
The highest reliable base clock speed we could run on the DFI LanParty UT ICFX3200-T2W was 475 MHz, which equals FSB1900 speed! This is almost as much as we were able to hit with a P965 motherboard from Gigabyte, the GA-965P-DQ6. However, we consider products playing in the league of 450+ MHz base speeds (FSB1800+) to be excellent overclockers anyway.
Though there are differences between the various chipsets - the 975X doesn't overclock as well as the other chipsets in the table below - the choice of particular motherboard has become more and more important today. Whether you can reach 450-500 MHz base clock speed is not so much a matter of the chipset used: all three main products (AMD's 580X, the Intel P965 and Nvidia's nForce 680i SLI) are capable of running at these clock speeds.
| FSB OC |
1100 |
1150 |
1200 |
1250 |
1300 |
1350 |
1400 |
1450 |
1500 |
1550 |
| Nvidia 680i |
x |
x |
x |
x |
x |
x |
x |
|
|
|
| Intel 975X |
x |
x |
x |
x |
X |
x |
x |
x |
x |
x |
| Intel P965 |
x |
x |
x |
x |
X |
x |
x |
x |
x |
x |
| AMD 580X |
x |
x |
x |
x |
X |
x |
x |
x |
x |
x |
| FSB OC |
1600 |
1650 |
1700 |
1750 |
1800 |
1850 |
1900 |
1950 |
2000 |
| Nvidia 680i |
x |
x |
x |
x |
X |
x |
x |
x |
x |
| Intel 975X |
x |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Intel P965 |
x |
x |
x |
x |
x |
x |
x |
x |
|
| AMD 580X |
x |
x |
x |
x |
x |
x |
x |
|
|
These are the maximum FSB speeds we were able to reach in our test lab. Note that only enthusiast-class motherboards will hit the highest frequencies; our findings do not necessarily mean that an individual product may perform a bit better than what we found. They merely represent the maximum observed for each chipset.