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To make the review more interesting today we are testing the system in a highly overclocked state. A large portion of the potential audience will be wanting the same thing.
The 2600K is overclocked to 4.8ghz and the ASUS GTX680 graphics card is overclocked to 1,200mhz core and 1,701 memory (6.8 Gbps effective).
Above, the final result from the Windows Experience index. These are all rated out of a maximum of 7.9 points.
Main Test System:
Processor: Intel Core i7 2600K @ 4.8ghz
Motherboard: Asus Sabertooth Z77
Cooler: Arctic Cooling Freezer 13
Memory: 8GB ADATA 1,600mhz 9-9-9-24 1T
Graphics Card: ASUS GTX 680
Power Supply: ADATA 1200W
Optical Drive: Asus BluRay Drive
Chassis: Cooler Master Cosmos 2
Monitors: Dell U3011, 3x Ilyama ProLite E2472HDD
Boot Drive: Kingston SSDNow V+200 90GB
Storage Drive: Patriot 240GB Wildfire
Comparison Systems:
Processor: Intel Core i7 2600K @ 4.43ghz (auto overclock setting).
Motherboard: Asus P8Z68-V Pro Gen 3
Cooler: Noctua D14
Memory: 8GB Kingston HyperX 2,400mhz DDR3 (4x2gb) @ 2200mhz
Graphics Card: AMD HD7870
Power Supply: PC Power & Cooling 600W
Optical Drive: Asus BluRay Drive
Chassis: Cooler Master Cosmos 2
Boot Drive: Patriot 240GB Wildfire
Processor: Intel Core i7 3930K
Motherboard: Asus P9X79 WS WorkStation
Cooler: Corsair H100
Memory: 8GB Corsair Dominator GT8 2400mhz memory
Graphics Card: AMD HD7770 CrossfireX
Power Supply: ADATA 1200W
Optical Drive: Asus BluRay Drive
Chassis: Cooler Master Cosmos 2
Boot Drive: Crucial C300 128GB SSD
Secondary Drive: Patriot 240GB Pyro SE
Intel i7 3960X EE
Motherboard: Asus Rampage IV Extreme
Cooler: Antec H20 920
Memory: 8GB Corsair Dominator GT 2400mhz memory
Power Supply: Enermax Platimax 1200W
Optical Drive: Asus BluRay Drive
Chassis: Lian Li PC-A77FR Aluminium Red Full Tower Case
Boot Drive: Patriot WildFire 120GB
Secondary Drive: 1TB Samsung
Intel i7 3820
Motherboard: ASRock Extreme4-M
Cooler: Intel reference cooler
Memory: 8GB Corsair GTX8 @ 2133mhz
Power Supply: ADATA 1200W
Chassis: Lian Li PC60
Boot Drive: Crucial C300
Secondary Drive: Patriot Pyro SE 240GB
AMD FX 8150 Black Edition
Processor: AMD FX 8150 Black Edition
Motherboard: Gigabyte 990FXA-UD7
Cooler: Noctua NH D14
Memory: G-SKill Ripjaws 1600mhz 8GB (2x 4GB)
Power Supply: ADATA 1200W
Chassis: SilverStone Raven 3
Boot Drive: Intel 40GB SSD
Secondary Drive: Patriot 120GB WildFire
Intel Core i7 990X
Processor: Intel Core i7 990x
Cooler: Corsair H100
Motherboard: Gigabyte G1 Assassin
Memory: Kingston HyperX 6GB
Drives: Crucial RealSSD C300 256GB
Power Supply: Corsair AX1200
Chassis: Antec Twelve Hundred
Intel Core i7 2700k
Processor: Intel Core i7 2700k
Cooling: ThermalTake Frio OCK
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z68AP-D3 Z68 Motherboard
Chassis: Silverstone Raven 3.
Power Supply: Corsair 850W.
Memory: Corsair 1600mhz memory
Storage: Intel 80GB SSD (boot) / Patriot Wildfire 120GB SSD.
Intel Core i7 2600k
Processor: Intel Core i7 2600k
Motherboard: ASRock Fatal1ty Z68 Professional Gen 3
Cooler: Intel XTS-100H
Memory: ADATA 1600mhz DDR3 8GB (2x4GB)
Power Supply: Thermaltake Toughpower 850W
Boot Drive: Intel 510 SSD 250GB
Intel Core i5 2500k
Processor: Intel Core i7 2500k
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z68AP-D3 Z68 Motherboard
Cooler: Arctic Cooling Freezer Xtreme Rev.2 CPU Cooler
Memory: Corsair 1600mhz memory 8GB (2x4GB)
Power Supply: Corsair 850W.
Boot Drive: Patriot Pyro 120GB SSD.
AMD Phenom II X6 1100T
Processor: AMD Phenom II X6 1100T
Motherboard: Gigabyte 990FXA-UD7
Cooler: Noctua NH D14
Memory: G-SKill Ripjaws 1600mhz 8GB (2x 4GB)
Power Supply: ADATA 1200W
Chassis: SilverStone Raven 3
Boot Drive: Intel 40GB SSD
Secondary Drive: Patriot 120GB WildFire
I love the heatsink idea with the cover, but it looks like it might block some of the bigger CPU coolers, hard to tell going on the information but it looks tight near the top of the board.
Great review. So, it did or didn’t OC stable to 5Ghz with the H100?
Thanks for a great review!
I have a couple of questions about this motherboard with a Noctua NH-D14 cooler – firstly if it fits and secondly if the motherboard is able to control the Noctua fan speeds (they are 3 pin fans, not PWM).
yeah 5ghz is stable with one of the samples I have, but they all vary. 4.8ghz is best all round spot with less voltage and a cheaper cooler (for most people anyway).
If you give me a few days ill try with a D14, didnt for the review, but I have one in another drawer.
Great! Thanks =)
Zardon. Any new about the D14, with this board? Its compatible?
I’m getting this board and want to know, would the Thermalright Silver Arrow cpu cooler fit above the TUF Armor? With two 140mm fans attached?
Hi there, the NH D14 fits – but its close. As for the question on the Silver Arrow CPU cooler, I dont have one here, but ill try and get hold of one.
Thanks for the quick answer. Hopefully it will since the D14 fits. But this pic has me really concerned:
http://www.overclockers.ru/images/lab/2010/11/25/391_thermalright_silver_arrow_onmobo_big.jpg
Actually looking at that, it looks as if it would fit. I can’t guarantee it, but I have the board at the same angle on the desk here and it looks as if it would fit fine.
Remember, I know its not ideal, but you can remove the protective shell in a worst case scenario, so the board isnt redundant if there are some fitting issues.
Since the looks of TUF armor are one of the reasons why I want that mobo It would be a waste to remove it. Also I heard that it cools well with the 2 small fans, and I don’t mind a little bit of noise. If the Silver Arrow wouldn’t fit, I’d get a Corsair H100 and normal RAM with heatsinks, so that’s why I wanted to know in advance. According to reviews the H100 is behind by a few degrees and is also more expensive, so I wanna have the Silver Arrow which is currently the best no-maintenance cooler, if it would fit.
Quote: “Quad GPU AMD CrossfireX – a flawless architecture accommodating the power of up to four graphics cards” /Quote
So where do Install the 4 graphics cards?
I see 3 slots
I think they do that, saying quad is possible with two cards, but its actually tri crossfire
did you downclock your RAM to OC? page 4 bottom pic. RAM speed=800 mhz…
Thats 1,600mhz. its how DDR3 memory is reported in those programs Matt.