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Once I finished my usual install routine, I ran CPU-Z and grabbed this screenshot. The entire Windows 10 install was pretty uneventful, but I did find out that if you want to install Windows 7, you need to make a custom install disc with USB drivers on it. Given that this is a high-end board for high-end users, this shouldn't be much of an issue, but it would be a shame should the lesser board have the same "problem."

Automated Overclocking

Automatic overclocking is done via ASUS' AI Suite software, one that holds even more functions than ever before. But what is more important to many users is whether the software actually works or not, so I put it to the test. I left most of the settings at default, but did enable AVX testing and set the testing period to three minutes. That done, I started the tests, which caused the system to reboot and had AI Suite self-launch afterward, before the process was back underway, a timer of 60 seconds in place for you to get ready for it to start testing your system's overclocking abilities.


It ran through it's thing, displaying power drawn, voltages, and temperatures along the way. Then it finished and did some other little tests and froze when testing, which had the system reboot and the software make adjustments before continuing, adjusting VRM settings, fan controls, and all that good stuff. With testing complete, the software presented a screen with all its results, so you can take a look at its setting before you go on to do your own testing.


So what final clock did we get? Using a maximum voltage of 1.3V, we ended up with 4600 MHz on the CPU and 2933 MHz on the memory, with default cache speed. I did do quite a bit of testing with those clocks afterward, and they proved to be quite stable, but how stable the end result is may vary from CPU to CPU. I was rather disappointed to see such a low voltage set for testing, but there are options in the software to bump those up if you'd like, although not in such an easy-to-understand way as in past iterations of the software. Whether a BIOS or platform thing, I am not sure, but I'd really prefer to choose the voltage rather than just an offset, but then again, I might have missed something. I was also disappointed to only see 2933 MHz on the memory, rather than the 3000 MHz the XMP profile supports, which worked just as well once set manually. I see no reason at all for the full XMP profile not to be utilized unless, of course, ASUS' testing has shown that not all CPUs can do 3000 MHz? I am not sure. I'm left with more questions here than when I started, which is both good and bad. Good because I have more investigating to look forward to, which, as an overclocker, is great news, but bad because such a result isn't very re-assuring to someone just looking for an easy overclock. Ah well, high-end board, high-end users, right?