Gigabyte G1.Assassin X58 Motherboard Review
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Overclocking
is not an exact science. For example, every processor is different and
just because your friend's Core i7 processor hit 4GHz on air doesn't
mean that yours will, even if using the same settings and hardware.
Many factors can influence what a processor is capable of. These
factors include complementary components like the motherboard, memory,
power supply and cooling. In addition, user experience definitely comes
into play as there are an abundance of modifiable settings within the
BIOS.
The Rampage III Extreme achieved the highest overclock of the three boards, but the G1 Assassin was right behind it. Both boards were able to hit a base clock of 135 with a 33x multiplier. EVGA's Classified was behind the pack, only reaching a 129 base clock.
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And finally, throughout all of our benchmarking and testing, we monitored how much power our test systems consumed using a power meter. Our goal was to give you all an idea as to how much power each configuration used while idling and while under a heavy workload. Please keep in mind that we were testing total system power consumption at the outlet here, not just the power being drawn by the processors alone.
Here the G1 Assassin has a clear advantage over the comparison boards. Consuming 407 watts under load, the G1 utilized 4% less power than the Rampage III Extreme, and 5% less than the Classified. And although the EVGA's product was slightly more efficient during idle, the G1 showed similar performance. The Rampage III had the highest idle power usage of all three boards, at 171 watts.
