Overclocking

With our performance comparison completed, we quickly rebooted, and got to our favorite part, overclocking. Having previously tested our CPU and memory in a slew of other boards, we were quite pleased with the results, with the P7P55D-E PRO being capable of matching the Gene in both base clock and overall frequency maximums, which was partially limited by our cooling. The P7P55D-E PRO managed these clocks under slightly higher voltage than the Gene though; a side effect of the power savings, but not one that had any real overall impact in performance. Temperatures were exactly the same as the Gene, even with the higher voltages used on the P7P55D-E PRO.

Below you will find a screenshot of the max BCLK we reached, as well as a second one with the setting that proved to provide us with the best performance. Pulling 4.2 GHz on a Core i5 760, with 2000 MHz memory is nothing to scoff at, and we were left very impressed with the P7P55D-E PRO's showing here.

Overclocked Performance Summary

SuperPI, as usual, showed a large benefit from the frequency increases. With the system at the max, we can make a good judgement on system efficiency, and while not the best out there, the P7P55D-E PRO makes a good showing, although not quite as good as what the Maximus III Gene provides. A good result, considering the Gene is in an entirely different product line, with a different target audience.


3D rendering showed a good benefit from overclocking as well, although not perfectly the linear scaling we were hoping to see. Be that as it may, the gains were still quite large, and with the saved power from the most efficient PWM, the slight lack of performance in comparison to some higher-level boards is easily excused, and well understood. The P7P55D-E PRO proved itself just as capable as we could expect, without any disappointments.