Overclocking

We managed to get the exact same clocks as on our last P67-based platform, at 4500 MHz on the CPU, and 2133 MHz on the memory. Getting the memory up to 2133 MHz proved very difficult at first, as we prefer to tweak from the BIOS-level interfaces, but that just wasn't possible with the ECS P67H2-A2. However, we found another overclocking utility on the included driver disc that was not automatically installed, called XTU.


XTU is an Intel-provided utility that offers access to almost every needed option to get the most out of the ECS P67H2-A2, including the secondary memory timings that were a critical factor in reaching 2133 MHz with our memory. Upon opening the utility we were greeted with a page listing information for the main system components, including CPU, motherboard, videocard, and OS. The second listing takes us directly into the "Autotune" section, but not before providing us with a warning that altering voltages and frequency may lead to undesired results.


Not afraid, we chose to continue, selecting the "Extreme" setting, and let the tool do its thing. When it was done, we were left with a very minor overclock, 3900 Mhz only. This is where the option we mentioned in the BIOS section, "IA Core Current", proves most critical, as setting that single option to "MAX" resulted in final clocks of 4600 Mhz on the CPU, but that 4600 MHz was only valid for single-threaded loads. It also did take some work from us to get there, as the system proved to hang when pushing beyond 4600 MHz to 4700 MHz, forcing us to lower all "Turbo" multipliers in BIOS to 46, before the system would enter the OS again and XTU could continue its testing. We subjected the system to our own testing after XTU was finished, and found that we did also have to lower the single-thread multiplier from 46 to 45, before full stability was obtained, leaving the ECS P67H2-A2 matching the overclock results all of the P67 boards we have tested.

The manual setting page, our final picture above, as you can see, provided us with access to those secondary memory timings, needed to reach 2133 MHz. We don't understand why these options are not in the BIOS itself, yet available in this software, so we are very thankful ECS had the foresight to include what proved to be a critical clocking utility.

Overclocked Performance Summary

Cinebench provided a substantial performance increase when overclocked, something that resounds true through the entire series of P67-based products. The added memory bandwidth provided by P67 versus P55 really shines through, especially when overclocked.


Likewise, SuperPi 32m results proved the same as Cinebench, with substantial performance increases that just aren't noticed on previous Intel platforms.


WPrime 1024M numbers further the results, showing that there is true power available when overclocking the ECS P67H2-A2.


For a bit of 3D action, we fired up CodeMaster's F1 2010, to be unimpressed with the performance boost offered, compared to the other products.