Overclocking Performance
OC Tuner Automatic Overclocking
For the P8Z68-V Pro, ASUS provided two very different ways of overclocking the processor. You can choose to let the BIOS and logic integrated on the board handle it and use the OC Tuner option or you can go the old fashioned route and tweak the settings manually. In my testing I went ahead and tried both to see which provided the best results (should be obvious) and how well they stood up to some torture time.
I am using the same configuration for overclocking as I did for the performance testing including a Core i7-2600K processor that runs at 3.80 GHz top Turbo Boost speed. That is headroom that Intel gives users for its own “automatic overclocking” but ASUS’ OC Tuner software is able to get quite a bit more out of our processor.
Using the automatic setting in the ASUS BIOS we booted up the system and found our top CPU speed at 4.429 GHz, a 16% increase in the clock speed over what we had before. Considering this is “free” performance and that it did not require us to have any real knowledge of how overclocking worked, I would say ASUS is able to provide a real value to the consumer that wants to get more out of their processors but doesn’t want to invest an entire day (and likely a headache or two) to the process.
Manual Overclocking Results
That being said, we did in fact go through that sometimes annoying process of manual overclocking to see what else we could stretch out of the Core i7-2600K with the array of options at our disposal. The results are pretty impressive as well:
I was able to hit the 4.635 GHz mark without having to raise the voltage going to the processor – a good sign for those that have more talent and knowledge in the overclocking field than I. After just a bit of additional power going to the CPU though I was able to hit the highest clock speed personally seen in an overclocking session:
Nice! 4.84 GHz is a solid 27% increase in clock speed on the Core i7-2600K and sets a new high for overclocking potential in my testing. The ASUS Z68 lineup looks like it will do very well for overclockers.
Finally, the NDA is over 😀
Finally, the NDA is over 😀
I will wait the ROG
I will wait the ROG motherboard from Asus for my next PC, lets hope the wait will be worth it.
No mention of USB-3 eh? What
No mention of USB-3 eh? What gives?
What do you mean? It is
What do you mean? It is mentioned on the second page of the review and the chipset itself continues to NOT implement it directly making it a motherboard vendors choice.
Additionally, I saw that in
Additionally, I saw that in the hardocp review they talk about having an issue where the processor wouldn’t do anything other than max frequency and idle frequency if there were any changes made to default bios settings (ie: it woudln’t scale between those properly. Did you guys notice this also? They say it isn’t a big deal but for me, even though I do intend to overclock, I also want to be as smart as possible with power usage. Details here, about 3/4 of the way down in the under the heading called “Note”: http://www.hardocp.com/article/2011/05/11/asus_p8z68v_pro_z68_chipset_motherboard_review/4
Nope, I definitely did not
Nope, I definitely did not see this. When I overclocked the CPU manually or through the OC Tuner, it always clocked back down to the 1600 MHz idle state.
Yeah, it goes down to 1600
Yeah, it goes down to 1600 when idle but I think what they are saying is that it is either 100% or idle – never anything in between and apparently it should be hitting in between. Did you take a look at their article? I’m really close to buying this board when I am off work but I’m wondering whether this is an issue just with their board or if it is something that should make me look elsewhere.
Ah okay, interesting, I
Ah okay, interesting, I didn’t specifically see that or NOT see that either. I’ll take a look.
Thanks. I think they
Thanks. I think they basically are saying that turbo mode is always fully engaged any time the CPU isn’t idling. I’m planning on buying this board in about 5 hours so bang out that test. =)
I’ve noticed that MSI is
I’ve noticed that MSI is promoting their “Military Class” features and Giga-Byte is pushing their “Ultra Durable 3” stuff, with each of them talking about things like solid capaciters and other things that make the boards more durable and have a longer life expectancy. I don’t see any of this from ASUS; is this just a marketing failure on their side or do they not use the same quality of components etc that MSI and Giga-Byte do? Or is it not a big deal in the first place. I looked at their site and only the “Deluxe” Z68 board lists solid capacitors.
Side note: I posted this before but I must not have put the verification code in after submitting before closing the screen. Is there not a way to make the verification code be on-screen at the time I compose the post or will that make things bad for the site with spammers?
It looks like the DVI is
It looks like the DVI is single link. Can you confirm it is Dual? ie support 2560×1600?
Based on the pin layout it
Based on the pin layout it looks like Dual Link DVI-D to me.
Yes, it can handle 2560×1600
Yes, it can handle 2560×1600 resolutions without issue.
Here is a big question for me
Here is a big question for me which could get me to return a whole bunch of stuff i just bought – if you team an Nvidia graphics card like the GTX 560ti (which does not support 3x monitors without SLI) and combine it with this motherboard will you be able to use the 2 DVI on the 560ti and the 1 DVI on the motherboard and now have 3x monitors for a resolution like 5760×1080? This could be a big selling point for some people if they are debating Nvidia VS AMD because AMD is adding it as a standard feature on most cards if you buy the $30 adapter.
I’m going to add a second
I’m going to add a second part to my question that is only applicable if the answer to the first part was yes. If, in fact, you can do do nvidia surround (3x monitors) now without needing SLI thanks to this motherboard it would be great to see a comparison of a p67 + 6950 2GB @ 5760×1080 vs a z68 + 560ti @ 5760×1080.
Asus got TUF bot only for
Asus got TUF bot only for sabertooth.
I’m building a PC with mostly
I’m building a PC with mostly Corsair, ASUS P8Z-Pro, Intel 2500K, ect. I had problems with the LAN not working. The internet connection was On/Off, so returned it and got another new ASUS MB Pro and new 2500K from Fry’s, Guess waht the exact same thing. I called ASUS and the rep. said they had a big problem with that same issue and to get the Maxium MB instead?????