Intel X58 and ASUS P6T Deluxe
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Date: 21.12.2008 |
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Overclocking and stability
Prior to moving to overclocking, let's look into the power converter. It uses a 16-phase power scheme, in which there are four 270 mkF and fifteen 560 mkF capacitors.
By the way, the power converter of the memory controller (integrated into the CPU) is made following the two-phase scheme, so the specifications say that the PWM operates following the 16+2 scheme. We also note that engineers at ASUS have implemented the Energy Processing Unit (or, EPU) technology which controls the power supply mode "in the idle" or under a small load.
Now on to the overclocking features.
We note straight off that the board lacks the dynamic overclocking (ASUS calls this technology as NOS). Instead of these, there is support for D.O.C.P. and X.M.P.
The ASUS Super MemProfile technology means support for the Intel XMP (Extended Memory Profiles). This is some sort of an analog to the NVIDIA EPP (Enhanced Performance Profiles) technology whose idea is in the additional information written in the SPD of the memory modules, where guaranteed stable memory operation parameters are listed. Each set includes information on the memory frequency, voltage, respective latency timings, and most importantly, the sub-timings. Therefore, overclocking with the Super MemProfile is performed based on the memory capabilities: the memory frequency is set to the maximum possible and then, with the available multipliers, the FSB (and thus the CPU clock speed) is set.
The idea behind the D.O.C.P. feature (stands for the DRAM O.C. Profile) is primarily about overclocking the RAM and only then in turning the QPI bus speed and the CPU multiplier frequency. Unlike the previous mode, the RAM modules may not support the Intel XMP technology, but the beginner user can get absolutely the same performance gain. In particular, the ASUS' board suggested to overclock the memory modules to 1333 MHz:
In this mode, the CPU multiplier is reduced to 16, while the basic QPI speed is raised to 166 MHz. On overclocking the memory to DDR3-1600, the following happens: the multiplier is reduced to 14, while the QPI speed is raised to 200 MHz. In the former case, the CPU clock speed remains nominal (2.66 GHz), and in the latter - is raised to 2.8 GHz.
But let's not forget that this is also the nominal clock speed for the CPU Core i7 920 due to the Turbo feature.
Anyway, confirmed overclockers prefer tuning all the settings on their own. So, let's list all the respective features in sequence. First off, ASUS P6T Deluxe allows adjusting the QPI bus speed within 100 to 500 MHz in 1 MHz increments. Of convenience is that you can enter the desired FSB value from the keyboard.
Here are the remaining overclocking tools:
| Motherboard |
ASUS P6T Deluxe |
| CPU multiplier adjustable |
+ |
| QPI adjustment |
within 100 MHz to 500 MHz (1 MHz) |
| Vcore adjustment |
within 0.85 to 2.1V (0.00625V) |
| Vmem adjustment |
within 1.5 to 2.46V (0.02 V) |
| Vqpi-dram adjustment |
within 1.2 to 1.9V (0.00625V) |
| Vioh adjustment |
within 1.1 to 1.7V (0.02 V) |
| Vsb adjustment |
within 1.1 to 1.4V (0.02 V) |
| Vpll adjustment |
within 1.8 to 2.5V (0.02V) |
| PCI-E adjustment |
within 100 MHz to 200 MHz (1 MHz) |
The maximum voltage values are shown in view of expanding the respective ranges using jumpers.
Now on to the practical overclocking. ASUS P6T Deluxe has demonstrated the following results: a stable operation at QPI = 200 MHz with a Bloomfield processor.
This result can be regarded as very good, because the board in question lacked the features for adjusting the QPI bus speed (multiplier) and the frequency (multiplier) of the memory controller. Therefore, in raising the QPI base frequency, the remaining frequencies are raised proportionally, but at QPI higher than 200 MHz the system is losing its stability.
Most interesting is that part of the few users of the board have come across the same issue, but the other part brings in screenshots of the overclocking section where there are features for adjusting the QPI Frequency (the QPI bus speed) and the UCLK (the frequency of the memory controller). For comments, we contacted the ASUS' representation office and received a prompt reply. The issue is in the processors, and more precisely, in engineering samples of the Intel's processors. That is normal in using CPU engineering samples and is not an error. The QPI/Memory multiplier adjustment among the engineering samples of CPUs is supported by only the I7-965. The samples of I7-940 and I7-920 do not support this capability.
A few words on the memory controller and voltage on the modules. These parameters are interrelated, and Intel does not recommend to exceed the voltage of RAM modules above 1.65V, since that may result in the damage to the memory controller (and therefore, the CPU itself). Formerly as well, Intel was against overclocking and did not recommend setting parameters (the clock speed, multiplier, Vcore) other than the nominal. This time, all is serious: a few "lucky kids" have already got "key rings" priced at least $500 upon bringing the Vmem to 1.8V.
Going on with the topic of overclocking, we note the new proprietary overclocking utility TurboV:
Fanciers of gadgets may use the OC PALM device to set the overclocking parameters:
Unfortunately, ASUS P6T Deluxe is the only representative of the new platform at our test lab. So it is not possible to find out if its performance is higher or lower than that of competitors'.
Instead of that, we ran some tests of the NVIDIA SLI technology. It turned out that it can't be simpler to arrange an SLI: just fit two video cards, link them with a bridge (available in the package bundle), and install 180.хх drivers. After that, in the control panel of the ForceWare there appears a tab in which the user can enable the SLI. However, not all went fine in here. Although a number of applications demonstrated a performance gain over 50%, part of applications did not respond to the SLI at all, and the popular tests 3DMark were running unstably. However, the platform is new and these issues may be related to a great number of factors: revision of the board and the CPU, BIOS version, and the version of NVIDIA's drivers.
Final Words
So far, while we can't compare ASUS P6T Deluxe versus the competitors, let's talk about the chipset Intel X58. Unfortunately, there isn't much to say regarding it: the expansion options remained at the level of X48 (because of the same "south bridge" ICH10R), support for the PCI Express v2.0 - without any changes. Moreover, the "north bridge" X58 has turned simpler because the memory controller has migrated to the CPU. Therefore, we can expect that X58 will be cheaper than X48. But currently that is not the case: the X58 chipset is an exclusive solution for the LGA1366 platform, and while the "effect of novelty" is there, motherboards on its base will still be highly expensive.
As regards support for the NVIDIA SLI, it is not related to the chipset in any way. Support for this technology is determined by the model of the motherboard and respective NVIDIA's drivers. In particular, ASUS P6T Deluxe supports this technology.
As regards ASUS' proprietary technologies implemented in the test motherboard, we found no special advantages. In the Express Gate - there is minimum of changes, the additional module OC PALM offers poor functionality, and the new overclocking utility TurboV pleases only by its new design. From the technical viewpoint, we liked ASUS P6T Deluxe for its good implementation of the overclocking tools, as well as a great number of additional controllers. In particular, there are two SerialATA controllers, a FireWire controller, and an additional 4-port USB 2.0 controller. In view of the couple of Gigabit controllers, we arrive at the conclusion that the expansion options of P6T Deluxe are among the best in its class.
Conclusion
Pros:
- 16-phase CPU power scheme;
- 2-phase memory power supply scheme;
- two PCI Express x16 v2.0 slots;
- support for NVIDIA SLI and AMD CrossFire;
- support for SAS/SerialATA II/RAID (nine links; ICH10R+Marvell 88SE6320+Marvell 88SE6111);
- support for one P-ATA line (Marvell 88SE6111);
- High Definition Audio 7.1 + two Gigabit Ethernet LAN controllers;
- support for USB2.0 (14 ports) and IEEE-1394 (Firewire; 2 ports);
- wide selection of ASUS' proprietary technologies (PC Probe II, EZ Flash 2, CrashFree BIOS 3, MyLogo 3, Q-Fan 2, etc.);
- additional set of AI Proactive technologies (AI Overclock, OC Profile, AI Net 2, etc.);
- passive system for cooling the chipset and the power supply module;
- Power and Reset buttons;
- support for ASUS Express Gate.
Cons:
- Discuss the material in the conference
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