Items tagged with Overclocking
We have another premium Z170-based motherboard on the test bench today, by way of MSI. The MSI Z170A Gaming M9 ACK motherboard is the company’s top end gaming board for use with Intel 6th Generation Skylake-based Core series processors. The MSI Z170A Gaming M9 is packed with a host of premium features aimed at improving and enhancing your experience. Like most gaming enthusiast boards, this one also commands top dollar, but still manages to ring in $100 shy of the wallet-busting ASUS Z170 ROG Maximus VIII we previously reviewed. Some of the more notable features on this motherboard include a built-in armored backplate and a DoubleShot Pro compatible networking solution from Killer Networking...
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The Asus Z170 ROG Maximus VIII Extreme motherboard is the latest in Asus' flagship line of enthusiast-class motherboards for gamers. It’s a top-end premium solution with a dizzying array of tuning options to supercharge your next build and tweak overall performance in games, networking and more. Our previous motherboard eval featured the Gigabyte Z170X-UD5 Ultra Durable, which was a budget-friendly Z170 motherboard that offered strong performance, without a ton of superfluous bells and whistles. Yet the Gigabyte board was quite the performer, holding its own in most tests and even coming out ahead of a couple of competing Z170 boards in others.The Asus Z170 ROG Maximus VIII ExtremeThe Asus Z170...
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Are you ready for today's 'Aw shucks' moment? Intel is working with its hardware partners to roll out BIOS updates that will effectively prevent users from being able to overclock non-K Skylake processors. Of course, that's how it was always meant to be, but motherboard makers discovered a way to allow making BCLK adjustments to cheaper Skylake CPUs and quickly began flaunting that ability. Perhaps that was their collective mistake. If you want to overclock, Intel charges a premium for unlocked processors labeled with a "K" (Intel Core i7-6700K, for example) that allow users to make BCLK adjustments to boost base clock frequencies. Less expensive non-K, or locked processors don't offer the same...
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Intel's latest generation of processors built on the Skylake architecture are seriously efficient as well as seriously fast. The flagship, Core i7-6700K, is an interesting chip as it's clocked at a base 4GHz, and can peak at 4.2GHz with Turbo Boost. Overall, it's a really solid chip, as we discovered back in November after some in-depth testing. Of course, as fast as the 6700K is, overclocking can always help take things to the next level, or at least temporarily explore future potential. In Chi-Kui Lam's case, he did just that, and managed to break a world record in the process. Chi-Kui Lam's record-breaking Intel platform Equipped with an ASRock motherboard, G.SKILL memory, and a beefy 1.3KW...
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To expand on our coverage of Intel’s Z170-chipset, we now turn our focus to another Gigabyte motherboard for Intel Skylake CPUs. The Gigabyte Z170X-UD5 Ultra Durable motherboard is up at the plate and has the budget-builder firmly in its sights. Conversely, the company’s pricey Z170X-Gaming G1 motherboard, which we previously reviewed, is loaded with premium features that enthusiast gamers crave. Features such as Bluetooth, WiFi, 4-way CrossFire and SLI support, baked-in liquid cooling accommodations, and the like, are all absent on this more svelte GB product. With much of the fat trimmed, Gigabyte is able to offer a formidable platform for Skylake at a more aggressive price point. Gigabyte...
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Intel Skylake processors have landed and motherboard manufacturers now have a wide range of boards sporting the necessary LGA 1151 socket and Z170 chipset to support the CPUs. Under the microscope today we have a high-end model from Gigabyte, the formidable Z170X-Gaming G1—a board that's virtually bursting at the seams with top-end features for the discriminating enthusiast. It's got everything from a 22 phase power array, to support for USB 3.1, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, quad GPUs, Gen3 x4 M.2 connectors and dedicated network processing via onboard Killer DoubleShot Pro X3 NICs—just to name a few.Gigabyte Z170X-Gaming G1 MotherboardSpecifications & FeaturesCPU:Chipset:Multi GPU:Memory:Audio:Connectivity:Slots:Storage:USB...
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Intel has been discussing gaming and overclocking quite a bit at this year’s Intel Developers Forum, in large part because its latest 6th Generation Core processors, formerly codenamed Skylake, are such good overclockers.Oh, and apologies for the clickbait headline. We couldn’t resist. Hey, at least you're not looking at our coverage on "how to get ripped."Not only have the early Skylake-based processors currently in the wild hit relatively high frequencies already, but they are more flexible overclockers than previous-gen products as well. Unlike every Intel processor since Sandy Bridge was released, Skylake-based processors can be overclocked using both multiplier and BCLK frequency manipulation,...
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We are back with another high-end X99-based motherboard on the test bed. This time around we've got the latest from ASUS, the Sabertooth X99 TUF motherboard, which supports USB 3.1 and sports ASUS' "OC Socket". The first wave of motherboards based on Intel’s X99 chipset launched with attractive features and eye-catching designs. But as time has passed, most motherboard manufacturers have continued to update and optimize their X99-based offerings. ASUS had already offered some stand-out features in its first salvo of boards. This was largely thanks to the company’s OC Socket used on its X99-based boards. With the OC Socket, ASUS has added 6 extra pins to the 2011 pins found on Intel's...
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NVIDIA pulled the rug out from under overclockers through a recent driver update that disabled the ability to goose its GeForce GTX 900M Series mobile GPUs past their stock clocks, creating a whirlwind of criticism in the process. Having heard the collective outcries of overclockers, and perhaps looking to avoid a class action lawsuit, NVIDIA has decided to reinstate the ability to OC through an upcoming driver. Why a lawsuit? Well, we live in sue-happy times, but that's a topic for another day. The real reason, however, is because NVIDIA's hardware partners marketed and sold high-end gaming laptops with overclocking listed as a selling point. For example, ASUS touts its Turbomaster GPU technology...
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One of the biggest downfalls of overclocking competitions is that they're usually very exclusive. Not everyone can afford hardware that's effectively going to be slaughtered, and it's impossible to compete with champions who are handed over gear from companies like Intel without much hesitation. It's for this reason that GIGABYTE's just-announced "Target OC" competition strikes me as being really freaking cool. Instead of asking people to break records, GIGABYTE's asking people to come as close to certain targets as possible, and lower-end hardware is definitely welcomed here. Take for example the 3DMark 05 test; here, your goal is to come as close to OPPAINTER's world record score of 30,257,...
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It might "just" be a Pentium, but I consider the G3258 "Anniversary Edition" to be one of the most interesting chips Intel's released in a while. It's a well-known fact that enthusiasts love ekeing as much performance out of their parts as possible, and there's just something about doing that to a sub-$100 part that can be seriously exciting. It's like buying a modest car and turning it into one that "wows" people. While the G3258 has overclockers right in its sights, that doesn't mean that those who don't like manual overclocking can't benefit. For them, GIGABYTE's updated EasyTune, now shipping with a profile for this chip, can help. As hinted by this screenshot, it looks like GIGABYTE would...
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You'll find all sorts of amenities on Gigabyte's newly launched and limited edition Z97X-SOC Force LN2 motherboard. It boasts a 2x copper printed circuit board (PCB), onboard buttons for various functions, four-way CrossFire support with an "OC Brace" to keeps those cards in place when using an open-air chassis (or none at all), and much more. But what you won't find on the board are CPU fan mounting holes, and with good reason. This isn't a typical motherboard intended for the masses. Instead, this slice of silicon is meant to set overclocking records in dramatic fashion, and to do that, LN2 cooling is the name of the game. To prove that point, Gigabyte teamed up with overclocking guru "HiCookie"...
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Intel used the backdrop of the Game Developers Conference currently taking place in San Francisco to make a handful of interesting announcements that run the gamut from low-power technologies to ultra-high-end desktop chips. In addition to outing a number of upcoming processors—from an Anniversary Edition Pentium to a monster 8-core Haswell-E—Intel also announced a new technology dubbed Ready Mode. Intel described Ready Mode as a “capability that takes advantage of new power-saving states in Intel’s 4th gen Core desktop processor, combined with software and board level optimizations, which enable OEM desktop computers that are instantly ready and always connected while...
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There are graphics cards, and then there are graphics cards that demand to be the center of attention amongst the massive amount of competition. A perfect example is EVGA's just-released GeForce GTX 780 Ti Classified K|NGP|N Edition, which as the name suggests, was crafted by legendary overclocker Vince 'K|NGP|N' Lucido. Since two sets of eyes are usually better than one, Tsemenko 'TiN' Illya had a hand in the card's design process as well. Given the duo behind this card, it goes without saying that it's designed for overclocking, plain and simple. While liquid nitrogen is often brought into the picture with extreme overclockers, EVGA didn't limit this card to just that use. Instead, it has a...
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We’ve already had a taste of what ASUS and Gigabyte have to offer in the way of Z87 motherboards, and now it’s time to give MSI’s lineup a spin. MSI’s offering of Z87 motherboards has essentially three tiers: the “POWER” series (which includes four XPOWER and MPOWER boards), a trio of gaming boards, and five mainstream boards. The company sent us a motherboard from each area to put through their paces. The Z87 chipset goes hand-in-hand with Intel’s 4th-generation Haswell processors, and we outfitted the three MSI boards--the tiny Z87I, the Z87-G45 Gamer, and the Z87 MPOWER Max overclocker--with an Intel Core i7-4770K (3.5 GHz) CPU to see how the trio...
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We’ve already had a taste of what ASUS and Gigabyte have to offer in the way of Z87 motherboards, and now it’s time to give MSI’s lineup a spin. MSI’s offering of Z87 motherboards has essentially three tiers: the “POWER” series (which includes four XPOWER and MPOWER boards), a trio of gaming boards, and five mainstream boards. The company sent us a motherboard from each area to put through their paces. The Z87 chipset goes hand-in-hand with Intel’s 4th-generation Haswell processors, and we outfitted the three MSI boards--the tiny Z87I, the Z87-G45 Gamer, and the Z87 MPOWER Max overclocker--with an Intel Core i7-4770K (3.5 GHz) CPU to see how the trio...
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It has been a while since I personally have setup a bench, rolled up my sleeves and built a test system with top-shelf components, a fresh OS install and some overclocking mojo. However, Intel's recent release of Ivy Bridge-E gave us a hankering to do just that. We've been testing a lot of tablets, smartphones and Ultrabooks but there's a satisfaction with building a high performance system from the ground up, that you just don't get from pre-built devices... EVGA recently took the wraps off a new high-end X79 motherboard dubbed the X79 Dark and its black PCB with red accents, as it turned out, matched quite nicely with Corsair's Vengeance Pro series memory and H90 water cooler. But we needed...
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It has been a while since I have personally setup a test bench, rolled up my sleeves and built a test system with top-shelf components, a fresh OS install and some overclocking mojo. However, Intel's recent release of Ivy Bridge-E gave us a hankering to do just that. We've been testing a lot of tablets, smartphones and ultrabooks, but there's a certain satisfaction that comes with building a high performance system from the ground up, that you just don't get from pre-built devices. So I decided to see if I still had the chops. EVGA recently took the wraps off a new high-end X79 motherboard dubbed the X79 Dark and its black PCB with red accents, as it turned out, matched quite nicely...
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Asus, Corsair, and Intel held a joint event in the Four Seasons hotel yesterday, near the Moscone Center in San Francisco where IDF13 is currently taking place. During the event, the three companies outlined the many advances they’ve all made over the last few years and some well-known overclockers took products from each company—namely the Intel Core i7-4960X, some Corsair memory, and an Asus X79-based motherboard—and overclocked them using liquid nitrogen, in an attempt to break a number of world performance records. We didn’t stick around long enough to see just how far the overlcockers were able to take the rigs, but at one point did see a Core i7-4960X running...
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Are you willing to sacrifice a little data security to squeeze every last drop of performance out of your solid state drive? Intel wants to know. At PAX Prime 2013, Intel hosted a short hands-on workshop showcasing their latest bleeding edge idea: overclocking SSDs. The demonstration was simple: run an Intel 480GB (6Gb/s SATA) SSD at stock speeds, then overclock the onboard controller, and then overclock the NAND bus frequency to demonstrate the performance improvement that can be achieved. “The real question,” says Intel’s Product Marketing Manager Kei Kobayashi, “is whether or not we can squeeze enough performance out of the drive to justify the risk versus the reward.”...
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It appears that Intel, long an enabler of overclocking processors, wants to overclock everything, starting with SSDs. At September’s Intel Developers Forum (IDF) in San Francisco, Intel scheduled a session that covers a number of overclocking topics, including “Demonstrating overclocking SSD technology”. There’s virtually no information available as to what exactly that means, but Alan Frost, marketing communications manager for Intel told ComputerWorld that “"This is a product we're looking into but we have not released yet. So I'm not able to go into great detail about a future product ... as far as specs and such." It appears, though, that an SSD overclocking...
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Gigabyte had us out to their L.A. offices to show off their latest line of motherboards packing the Intel Z87 chipset, and as usual, the company has a whole lot of SKUs coming down the pike. Clearly, the most work went into Gigabyte’s OC and gaming lines, but there are plenty of welcome surprises and new features in this launch. Extreme OC Series Of all the new motherboards it has brewing, Gigabyte seems to be particularly excited about the Extreme OC series, and it’s not hard to see why. The orange-and-black color scheme takes a backseat to everything the company packed onto the PCB for overclockers on the flagship OC board, the Z87X-OC Force, and the Z87X-OC. First off, there’s...
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