A88X-Pro Firmware
XMP is an Intel-backed technology for specifying more aggressive DRAM settings through a small amount of flash memory on the memory module. In general, Asus customers who want to take advantage of that feature and overclock other components must first choose XMP mode from the Ai Overclock Tuner menu before making any changes.
Asus has branded XMP for AMD as D.O.C.P (DRAM overclocking profiles), and its application of our memory’s DDR3-3000 profile at least allows us to use AMD’s top 24x memory multiplier together with a little extra reference clock. Unfortunately, the A88X-Pro tries to pair that multiplier with a non-bootable 125 MHz reference clock. After starting over at 100 MHz and working our way up, we eventually reached a data rate of 2542 MT/s.
Unlike ASRock's board, the A88X-Pro never breached our processor’s thermal limit, even after pushing the core to an approximate 1.45 V using the board’s 1.425 V setting. Better still, it continued to run a few degrees cooler, while also reaching 4.55 GHz.
With memory reporting moved to a different screen, the DRAM timings menu starts off with actual settings. Primary and secondary timings take up the first page.
Scrolling down a page reveals tertiary timings and signal controls.
Digi+ Power Control adds load-line calibration to reduce droop under load, plus voltage regulator and current limit controls.
