Overclocker motherboards by MSI and Gigabyte (Intel P45)
Author:
Date: 18.09.2008 |
|
BIOS
The BIOS of the Gigabyte's board is based on the Award BIOS version, that of the MSI - on the AMI BIOS version.
The major memory settings of the Gigabyte's board are gathered in the overclocking section:
All the auxiliary latency timings are gathered in a separate subsection:
The MSI's board offers no less number of latency timings available to adjust:
Besides, the board supports the Memory-Z feature which provides a complete info on the memory modules used:
The next important parameter that affects the performance is setting the memory operating frequency.
As regards the compatibility to various RAM modules, we found no critical issues about that with the boards. However, we note that the Gigabyte's board demonstrated supreme results with the GoodMem DDR2 GP1066D264L5/2GDC memory, whereas with the test kit of Corsair DDR2 TWIN2X2048-8500C5 modules the results proved to be 8 MHz lower. As regards the MSI's board, it was running absolutely stably with the Qimonda DDR3-1333 memory at 1066 MHz. With the kit of A-Data AD31600X001GU modules, the system also started up at only 1066 MHz. At higher frequencies (e.g., 1333 MHz), the system hung upon Windows start-up or boot-up with any of the used kits. In other words, the engineers still have a lot of work at optimization of the memory subsystem (in the forthcoming BIOS versions).
Now look at the system monitoring sections.
Both the boards display the current values for the temperature of the CPU and the system, and Gigabyte EP45-Extreme also keeps track of the temperature of the north bridge. The boards determine the rotational speeds of the fans (Gigabyte - 4, MSI - 3) and also offer the feature for adjustment of the CPU cooler depending on the CPU temperature (SmartFAN).
Both the motherboards are able saving and loading BIOS settings as profiles (the Gigabyte's board supports 8 profiles, the MSI - 4 profiles).
To handle the BIOS, the Gigabyte's motherboard offers the integrated Q-Flash utility. At the same time, the Gigabyte board supports the Windows utility @BIOS which is really handy to use. In the MSI's board, it is on the contrary: we did not like the LiveUpdate Windows utility.
Overclocking and stability
Before we move on to overclocking, let's look at the power converters. The PWM of Gigabyte EP45-Extreme uses a 12-phase power scheme, in which there are ten 820 mkF, four 470 mkF, and two 560 mkF capacitors. The PWM of the MSI's board uses a 6-phase scheme in which there are fourteen 470 mkF Hi-c CAPs (Highly-conductive polymerized Capacitors).
On the Gigabyte's motherboard, all the features are gathered in the "MB Intelligent Tweaker" section,
on the MSI board - in the "Cell Menu" section:
| Motherboard |
Gigabyte EP45-Extreme |
MSI P45 Diamond |
| Multiplier adjustment |
+ |
+ |
| FSB adjustment |
within 100 to 1200 MHz (1) |
within 133 to 800 MHz (1) |
| Vcore adjustment |
within 0.5V to 2.35V (0.00625V-0.02V) |
within 0.97 to 1.94V (0.01 V) |
| Vmem adjustment |
within 1.8V to 3.0V (0.02V) |
within 1.19 to 2.77 V (0.01 V) |
| Vdd adjustment |
within 0.8V to 1.8V (0.02V-0.1V) |
within 0.728 to 2.624V (0.012V) |
| Vsb adjustment |
within 0.8V to 1.8V (0.02V-0.1V) |
within 0.7 to 2.13V (0.01V) |
| Vsb-io adjustment |
within 1.0V to 2.3V (0.02V-0.1V) |
- |
| Vtt adjustment |
within 0.8V to 1.8V (0.02V-0.1V) |
within 0.89 to 2.47V (0.01V) |
| PCI-E adjustment |
within 90 MHz to 150 MHz (1) |
- |
Among the special traits, we note the features for dynamic overclocking. On the Gigabyte's board, that is the proprietary technology "C.I.A. 2", on the MSI - the D.O.T.:
Now let's look at the practical results of overclocking. The maximum stable FSB speed in the Gigabyte's board is 564MHz; that for the MSI board - 452MHz.
Note that with mis-set overclocking options the Gigabyte's board allows to boot the system up and even adjust the values of voltages and frequencies. But the MSI's board hangs deadly, and only complete CMOS clearing can help (in that case, use of BIOS profiles comes in handy).
Now a few words on the integrated water blocks which are meant to improve cooling of the north bridge on plugging in a fluid-powered cooling. We decided not to use the option because on the Gigabyte's board we reached the maximum of the CPU test specimen and stopped against the FSB Wall with air cooling used (even without using an additional radiator!). Any improvement of the cooling and raise of the Vdd would not have improved the overclocking result. As regards the MSI's board, with the current BIOS it can't be regarded as a platform for overclocking since all the components it uses have been tested at FSB = 550MHz and higher, whereas MSI P45 Diamond is able running at only FSB = 450 MHz.
 |
Content: |
 |
|
|
Top Stories: |
|
 |
|
MoBo:
|
|
|
|
VGA Card:
|
|
|
|
CPU & Memory:
|
|
|
