AMD Crossfire Xpress 3200 Chipset for Core 2 Rolls, But Doesn't Rock

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Overclocking? Check!

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.

Swipe to scroll horizontally
FSB OC1100115012001250130013501400145015001550
Nvidia 680ixxxxxxxRow 0 - Cell 8 Row 0 - Cell 9 Row 0 - Cell 10
Intel 975XxxxxXxxxxx
Intel P965xxxxXxxxxx
AMD 580XxxxxXxxxxx
Swipe to scroll horizontally
FSB OC160016501700175018001850190019502000
Nvidia 680ixxxxXxxxx
Intel 975XxRow 1 - Cell 2 Row 1 - Cell 3 Row 1 - Cell 4 Row 1 - Cell 5 Row 1 - Cell 6 Row 1 - Cell 7 Row 1 - Cell 8 Row 1 - Cell 9
Intel P965xxxxxxxxRow 2 - Cell 9
AMD 580XxxxxxxxRow 3 - Cell 8 Row 3 - Cell 9

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.

Patrick Schmid