Our systems are very similar. I have an i7 860, but otherwise it's almost the same as yours (even the same case).
I'll do some googling, there just seems like there is a lot more to it than there used to be.
That makes this easier then. Basically I've found there's two ways to run my i5 750 (and I imagine the i7 860 is very similar) with a major focus - either efficiency or performance. That means, you can turn on all the power saving features and have it sip power, or you can turn them all off and crank performance, but unfortunately there doesn't seem to be a happy medium. I'm guessing you want to go with the performance, so without further adieu:
1) Flash your BIOS to the latest version (F5 if you're using the P55M-UD4)
2) Turn off all power saving features (in the MIB menu), including all the C-states and EIST, as I've found these really destabilize the hell out of the chip
3) Leave Turbo mode on, as it's the only way to select your highest multiplier (you want this multi to you can keep your BCLK low)
4) To overclock your CPU, raise the BCLK, frequency is BCLK x multiplier, usually BCLK up to 190 haven't seen many issues reported with, 190-200 you need more voltage, and 200+ usually requires more voltage than it's worth, but who knows, you might have a good chip.
5) Do the standard things like lock your PCIe frequency at 100MHz, etc.
6) Make sure you RAM is configured to run at its rated speed using the memory multiplier and its stock timings and voltage. You can work on overclocking your RAM as well, but do it later as it's difficult to keep track of what's holding you back if you incorporate too many variables.
7) Voltages - Intel specifies that you should not exceed 1.55V Vcore, 1.21V VTT/QPI, and 1.65V Vdimm, those are good guidelines to keep. Your cooling will most likely fail before you get to 1.55Vcore, but the VTT rating is much lower than on the socket 1366, and a lot of guides and review sites have exceeded this. It might not matter, but it also might be killing CPUs, who knows. The rest of the voltages like CPU PLL can stay at stock values. For reference, I'm running 1.35V Vcore, 1.21V VTT, 1.6V Vdimm, stock everything else. Vcore I've found stabilizes the CPU (duh) and also the PCIe component. Since being incorporated into these chips, it actually limits the performance, hence you need more Vcore than on socket 1366 i7's. VTT seems to stabilize higher BCLK values, and obviously Vdimm is for you RAM.
8) Hyperthreading is something else you'll have to consider, but I really can't help you on it because I have no experience with it on the socket 1156 platform. Generally, hyperthreading will make you run hotter and make it harder to overclock (more voltage/heat for a given speed). Up to you if you want to leave it on or not.
9) Stability testing - use memtest86+ for RAM, prime95/OCCT for CPU, and also try it out in some demanding games (GTAIV found some good weaknesses in my overclock).
That should get your started in the right direction, lemme know if you have more questions
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