required for your cpu (roughly 1.2v in the case of the i7 950). VRMs can fail if they produce too much heat, which would most likely result in a bricked motherboard.