Overclocking
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| BIOS Frequency and Voltage settings (for overclocking) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Row 0 - Cell 0 | ASRock Z77 OC Formula | Asus Sabertooth Z77 | ECS Z77H2-AX |
| CPU Base Clock | 95-150 MHz (0.1 MHz) | 80-300 MHz (0.1 MHz) | 99-150 MHz (1 MHz) |
| CPU Multiplier | Up to 63x | Up to 63x | Up to 59x |
| DRAM Data Rates | 1066-3000 (200, 266.6 MHz) | 800-3200 (200, 266.6 MHz) | 1066-2800 (200, 266.6 MHz) |
| CPU Vcore | 0.60-1.70 V (5 mV) | 0.80-1.92 V (5 mV) | 1.00-1.50 V (25 mV) |
| VTT Voltage | 0.77-1.63 V (10 mV) | Row 5 - Cell 2 | +0 to +0.63 V (10 mV) |
| VCCSA Voltage | 0.93-1.57 V (5 mV) | 0.80-1.70 V (5 mV) | +0 to +0.63 V (10 mV) |
| PCH Voltage | 0.78-1.65 V (9.3 mV) | 0.80-1.70 V (10 mV) | +0 to +0.63 V (10 mV) |
| DRAM Voltage | 1.17-2.10 V (5 mV) | 1.20-1.92 V (5 mV) | +0 to +0.63 V (10 mV) |
| CAS Latency | 4-15 Cycles | 1-15 Cycles | 4-15 Cycles |
| tRCD | 3-15 Cycles | 1-15 Cycles | 3-15 Cycles |
| tRP | 3-15 Cycles | 1-15 Cycles | 3-15 Cycles |
| tRAS | 9-63 Cycles | 1-255 Cycles | 9-63 Cycles |
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| BIOS Frequency and Voltage settings (for overclocking) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Row 0 - Cell 0 | Gigabyte Z77X-UP5 TH | Intel DZ77RE-75K | MSI Z77A-GD80 |
| CPU Base Clock | 80-133.33 MHz (0.01 MHz) | 100-120 MHz (1 MHz) | 0-655 MHz (0.1 MHz) |
| CPU Multiplier | Up to 63x | Up to 255x | Up to 63x |
| DRAM Data Rates | 1066-3200 (200, 266.6 MHz) | 1066-2666 (266.6 MHz) | 800-3200 (200, 266.6 MHz) |
| CPU Vcore | 0.80-1.85 V (5 mV) | 1.00-1.80 V (5 mV) | 0.81-2.16 V (5 mV) |
| VTT Voltage | 0.80-1.70 V (5 mV) | 1.00-1.80 V (5 mV) | 0.95-1.55 V (10 mV) |
| VCCSA Voltage | 0.72-1.40 V (5 mV) | 0.85-1.80 V (12.5 mV) | 0.87-1.51 V (10mV) |
| PCH Voltage | Not Adjustable | 0.60-2.19 V (12.5 mV) | 0.78-1.73 V (5.5 mV) |
| DRAM Voltage | 1.10-2.10 V (5 mV) | 1.20-2.00 V (12.45 mV) | 1.11-2.47 V (7.5 mV) |
| CAS Latency | 5-15 Cycles | 5-16 Cycles | 5-15 Cycles |
| tRCD | 4-15 Cycles | 4-16 Cycles | 4-15 Cycles |
| tRP | 4-15 Cycles | 4-16 Cycles | 4-15 Cycles |
| tRAS | 5-63 Cycles | 15-75 Cycles | 10-40 Cycles |
Only two companies, MSI and ASRock, manage to break our CPU past 4.70 GHz at 1.25 V core. Gigabyte, ECS, and Asus are marginally behind in CPU overclocking, while Intel’s DZ77RE-75K trails noticeably.
Gigabyte’s Z77X-UP5 TH is the only board in this batch to reach a 111 MHz BCLK. This enhanced capability is usually only desired when overclocking locked processors.
Increasing the Z77H2-AX's base clock through the UEFI lead to what seemed like endless hours of POST failures, so we recommend users not even attempt that with ECS' board.
Asus has historically produced the best memory stability, and its Sabertooth Z77 tops the charts on average. MSI edges out Asus when only two modules are installed, while ASRock edges out MSI when four are needed.
