Overclocking
The following is a list of settings each motherboard is capable of providing for your overclocking demands.
| BIOS Frequency and Voltage settings (for overclocking) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Row 0 - Cell 0 | Asus Maximus III Formula | Asus P7P55D-E Premium | EVGA P55 Classified 200 | MSI Big Bang-Trinergy |
| CPU Base Clock | 80-500 MHz (1 MHz) | 80-500 MHz (1 MHz) | 133-300 MHz (1 MHz) | 100-600 MHz (1 MHz) |
| CPU Multiplier | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| DRAM Data Rates | BCLK x6 - x12 (x2) | BCLK x6 - x12 (x2) | BCLK x6 - x12 (x2) | BCLK x6 - x12 (x2) |
| PCIe Clock | 100-200 MHz (1 MHz) | 100-200 MHz (1 MHz) | 80-200 MHz (1 MHz) | 90-190 MHz (1 MHz) |
| CPU Vcore | 0.85-2.10V (6.25mV) | 0.85-2.10V (6.25mV) | 1.00-2.30V (6.25mV) | 0.90-2.10 (6.25mV) |
| Uncore Voltage | 1.01-2.00V (13.25mV) | 1.10-1.90V (6.25mV) | 1.05-2.00V (25mV) | 0.48-2.09V (16mV) |
| PCH Core | 1.01-1.35V 13.25mV) | 1.05V, 1.15V | 1.05-2.625V (25mV) | 0.45-1.95V (15mV) |
| DRAM Voltage | 1.21-2.50V (13.25mV) | 1.20-2.50V (12.5mV) | 1.20-2.60V (10mV) | 0.93-2.43V (15mV) |
| CAS Latency | 3-11 Cycles | 3-11 Cycles | 3-15 Cycles | 4-15 Cycles |
| tRCD | 3-15 Cycles | 3-15 Cycles | 3-15 Cycles | 3-15 Cycles |
| tRP | 3-15 Cycles | 3-15 Cycles | 3-15 Cycles | 3-15 Cycles |
| tRAS | 3-31 Cycles | 3-31 Cycles | 9-63 Cycles | 9-31 Cycles |
While all of today’s motherboards offer fairly aggressive voltage levels, we keep ours consistently moderate to prevent CPU damage.
The top-three motherboards provide identical overclocking capabilities, proving the maturity and consistent quality of these high-end products. Any difference of less than 22 MHz is nothing more than a “rounding error” when a 22x multiplier is used.
Moderate voltage levels don’t lend themselves to record-breaking base clocks, but the EVGA P55 Classified 200 still stands out by achieving good results from our modest effort.
MSI surprised us with a super-high DRAM data rate at mild 1.65V DIMM and 1.30V Uncore settings. Increasing the configuration to four modules handed the average lead back to Asus.
