Overclocking
Disclaimer: Overclocking your CPU means operating your CPU and motherboard outside of their design specifications, it can cause damage to them or kill them and may void their warranties depending on the manufacturer’s policies!
As the CPUs become more and more complex, so too does the need for more complex cooling systems. For the most part though, the Haswell seems to hold its own at higher speeds as long as you have a good air cooler or a decent water-cooler.
I tested this board at several different voltages, but the one I felt most comfortable with was 1.35 vCore. It can run at 1.4 volts, but it does get hotter (not to mention more unstable) and probably isn’t necessary as you can reach at least 4.5 ghz with slightly less.
Keep in mind that every processor is different so if I am able to hit certain clocks that does not mean you will be able to as well even with the same hardware.
CPUz Info
For the most part, 4.7 ghz seems to be the sweet spot for this chip. Much more than that, and none of the benchmark tools would last more than a few seconds before giving me a BSOD, but I am happy with those numbers.
3Dmark Vantage
Slightly less than ideal, but 34k is still 34k.
MaxxMem
The memory performed beautifully.
Cinebench 11.5
The numbers don’t lie, and this number happens to be .58 points above the z77x.
Wprime
Superpi
Memory Overclocking
Luckily, adding megahertz to the RAM was fairly easy-going. The drop-down menu corresponds with rated speeds ranging from 1600 to 3000 mhz. Again, no errors or crashes occurred when using or overclocking this generation or previous generations.
