Overclocking

The Biostar Racing X470GTN performed admirably when it came to overclocking. I was able to get the same 100 MHz clock increase at similar voltages as with the two other boards I have dropped my Ryzen 5 2600X into. As with the two previous boards, trying to push another 100 MHz was not stable. The Biostar Racing X470GTN impressed me again when I started playing with my RAM frequencies.

The BIOS provided an XMP profile of 3200 MHz as opposed to the standard XMP profile for my 16 GB 3866 MHz G.SKILL kit. This board, and indeed most I have tested, is not capable of pushing 3866 MHz. So typically, applying the standard XMP profile results in a failure to post; the Biostar Racing X470GTN, however, was fully capable of reaching 3200 MHz, so I was able to use the XMP profile successfully. The Biostar Racing X470GTN is only capable of a max memory frequency of 3200 MHz on paper, which is where the non-standard XMP profile came from. I couldn't stop there, though, and played around with setting the frequency manually. With a little work, I was able to squeeze out 3600 MHz, which is a very respectable result.

The Biostar Racing X470GTN is not without its quirks, though. Biostar has always had functional but bare-bone BIOSes, and the implementation is not always the most efficient or user friendly. The O.N.E overclocking tab for the Biostar Racing X470GTN is a case in point. Setting new clocks for both the CPU and RAM is relatively straightforward. The voltage controls are designed around an offset; instead of setting a voltage (ex. 1.35 V), you set a voltage offset (ex. +0.15 V). This system is frustrating to use as the base value being offset is not listed. I can't imagine this method to be any easier to code into the BIOS, and I strongly believe a more traditional system would be beneficial to both Biostar and the consumer.

The Biostar Racing X470GTN does not have a post code display, a compromise no doubt brought on by the Mini-ITX form factor. However, the Biostar Racing X470GTN was not a terrible overclocking experience overall despite that and the very counterintuitive voltage controls. The board certainly showed itself to be just as capable as its full-size X470 counterparts.