KitGuru KitGuru.net – Tech News | Hardware News | Hardware Reviews | IOS | Mobile | Gaming | Graphics Cards
The ASUS UEFI bios structure is by far my favourite and after using the Rampage IV for months I know my way around them without even thinking. This bios is very similar … not a bad thing!
We experienced a pain free first boot which was immediately reassuring.
The AI Tweaker panel is very easy to set up, but we will look at this more shortly. The board will post at 1333mhz first time to ensure a safe boot, you are best configuring the memory manually or via the XMP profile.
The advanced panel gives easy access to a variety of component configuration settings. Very easy to navigate.
The monitor panel displays all the fan speeds and temperatures of the processor and motherboard. Q-fan settings can be adjusted here to suit.
The boot menu offers very important settings for selecting the boot priority and halt status.
The tool menu has settings for flashing the bios and for saving and loading previously configured parameters.
System validation at default settings was straightforward enough, with no errors flagged. This was before we even installed graphics card drivers.
Our first course of action was to load the X.M.P. profile of the Corsair GTX8 2,400mhz memory. Achieving stability at 4.8ghz was straightforward enough and almost identical to our previous experiences with the 3960X on the Rampage IV Extreme (1.46v). We later found out that ‘load line calibration' could be lowered a little from ‘extreme' in the image shown above. I really can't compliment the ASUS bios configurations enough, they are without a doubt the best in their field.
System validation at 4.8ghz was painless. Slightly higher may have been possible but we really don't like passing 1.47 volts without hardcore cooling. The Corsair H100 however really handled these voltage settings without a problem – peaking around 77c under load.
Overclocking with this board took literally 15 minutes, and most of that was time was for fine adjustments to lower the voltage settings as far as possible once stability was found. It shares very similar settings with the Asus Rampage IV Extreme which is as big a compliment as I could give it.
Absolutely brilliant review, very interesting to see them both at 4.8ghz when rendering. That L3 cache does make a difference.
wish I could afford the 3930k. but id need to change my motherboard as well……. still when I get £800 this will be the changes!
Very informative review and the pictures of the mobo are great. glad I found the site today.
I feel sorry for AMD, I remember when they were closely matched, but sadly no more 🙁
Fantastic read. I can only speak for the Intel Core i7 3930k —
While the product itself is great, it doesn’t include a cooling fan, necessitating the purchase of an aftermarket cooler. As of Dec. 6th, there are only a few compatible fans available on the market and Corsair Hydro Series H80 High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (CWCH80) is the only one that I know of that Amazon carries. Buyer beware!
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00603QXPM/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=emjay2d-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00603QXPM
Nice system, love asus motherboards, this one has a passively cooled northbridge too which is better than the others. I hate seeing small fans blocked by graphics cards.
AMD where are you? I long for the days of good FX processors. That 8150 was a disaster. double the cores of 2600k and still slower 🙁
Great review! Now I have both devices in my computer. I’m waiting a opportunity to get a ideal power suply and enjoy this awsome configuration!