ASUS P5E3 Deluxe Overclocking: DDR3 Takes Front Stage
by Kris Boughton on November 20, 2007 4:00 AM EST- Posted in
- CPUs
Test Setup and Overclocking Results
We decided to make our first overclocking results available using a Q6600 quad-core as we feel this chip is great for the mainstream desktop performance crowd and is widely available at an attractive price. We chose high performance DDR3 in order to highlight the board's memory performance capabilities. Because testing was completed using a 32-bit operating system, we decided to limit ourselves to a maximum of 2GB memory for our initial results. Future testing on this board, including tests run using Windows Vista 64-bit, will utilize up to 4GB of the same DDR3 memory.
We used water-cooling in place of typical air-cooling. This assured us that performance limitations due to excessive CPU temperatures would not be a problem during multiple testing runs. Pushing a 65nm quad-core past 3.6GHz requires a robust cooling system in order to maintain system stability during periods of heavy benchmarking. Furthermore, our cooling system makes use of redundant components where possible to account for the potential failure of critical cooling components (i.e. two pumps, etc).
Standard benchmarks included 3DMark06 (at the default 1280x1024 resolution) for testing overall graphics performance and Super PI 32M for combined processor/memory testing as well as CineBench10 and WinRAR 3.70 (a great way to quickly measure memory system performance). We utilized EVEREST 4.20 extensively in the collection and analysis of synthetic memory performance benchmarks (memory read and overall memory latency).
With the motherboard picked out all we had left to do was choose a pair of 1GB DDR3 modules. We decided on a pair (2x1024MB) of OCZ DDR3 PC3-14400 (DDR-1800) Platinum Edition modules, which proved to be tremendously capable across an amazing range of frequencies and timings. This allowed us the flexibility we needed to perform direct performance caparisons at legacy DDR2 speeds as well as the overclocking headroom we craved. Cool to the touch during even the most intense benchmarking session and exceptionally responsive to voltage on the test bench, these modules are great choices for those looking to overclock.
Now that we have looked at our test setup and gone over a few of the ways that we intend on measuring our system's performance, let us explore the ASUS P5E3 Deluxe BIOS options.
| ASUS P5E3 Deluxe Overclocking Testbed |
|
| Processor | Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Quad-core, 2.4GHz, 8MB Unified Cache, 9x Multiplier, 1066FSB |
| CPU Voltage | 1.2750v Stock |
| Cooling | D-tek FuZion CPU water block, EK FC8800-GTX/Ultra full coverage GPU block, Thermochill PA120.3 radiator, dual Laing D5 pumps in series, 1/2" ID (3/4" OD) Tygon tubing, 6x Yate Loon D12SM-12 120x25mm fans @ 12v in push/pull configuration |
| Power Supply | Seasonic 600W |
| Memory | OCZ DDR3 PC3-14400 (DDR-1800) Platinum Edition |
| Memory Settings | 4-4-4-12 (DDR-1066) to 8-8-8-15 (DDR-1940) |
| Video Cards | MSI 8800 Ultra (660/1050) |
| Video Drivers | NVIDIA 164.09 (beta) |
| Hard Drive | 2x Western Digital 10K RPM 74GB SATA 3/Gbps 8MB Buffer (RAID 0) |
| Optical Drives | 2x Plextor PX-755A |
| Case | Lian-Li PC-G70B |
| BIOS | ASUS 0601 |
| Operating System | Windows XP Professional SP2 |
We decided to make our first overclocking results available using a Q6600 quad-core as we feel this chip is great for the mainstream desktop performance crowd and is widely available at an attractive price. We chose high performance DDR3 in order to highlight the board's memory performance capabilities. Because testing was completed using a 32-bit operating system, we decided to limit ourselves to a maximum of 2GB memory for our initial results. Future testing on this board, including tests run using Windows Vista 64-bit, will utilize up to 4GB of the same DDR3 memory.
We used water-cooling in place of typical air-cooling. This assured us that performance limitations due to excessive CPU temperatures would not be a problem during multiple testing runs. Pushing a 65nm quad-core past 3.6GHz requires a robust cooling system in order to maintain system stability during periods of heavy benchmarking. Furthermore, our cooling system makes use of redundant components where possible to account for the potential failure of critical cooling components (i.e. two pumps, etc).
Standard benchmarks included 3DMark06 (at the default 1280x1024 resolution) for testing overall graphics performance and Super PI 32M for combined processor/memory testing as well as CineBench10 and WinRAR 3.70 (a great way to quickly measure memory system performance). We utilized EVEREST 4.20 extensively in the collection and analysis of synthetic memory performance benchmarks (memory read and overall memory latency).
With the motherboard picked out all we had left to do was choose a pair of 1GB DDR3 modules. We decided on a pair (2x1024MB) of OCZ DDR3 PC3-14400 (DDR-1800) Platinum Edition modules, which proved to be tremendously capable across an amazing range of frequencies and timings. This allowed us the flexibility we needed to perform direct performance caparisons at legacy DDR2 speeds as well as the overclocking headroom we craved. Cool to the touch during even the most intense benchmarking session and exceptionally responsive to voltage on the test bench, these modules are great choices for those looking to overclock.
Now that we have looked at our test setup and gone over a few of the ways that we intend on measuring our system's performance, let us explore the ASUS P5E3 Deluxe BIOS options.
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frede86 - Tuesday, September 2, 2008 - link
hey folksnice guide u made there m8.
but ive tryed to use that setup u recomment.
but doenst work. how come? is it because i use a dou core E8500?
Cheers
frede86 - Tuesday, September 2, 2008 - link
Core 2 dou*cEvin Ki - Saturday, February 23, 2008 - link
after reading the information on the AI transaction booster, and the Memset program, i decided to brave up, and give it a go. Memset indicated that my performance level was a 7. as my ddr2 CAS was 4, i assumed that the bios was relaxing my system a little. i simply disabled the booster option in bios with a relax of zero. rebooted, and re-ran Memset. nothing had changed. still a 7. any settings other than disabled and zero, in bios, will not POST. Memset allowed me to change the performance level to 6, apply, and save the change. nothing has changed in bios as a result of that change.my question is, what am i doing wrong, as i would expect to have seen something different in Memset with changing the bios to disabled and in effect lessening the relax?
i apologize if i have somehow missed the whole point, and do not understand this memory tweaking concept.
thanks
jwigi - Thursday, February 14, 2008 - link
Hi I have a P5k Premium and the contact between the heatsinks and the board aren't very good, i was wondering what size of screw you used and also if you needed to put any springs on them, i'm thinking of doing the same 'mod' you've done in your article on my board...thanks
plextor10000 - Thursday, January 10, 2008 - link
I was already one day playing with the settings of the mainboard, first tried to boost the E6850 from default 3Ghz to 3.6 , but could not make it stable in benchmarksSwitched to the Q6600 - and followed the guide , decrease the voltage for the CPU to 1.375 , for safety .
After step by step, i increased from 2.4 without any issue to 3.6 , running stable with my patriot 1333 on 1600
Thank you for this guide. Can i use the same settings for the E6850 also , or do i modyfie some settings to blaze the clocks of it ??
Ryujin - Sunday, January 6, 2008 - link
I recently got this board, and after reading this article, I really want to follow the advice therein and remove the thermal pads underneath the heatpipes/heatsinks and replace them with thermal paste, and replace all the plastic push-pins with screws/nuts.I've yet to start fiddling with the board, as I am still waiting for the CPU to arrive. A few pieces of advice I was looking for to ease my mind though:
- Would I be mad using Arctic Silver thermal compound, considering conductivity issues? (I could get ceramique, which is non-conductive, but it'll take quite a while, through the channels I wish to use).
- What diameter / length screws do you recommend? I figure 10mm M3 screws with lock nuts should do the trick... If they're too long, I should be able to screw them in with the heads facing the MB-tray.
- I'm going with a liquid cooling solution for my CPU. The P5E3 Deluxe included two fans that can be placed atop the heatsinks surrounding the CPU-socket for just such an occasion. However, I suspect they're rather noisy (are they?). Also, the case I'm using is the Coolermaster Cosmos, which does have ample chassi fans, so I'm wondering it is really necessary (time will tell, but I was wondering if anyone has any opinions on the subject).
cheers
kmmatney - Tuesday, November 20, 2007 - link
OK, looking at the graphs, it just seems like all I'm seeing is the benchmarks getting better with higher overall cpu speed. The overclocking guide was good, but the benchmarks are hard to figure out, since memory speed and cpu speed are getting higher at the same time.kmmatney - Tuesday, November 20, 2007 - link
OK, figured it out - we just need to compare the Asus P5E3 scores versus the Asus Maximums scores at (8 X 465) to see how much DDR3 improves things over DDR2. Seems to be 1%-5%. Yawn...TA152H - Tuesday, November 20, 2007 - link
When I read the article for the x48, I mentioned that it made no sense for the three chipsets unless the x48 was DDR3 only. Well, I have found out from another site that it will be DDR3 only.That makes the x38 really only useful as a DDR2 chipset, after the x48 is available. This assumes Intel did the right thing of course, and all the ugly overhead for DDR2 is removed from the x48. But if it is, you'd have to be a fool to buy the x38 with DDR3, since it is second best, and has overhead from a function that will not be present on the motherboard. It will give you more heat, and more power use for something that is completely useless. I didn't like Intel including both, but I guess it was to transition to DDR3, so it was a necessary evil until the x48 comes out.
retrospooty - Friday, November 23, 2007 - link
actually, that isnt true. X48 is just an X38 selected out of speed bin to be the fastest. They were going to market it as only DDR3 (that was a marketing decision not a functionality decision) but have since changed their minds.http://www.fudzilla.com/index.php?option=com_conte...">http://www.fudzilla.com/index.php?optio...amp;task...
Either way your arguments are pretty one sided. Even with DDR3 highly overclocked to 2ghz its really only a slight bit faster then DDR2. In fact DDR2 at 1000mhz 4-4-4 beats DDR3 at 2000mhz @ 9-9-9 in most real world tests and apps. Intel is currently going with tri-channel DDR3 on the next gen CPU (nehalem) with internal memory controller. Then and ONLY then is DDR3 going to be worthwhile, and even then its only worthwhile because Nehalem chipsets wont support DDR2. DDR3 is a minor speed bump not worthy of spending money on until Nehalem comes out.