Chipset (motherboard?) Voltage -- Increase it?

[WhipperSnapper]

My motherboard offers the option of increasing the voltage for its chipset. Would it be worthwhile? What are the negatives? Hotter chips on the motherboard? Reduced motherboard life? How common is it for people to do this?

The stock voltage for my Epox EP-9NPA+Ultra seems to be set at 1.5 V and the BIOS offers the options of increasing the voltage to 1.6, 1.7, or 1.8 V. Would it really help in overclocking?

I'm the guy with the Opteron 148 CABYE 0540 FPBW who can only get to 11 x 50 (2.75 Ghz) at 1.425 V, and I have decreasing marginal returns for increasing the CPU voltage from there (1.5 V required for 11 x 60). I'm wondering if increasing the mobo's voltage might help. (And yes, I know about memory dividers and the HTT multiplier--same results even when set to 3x.)

 

[Zap]

Your results are already great. You're probably just hitting the limit of your CPU. Chipset voltage is probably just for higher bus speeds. You can test this by reducing your Opteron multiplier to 5X and then seeing how high you can clock your bus/RAM. That will tell you if 250MHz is your limit of system bus regardless of CPU. Most likely you'll be able to hit around 300MHz thereabouts once you take your CPU out of the equation. If so, that would mean your CPU is holding you back from a higher overclock - but again, you're at such a high speed already that I don't think you'll find that much sympathy around here. It's like moving to a working class neighborhood and complaining that you only make $5 million per year.