Overclocking
Let's have a look at the different BIOS controls on each board:
| BIOS Frequency and Voltage Settings (for overclocking) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Row 0 - Cell 0 | ASRock M3A785GXH/128M | ASUSM4A785TD-V EVO | BiostarTA785GE 128M | FoxconnCinema Premium |
| CPU Ref Clock | 150-500 MHz (1 MHz) | 200-550 (1 MHz) | 200-600 (1 MHz) | 190-600 (1 MHz) |
| CPU Multiplier | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| mGPU Clock | 350-2000 MHz (1 MHz) | 150-2000 MHz (1 MHz) | 150-1200 MHz (1 MHz) | 150-2020 MHz (1 MHz) |
| SidePort Mem Clock | 533-1700 MHz (steps) | 667-1000 MHz (steps) | 333-533 MHz (steps) | N/A |
| DRAM Data Rates | 800/1066/1333/1600 | 800/1066/1333/1600 | 400/533/667/800/1066 | 400/533/667/800/1066 |
| PCIe Clock | 75-250 MHz (1 MHz) | 100-150 MHz (1 MHz) | None | 90-250 MHz (1 MHz) |
| CPU Vcore | 0.60-1.4875V (0.125V) | 1.00-1.7V (0.00625V) | 0.05-1.45V (0.05V) | +250-775mV (25mV) |
| 785G Core | 0.6-1.4875V (0.0125V) | 1.10-1.61V (0.015V) | 0.05-1.45V (0.05V) | +300-360mV (30mV) |
| SB710 Core | None | None | 1.2-1.5V (0.1V) | +300-360mV (30mV) |
| mGPU Voltage | Row 10 - Cell 1 | None | None | See 785G Core |
| SidePort Voltage | 1.5-1.8V (0.1V) | 1.5-1.7V (0.1V) | 1.8-2.1V (0.1V) | N/A |
| DRAM Voltage | 1.48-2.4V (~0.05V) | 1.5-2.31V (0.015V) | 1.95-2.65V (0.1V) | +500-600mV (50mV) |
| Command Rate | 1T-2T | None | 1T-2T | 1T-2T |
| CAS Latency | 4-12 Cycles | 4-12 Cycles | 3-7 Cycles | 3-7 Cycles |
| tRCD | 5-12 Cycles | 5-12 Cycles | 3-6 Cycles | 5-12 Cycles |
| tRP | 5-12 Cycles | 5-12 Cycles | 3-6 Cycles | 5-12 Cycles |
| tRAS | 15-22 Cycles | 15-30 Cycles | 15-30 Cycles | 15-30 Cycles |
| BIOS Frequency and Voltage Settings (for overclocking) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Row 0 - Cell 0 | GigabyteGA-MA785GT-UD3H | ECSA785GM-M | MSI785GM-E65 |
| CPU Ref Clock | 200-500 MHz (1 MHz) | 190-400 MHz (1 MHz) | 190-400 MHz (1 MHz) |
| CPU Multiplier | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| mGPU Clock | 200-2000 MHz (1 MHz) | 150-1200 MHz (1 MHz) | 200-999 MHz (1 MHz) |
| SidePort Mem Clock | N/A | N/A | 1066/1333/1600/1700 |
| DRAM Data Rates | 800/1066/1333/1600 | 800/1066/1333/1600 | 800/1066/1333/1600 |
| PCIe Clock | 100-200 MHz (1 MHz) | None | 100-150 MHz (1 MHz) |
| CPU Vcore | +/-0.025-0.6V (0.025V) | 0.8-1.550V (0.025V) | 0.988-1.976V (0.001V) |
| 785G Core | +0.1-0.3V (0.1V) | +0.005-0.315V (0.005V) | 1.108-1.337V (~0.023V) |
| SB710 Core | +/-0.025-0.6V (0.025V) | 1.2-1.35V (.05V) | 1.228-1.472V (~0.023V) |
| mGPU Voltage | None | None | None |
| SidePort Voltage | N/A | N/A | None |
| DRAM Voltage | +0.05-0.75V (0.05V) | +0.001-0.063V (steps) | 1.55-2.42V (~0.1V) |
| Command Rate | 1T-2T | None | 1T-2T |
| CAS Latency | 4-12 Cycles | 4-12 Cycles | 4-12 Cycles |
| tRCD | 5-12 Cycles | 5-12 Cycles | 5-12 Cycles |
| tRP | 5-12 Cycles | 5-12 Cycles | 5-12 Cycles |
| tRAS | 15-30 Cycles | 15-30 Cycles | Auto |
Let's see how well these boards overclocked the integrated 785G graphics core compared to one another:
We checked the mGPU overclock at 100 MHz steps in order to get a general idea of how well these boards might perform. It seems even the least cooperative sample made it to 800 MHz, for a 60% overclock. The best result was 1,000 MHz, which represents a 100% overclock. If only discrete cards would show us these kind of gains. Let's see how this translates to actual performance:
The highest results come from the highest overclocks, except for the Gigabyte board, which made it to 1,000 MHz but lacks the SidePort memory to really take advantage of this boost. Note that the MSI board surpassed the Foxconn and ECS platforms even though they sported higher overclocks (attributable, perhaps, to highly overclocked SidePort memory). With every board, the overclock enables a massive boost at 1024x768, going from the verge of playable to quite comfortable.
