BIOS, Overclocking, Power And Heat
| BIOS Frequency and Voltage settings (for overclocking) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| ASRock P55 Pro | Asus P7P55D | ECS P55H-A | |
| CPU Base Clock | 100-300 MHz (1 MHz) | 80-500 MHz (1 MHz) | 133-600 MHz (1 MHz) |
| CPU Multiplier | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| DRAM Data Rates | BCLK x6 - x12 (x2) | BCLK x6 - x12 (x2) | BCLK x6 - x12 (x2) |
| PCIe Clock | 50-150 MHz (1 MHz) | 100-200 MHz (1 MHz) | 100-200 MHz (1 MHz) |
| CPU Vcore | 0.84-2.00 V (6.25 mV) | 0.85-1.70 V (6.25 mV) | +630 mV (10 mV) |
| Uncore Voltage | 1.11-2.04 V (14 mV) | 1.10-1.70 V (6.25 mV) | +630 mV (10 mV) |
| PCH Core | 1.07-1.49 V (7 mV) | 1.05 V, 1.15 V | +300 mV (10 mV) |
| DRAM Voltage | 1.56-2.01 V (14 mV) | 1.20-2.50 V (12.5 mV) | +630 mV (10 mV) |
| CAS Latency | 6-11 Cycles | 3-11 Cycles | 3-15 Cycles |
| tRCD | 3-15 Cycles | 3-15 Cycles | 3-15 Cycles |
| tRP | 3-15 Cycles | 3-15 Cycles | 3-15 Cycles |
| tRAS | 9-31 Cycles | 3-31 Cycles | 9-63 Cycles |
| BIOS Frequency and Voltage settings (for overclocking) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Gigabyte P55-UD3R | MSI P55-CD53* | |
| CPU Base Clock | 100-1,200 MHz (1 MHz) | 100-600 MHz (1 MHz) |
| CPU Multiplier | Yes | Yes |
| DRAM Data Rates | BCLK x6 - x12 (x2) | BCLK x6 - x16 (x2) |
| PCIe Clock | 90-150 MHz (1 MHz) | 90-190 MHz (1 MHz) |
| CPU Vcore | 0.50-1.90 V (6.25 mV) | +0.389 V (6 mV) |
| Uncore Voltage | 1.05-1.99 V (20 mV) | Not Adjustable |
| PCH Core | 0.95-2.00 V (20 mV) | 1.00-2.40 V (10 mV) |
| DRAM Voltage | 1.30-2.60 V (20 mV) | 0.91-2.41 V (7 mV) |
| CAS Latency | 6-15 Cycles | 4-15 Cycles |
| tRCD | 1-15 Cycles | 3-15 Cycles |
| tRP | 1-15 Cycles | 3-15 Cycles |
| tRAS | 1-31 Cycles | 9-31 Cycles |
Gigabyte has the highest CPU base-clock option, but even ASRock's 300 MHz limit exceeds anything normal overclockers can reach. All of the motherboards also offer higher voltage limits than what most users will need with above-ambient cooling systems.
Gigabyte reached the highest CPU clock, but Asus isn’t far behind. We’ll provide more details on the other three boards on the next page.
ECS’ maximum base clock appears extraordinary compared to the other motherboards. We’ve seen speculation that difficulties in going beyond 210 MHz are mostly caused by a locked PCIe ratio on the CPU.
ASRock reached the highest average DRAM data rate, though Asus and MSI win when only two modules are used. We won’t fuss over a one megahertz difference, since settings this small are not selectable in either motherboard’s BIOS.
MSI has the lowest average power consumption, though the top three boards are similar to each other.
The only brand in today’s roundup to use a heat-pipe cooler on its voltage regulator, Gigabyte has the lowest VRM temperatures followed closely by Asus.
