Overclocking

Overclocking the P67A-UD4-B3 was an easy affair, with all the needed options to maximize CPU and memory fully available from within the BIOS. At first we were at a bit of a loss, as having tested our CPU in several different boards, we found that the P67A-UD4-B3 does not quite supply as much voltage to the CPU as some other boards do, making for a situation that led to us using much higher voltages for any given clock. This is a departure from previous testing in that we were able to set the maximum frequency the CPU supports without adjusting CPU volts at all on some other boards, which led to us sticking to a voltage cap of 1.27 V fully loaded, after "vdroop" and GTL power drops. This, of course, did limit clocks considerably, allowing us to reach no higher than 4.5 GHz fully stable, while setting 1.3 V in BIOS to get that 1.27 V under full load. Although this limited clocks a bit, it did allow for us to lower overall power consumption, with minimal performance decreases, while still sitting at clocks most users should have no problem reaching.


When it comes to memory tweaking, we found the Gigabyte P67-UD4-B3 just as capable as any other board we've tested, with 2133 MHz merely requiring the same voltage boost to the memory controller, sitting at 1.124 V. At the same time, while we were limited in clocks at any given voltage, the differences in power delivery did still allow us to reach the same 4.75 GHz maximum clocks overall, and then some, with the addition of "CPU PLL OverVoltage" option not available on all motherboards. With the "CPU PLL OverVoltage" option enabled, we were able to hit a maximum of 4.82 GHz, before hitting thermal limits decided by our choice of cooling.

In the end, we've decided to use the 1.27 V clocks for our overclocked performance compares, as this method does allow us some thermal overhead, while providing us with a consistent voltage setting that across many products can be easily duplicated, and can then be used to judge just how effective the board's VRM design actually is. Let's take a look at the performance numbers!

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 Gigabyte P67A-UD4-B3.


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