Platform And Results Without A Voltage Increase
There are various excellent overclocking platforms for the LGA 1156 architecture (Ed.: There are also some that you should actively avoid; Thomas goes into more detail in his entry-level P55 roundup). All prominent motherboard companies consider P55 a key product, which is why all of them are heavily invested in it. We already used three different P55 products for our launch article, so we decided to use MSI’s flagship product for this overclocking project (the P55-GD65). There’s also a GD80 model available, which has a larger heatpipe construction and three x16 PCI Express 2.0 slots instead of two. However, the three slots on the GD80 are limited to 16, 8, and 4 lanes, while the GD65 runs 16 and 8 lane configurations.
MSI implemented seven dynamically-operated voltage regulator phases, a heatpipe, and many other features that most motherboard makers install for overclockers. One small item differentiates the MSI board from others: the OC Genie overclocking assistant now has a one-step solution that automatically overclocks your system by accelerating the base clock when enabled. MSI says that the system takes care of all necessary settings, but the feature requires high-quality platform components. For now, however, we disabled all the fancy features and overclocked the old-fashioned way.
We installed the latest BIOS version, which allows switching Intel’s overspeed protection off, and started our overclocking project. The fastest multiplier we could select was the one that the processor uses to reach its maximum Turbo Boost speed with all four cores, just one increment above the default of 20x (21 x 133 = 2.8 GHz). We reached higher clock speeds by increasing the base clock all the way up to 215 MHz.
Maximum Result Without A Voltage Increase: 3.6 GHz
The i5-750’s default voltage is 1.25V, and we were able to hit exactly the maximum clock speed that Intel specifies for the Core i7-870 running maximum Turbo Boost with one core: 3.6 GHz.
This is quite an impressive result, but it was expected. We’ve been able to overclock Core i7 processors on LGA 1366 in a similar fashion without much more voltage.
I think the AMD Athlon II x4 620 could give it a run for it's money, especially considering not only the price/performance ratio, but also the upgrade options. Even if you go Intel, the ATI cards are knocking out come great results at reasonable prices..what does Intel have to counter both ATI and nVidia?
I think this chip is a great little product, I just don't think Intel is sitting that pretty, and the motherboard upgrades (or lack of them), will catch them out. They did good with the BX chipsets in terms of stability and upgrades but those days are long gone..they replaced that solid product with the likes of Intel GMA
You'd buy an AMD CPU, because they make better GPUs than intel?
I'm still curious to see how far bclk can be pushed while keeping turbo made enabled...
In the chart on the second page, "Processor" is spelled wrong. :-)
You'd buy an AMD CPU, because they make better GPUs than intel?
Depends on the criteria..I base any decision on several factors: price, performance, usage and longevity - a systems design choice rather than one weighted entirely in favour of brand loyalty. Most of the clients won't spend the money, so their choice is restricted..but.an AMD 780G chipset with reasonably fast Athlon II x4, does practically everything they want, right from acting as a HTPC solution to a machine that can run 3D games. It's either that a more expensive Intel rig, sporting an nVidia chipset. Most clients simply request a CPU upgrade, they don't need DDR-3 and in most cases they don't even need a new power supply. The machine's down for 20 minutes whilst I update the BIOS and viola..new lease of life.
Both have been ahead - and behind - each other at one stage. I have always used most AMD at home and in my system builds, unless the client or the workplace/study environment dictates otherwise. I can't really fault either, it mostly comes down to my personal preference. Yes, I like AMD, but I now try to spend more learning the Windows-based software - I think it's more beneficial, taking into account the rate at which technology is changing and the performance both camps offer.
Not a bad review PS and AR ... not bad at all.
I have previously been a harsh critic of you both.
The point raised about max OC and still having the CPU internal power management switched on is worthy of following up with a few CPU's.
Saving a few trees and having a fast rig ... having the cake and eating it too ... is the go!!
We don't want D805's pushing 4Ghz and chewing 200Watts thanks.