Overclocked Performance Summary

I have really changed how I do my overclock testing with motherboards. Every single test you see in the main section is repeated in the section that follows, including power consumption. As I test more products, a good picture of overclocking efficiency should emerge, which should prove interesting when it comes to those products that are 100% overclocking-oriented. I have grouped the results into sections here, and all Intel products are tested with 4.6 GHz CPU speed. Memory speeds vary depending on the platform's ability.


Overclocking with the ASUS Maximus V Extreme can be difficult, or really simple. I managed to corrupt my BIOS on more than one occasion while overclocking with Windows8 and newer BIOSes, but the older ones don't have these issues, at all. With dual BIOS chips onboard, and a one-button click to switch between them, it isn't much of an issue as long as you are ready for it. These issues clearly result in overclock testing with older BIOSes and Windows7 for me. You can run Windows8 without any problems once you have made sure your overclock is stable; that goes for VGA overclocks too.

Otherwise, overclocking could not be simpler. I set 1.21 V in BIOS to fully stabilize my usual 4.6 GHZ and was met with 1.208 V on load. My readings between BIOS and CPU-Z were nearly exact. Memory worked great as well. I simply enabled XMP and had my memory work fine with the 1605 BIOS. There are more options than most will need, including EVERTHING necessary for breaking records. This means that things are a bit loose at times, especially in terms of memory timings, but some are, at the same time, set tighter than they would be under normal conditions, which can cause issues during daily usage. Thankfully, all those options can be adjusted manually to ensure stability for either occasion.


Power usage while overclocked was better than with most other products - right alongside with the ASUS Maximus V Formula. Excellent power design and proper management through the BIOS really made a difference. Both load and idle are very low, but this is because that power-sucking PLX PEX8747 isn't being used, even with two VGAs installed.

Overclocked performance is rather varied. It is great in some places and not so great in others. This is an artifact of having so many options available, which means that you can get better numbers than with other products through extensive tweaking, but you would have to invest the time to get things just right. The board is well equipped, which thankfully makes getting everything just right as easy as possible.

AIDA64

CPU OC Performance

3D-Oriented OC Performance