ASRock P67 Transformer: P67 Gets LGA 1156 Compatibility

By Thomas Soderstrom
published

Upgrading to Intel’s P67 will certainly require a new motherboard, but the fact that you won’t need a new CPU appears to be Intel’s dirty-little-secret. ASRock found the secret and exploited it, bringing next-generation performance to today’s processors.

Test System Configuration

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Test System Configuration
LGA 1155 CPUIntel Core i5-2500K (3.30 GHz, 6 MB L3 Cache) Overclocked to 4.00 GHz at 1.20 V, 100 MHz BCLK
LGA 1156 CPUIntel Core i5-750 (2.66 GHz, 8 MB L3 Cache) Overclocked to 4.00 GHz at 1.40 V, 200 MHz BCLK
P67/LGA 1155 MotherboardASRock P67 Extreme6 BIOS L0.39c (11/26/2010) Intel P67 Express, LGA 1155
P67/LGA 1156 MotherboardASRock P67 Transformer BIOS L0.39c (11/26/2010) Intel P67 Express, LGA 1156
P55/LGA 1156 MotherboardASRock P55 Extreme4 BIOS P1.40 (08/18/2010) Intel P55 Express, LGA 1156
Graphics CardSparkle Calibre X580GeForce GTX 580  810 MHz GPU, 1536 MB GDDR5-4032
RAMKingston KHX2133C9D3T1K2/4GX (4 GB) DDR3-2133 at DDR3-1600 CAS CAS 7-7-7-21
OS Hard DriveWestern Digital RE3 WD1002FBYS 1 TB, 7200 RPM, SATA 3Gb/s, 32 MB Cache
Test DriveCrucial RealSSD C300 256 MB (SATA 6Gb/s, MLC)
SoundIntegrated HD Audio
NetworkIntegrated Gigabit Networking
PowerOCZ-Z1000M 1000 W Modular ATX12V v2.2, EPS12V, 80 PLUS Gold
Software
OSMicrosoft Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
GeForce GraphicsNvidia GeForce/Ion 263.09
ChipsetIntel INF 9.2.0.1015
StorageIntel iRST 1.0.0.0.1046 (AHCI Mode)

A fast hard drive could prove the performance limits of each chipset’s SATA controller, if only a fast enough drive were available. Crucial updated us to the latest version of its RealSSD C300.

Games make up our platform benchmark set, helping us to determine overall performance. An 810 MHz GPU clock and GDDR5-4032 memory help Sparkles’ Calibre X580 push astronomically-high frame rates.

The high data rates available from Kingston’s DDR3-2133 weren’t needed for today’s analysis, but its ability to run DDR3-1600 at 1.54 V was preferred.

With an efficiency level of nearly 90% across a wide range of loads, OCZ’s Z100M kept these overclocked machines at their greenest.

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Benchmark Configuration
3D GamesRow 0 - Cell 1
Aliens Vs. Predator BenchmarkAlien vs Predator Benchmark Tool Test Set 1: Highest Settings, No AA Test Set 2: Highest Settings, 4x AA
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2Campaign, Act III, Second Sun (45 sec. FRAPS) Test Set 1: Highest Settings, No AA Test Set 2: Highest Settings, 4x AA
CrysisPatch 1.2.1, DirectX 10, 64-bit executable, benchmark tool Test Set 1: Highest Quality, No AA Test Set 2: Highest Quality, 4x AA
DiRT 2Run with -benchmark example_benchmark.xml Test Set 1: Highest Settings, No AA Test Set 2: Highest Settings, 4x AA
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call Of PripyatCall Of Pripyat Benchmark version Test Set 1: Highest Settings, No AA Test Set 2: Highest Settings, 4x MSAA
Power / Gaming Efficiency
GPU LoadFurMark 1.6.5 Stability Test, 1920x1200, 4x AA
P3 Kill A Watt P4400Global Power Consumption at AC outlet
Storage
h2benchw 3.16Sustained and Repetitive Reads, Average Access Time, Zone Measurements
Iometer 2008.08.18File server Benchmark, Web server Benchmark, Database Benchmark, Workstation Benchmark Streaming Reads, Streaming Writes
Synthetic Benchmarks and Settings
PCMark VantageVersion: 1.0.2.0, Hard Drive Test
Thomas Soderstrom
Thomas Soderstrom
Thomas Soderstrom is a Senior Staff Editor at Tom's Hardware US. He tests and reviews cases, cooling, memory and motherboards.
66 Comments Comment from the forums
  • James296
    Hmmm, I'll be keeping an eye on ASRock for future products that I may buy. especially for my next build
    Reply
  • xxsk8er101xx
    I dunno why you would buy this. Mixing technology never works.
    Reply
  • kcorp2003
    My next build is in Q1 or Q2 2012. where ivy bridge cpu is eight-core processors for mainstream and quad-core processors at the entry level segment. As of right now i'm sticking to my Q9550 3.4Ghz and HD4870. I can live with the extra few seconds or mins for boot up, loading, compressing, unzip, converting, installing, etc... can waste the time reading some toms articles :) or other important things like eating.

    Also most game engines aren't optimize yet to take advantage what I have. except for Dx11. I know frostbite engine 2.0 thats making Battlefield 3 will be optimize for multi core and Dx11.

    All of my games plays well on 1680x1050 on medium settings. So I'm good. Don't need anything yet. Unless I want to game in 3D. then ill need to invest for a new complete build to play 3D comfortably; GPU (crossfire or SLI), 120Hz monitor, new CPU @ 4Ghz, Window 7, SSD (hopefully), x78 mobo, RAM, and wrap it up with a nice case with lots of air flow and wiring management. which i'm saving up money for in 2012 before the world ends :)
    Reply
  • joytech22
    xxsk8er101xxMixing technology never works.
    You mean like DVD/BD Combo drives? they work pretty damn well in my opinion.

    Asrock has done pretty well for themselves, I'm going to keep a close eye on them as long as they provide, at the very least, AMD Bulldozer boards that support SLI.


    Reply
  • Reynod
    Thanks crash !!

    :)
    Reply
  • PreferLinux
    xxsk8er101xxI dunno why you would buy this. Mixing technology never works.joytech22You mean like DVD/BD Combo drives? they work pretty damn well in my opinion.Asrock has done pretty well for themselves, I'm going to keep a close eye on them as long as they provide, at the very least, AMD Bulldozer boards that support SLI.You mean, like DVD drives, that support CDs as well???
    Reply
  • dco
    Sandy bridges sacrifices far out-way its slight performance increase, quite disappointing. I wont be upgrading until both performance and scalability are met.
    Reply
  • joytech22
    PreferLinuxYou mean, like DVD drives, that support CDs as well???
    Or DVD/CD/BD/BDXL/Litescribe as well????? :D
    Reply
  • nekromobo
    anyone asked or answered if there's any real need for these i5-750 or k2500/k2600 if you have lga775 3.2-3.6ghz core2quad.

    500-1k update for few measly fps, no thanks.

    I know power is some concern but the new mobo+cpu will eat power too no matter how you look at it.
    Reply
  • apache_lives
    Who would want to use a crappy 2 year old motherboard with a new processor and video card and everything? who cares - new rig = NEW STUFF

    dcoSandy bridges sacrifices far out-way its slight performance increase, quite disappointing. I wont be upgrading until both performance and scalability are met.
    the "new" i5's and i7's arent revolutionary, there evolutionary - those of you with older i5's and i7's wont see much of a jump thats expected, there just newer models etc - why are you complaining?

    xxsk8er101xxI dunno why you would buy this. Mixing technology never works.
    agreed, even if it did, why bother?

    James296Hmmm, I'll be keeping an eye on ASRock for future products that I may buy. especially for my next build
    asrock and MSI - i dont understand why people concider there products, MSI in perticular - there horrid rubbish, MSI should stand for "might start intermittently" and asrock at work we call assrock or ascock - bla.

    Modding and unofficial support and all that isnt new, asus used to always beat everyone in those reguards, if you think about it, the socket 478 and 775 days - all those used the same GTL/FSB design, technically you can use the original 845 chipset with a Q9650 (aswell as the Intel Atom, Pentium M, Intel Core Duo, Xeon and so on) provided you have the right pin-out and vrm design (and bios obviously) and give it AGP, SDR ram, IDE etc but again WHY BOTHER?
    Reply