Tom's Hardware > Forum > Overclocking > Motherboards > [Solved] ASUS P8Z68-V LX vs. P8Z68-V/GEN3 vs. P8Z68V-V Pro/GEN3

[Solved] ASUS P8Z68-V LX vs. P8Z68-V/GEN3 vs. P8Z68V-V Pro/GEN3

Forum Overclocking : Motherboards [Solved] ASUS P8Z68-V LX vs. P8Z68-V/GEN3 vs. P8Z68V-V Pro/GEN3

I am rather new to overclocking as I normally never bother with it but I was told that with this mobo and the 2600k that it was ultra easy. So I went into the bios AI Tweaker and set it to manual, bslk to 100 and all cores to 40 (was told 46 was safe but start small...). No dice. CPU-Z still says a multiplier of 34. Any words on what I'm doing wrong? Thank you.

Message edited by cts6288 on 02-01-2012 at 08:19:09 AM

Reply to cts6288

Sounds obvious but are you saving your settings before exiting the BIOS?

Does the PC restart normally after you've exited the BIOS?

Are you using AUTO Voltage?

Also what cooler are you using with your 2600K?

Sorry for all the questions, just need some more info

Message quoted 1 times

------------------------------ Core i7 3930K @ 4.6Ghz - 8GB 1866Mhz 7-9-7-24-1T - Gigabyte X79-UD3 - 1000W XFX Pro Platinum - Modded ATCS 840 - Custom Water - Corsair Force 3 120GB
Reply to omgitzfatal

omgitzfatal wrote :

Sounds obvious but are you saving your settings before exiting the BIOS?

Yes

omgitzfatal wrote :

Does the PC restart normally after you've exited the BIOS?

Seems to.

omgitzfatal wrote :

Are you using AUTO Voltage?

The only voltage adjustment was my Corsair CMX4GX3M1A1600C7 to 1.65v, other than that all are auto. Tried with this set to auto as well...

omgitzfatal wrote :

Also what cooler are you using with your 2600K?

I got the Cooler Master Hyper 212 installed

Message edited by cts6288 on 01-29-2012 at 12:40:51 AM

Reply to cts6288

Well I've tried all that I can think of. This is what I got it set to:

AI TWEAKER:

OC Tuner: Manual
BCLK: 100.0
Turbo Ratio: By All Cores
By All Cores: 46
PLL Overvolts: Auto
Mem Freq: Auto
I GPU Max: 1650 (I never touched this)
OC TUner-----> DO NOT TOUCH. It starts Auto-OC
DRAM: All Auto
CPU Power Management:
CPU Ratio: Auto
SpeedStep: Enabled
Turbo: Enabled
Auto for everything else

CPU Offset sign: +
CPU Voltage (1.295 for me): .130 (Shows your current voltage and the offset that is bringing the CPU to that value)

The next is a + and everything else is AUTO

ADVANCED TAB

CPU Ratio: Auto
Adapt Thermal: Enable
HyperThread: Enable
Active Cores: All
Limit CPUID Max: Disable
Disable Bit: Enable
Virtualization: Disable (I don't know why)
Speed Step: Enable
Turbo: Enable
C1E: Auto
C3: Auto
C6: Enable

Yet nothing seems to work. I got the clock on the screen and it never goes above 3.4GHz. Does the "LX" version just not do it even though the bios has the features? The sales rep said it did...what a bummer.

Reply to cts6288

You should be able to overclock with relative ease...

Restore to BIOS to default settings.

Follow these OCing steps:

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/ [...] ooth-2500k

Did you update mobo BIOS firmware (if any)?

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to steadywaters

steadywaters wrote :

One would think it would be that easy, and yes I did update bios to 0703. The bios does not have the following:

When in the BIOS/UEFI, set Ai Overclock Tuner to Manual. Make sure BCLK/PEG Frequency is at 100.0.
BCLK SET TO 100

Change the Turbo Ratio to 45 for starters. Only change your multiplier, don't mess with the BCLK.
SET TO 43

Internal PLL Overvoltage can be left at AUTO or disabled since this is a minimal overclock. Enable it when you're trying for 4.8GHz+.
DISABLED

Set Load-Line Calibration to Ultra-High.
ALL I HAVE HERE IS AUTO/ENABLE/DISABLE WHERE I ENABLED IT. NO ULTRA HIGH SETTING TO BE FOUND.

Change the VRM Frequency to 350 or 360.
NO VRM FREQUENCY TO BE FOUND.

Set Phase Control to Extreme. The same goes with Duty Control.
NO PHASE CONTROL SETTING TO BE FOUND.

Leave CPU Current Capability at 100%.
NO CPU CURRENT CAPABILITY TO BE FOUND.

As you can see, the "LX" must be missing some features that are required which just doesn't make any sense at all. I have taken the flashlight to the board to see if some switch is not enabled but none can be found. I'm just stuck and pissed at the salesman for the hype. The reason I went with "LX" is because I didn't need the other features on the other boards but damn...a nice 2600k and not way to use its full potential.

Reply to cts6288

Just ran out and got the P8Z68-V/GEN3 and the settings missing above were on this one. Great right! Wrong. For some odd reason it never goes above 3.4GHz... I can still return this motherboard if for some reason I NEED the P8z68-V Pro/GEN3 board. Does the "Pro" have a necessity that for some odd reason the LX and this one does not?

Please tell me which ASUS motherboard I should be using and what settings I am missing. This has dumbfounded me now for 3 solid evenings on this. Thanks.

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to cts6288

Best answer

cts6288 wrote :

I'm aiming for the P8Z68-V/GEN3 instead of the pro. After doing some research I guess the only difference is the extra SATA 6Gb/s ports, 2 x IEEE 1394a ports the pro has.

Other than that I think they both should OC easy. Keep researching and google "P8z68-V Pro/GEN3 and i7-2600k OC guide"...that's what I've been doing so I'll be better prepared when I get my rig up and running in late Feb.

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to LOBOBAST

LOBOBAST wrote :

IT WORKS! I am going to stick with the P8Z68-V/GEN3 board as it does have some settings the LX does not have in the bios for overclocking which are handy.

The problem was multiple ones - a lot of the guides I found never listed changing the CPU Current to 130% where I left it at 100%. BUT the biggest thing was that I realized that the POST will still list 3.4GHz even though it will overclock to a higher number. I got it set at 4.5GHz and for now that is good. For a newbie in overclocking I needed the basics and it took watching a youtube video where the guy had his camera showing the screen when it restarted and I saw it still showed 3.4GHz.

That was good...but what about the W7 gadget that still showed 3.4GHz when playing Civ V? Well I found the Intel Turbo Monitor which did show a 4.5GHz when running the game so I feel a lot better.

The "LX" may have been overclocking all the while but I like the voltage settings along with the ones I posted above as being included. The Pro/GEN3 board seems to only have a few extra SATA 6Gbps which I only need 2 right now and can always add a card if needed down the road.

A little frustrated that no one here really had a clear answer but then again I guess "LX" isn't what most enthusiasts would choose. Oh well, all is figured out and LOBOBAST you get the points for the nudge...

Reply to cts6288