ASUS Maximus IV Extreme B3 Revision Review
Test Setup and Overclocking
Published: 23rd March 2011 | Source: ASUS | Price: £299 |
Test Setup
As we don't have the time nor storage capacity to test long-term data integrity we are taking Intel's word for the fixes and expect the stock performance to remain very much on a par with our previous testing. So today we're going to be looking at the overclocking capabilities of the Maximus compared to our earlier test and another recent review.
ASUS Maximus IV Extreme B3
Intel Core i5-2500K CPU
4GB Kingston Genesis Grey Edition
EVGA GTX570
Noctua NH-D14
Cougar CM1000 PSU
Windows 7 64-Bit
Overclocking
This is the real meat of our revisit. When we first reviewed the Maximus IV Extreme our Core i5-2500K topped out at a disappointing 4.6 GHz. We know our chip is capable of 5GHz with sufficient, ahem, encouragement so starting off at what we'd consider a 24/7 voltage of 1.4v on the vCore it didn't take long at all to reach a stable 4.8 GHz. Already a massive improvement on the old Maximus as that wouldn't budge past 4.6 GHz even with 1.5v, which is what we use as a maximum.
One of the biggest innovations, and one we definitely enjoy, is the way we can just choose a memory speed regardless of the CPU speed. Our Kingston Genesis happily runs at its rated speed on the M4E without need to adjust anything.
Of course we don't just want to know what our "all day" overclock would be. Could this B3 revision make it up to the 5 GHz we've seen before?
With ease is the answer. So much so we didn't need 1.5v, but a mere 1.48v. Not only could it shift up to 5 GHz but it wasn't just a suicide shot. We managed to run all of our tests except PC Mark Vantage at this speed. If that isn't impressive then you need to check your pulse.
My name is Maximus IV Extreme, Motherboard to an over-clocked processor, foundation to a speedy system, and I will have 5GHz with this attempt or the next.
We could just bump the voltage a little to get through PC Mark, but we prefer to test at speeds we'd live with, because if we could you could and so you know what you're getting for your money.
Most Recent Comments
I'm looking forward to the Big Bang Marshall review now to see who comes out on top, the Maximus or the BBM.
how does it stack up against the ud7 and other higher end boards? only i thought the gd65 was a bit of a let down when you tested it
How does it compare to the BBM? *whistles innocently*
As for the UD7, there isn't much in it tbh. But we could either have graphs that take a week to scroll through, or let you do a tiny bit of legwork. Tabbed browsing has it's benefits
My name is Maximus IV Extreme, Motherboard to an over-clocked processor, foundation to a speedy system, and I will have 5GHz with this attempt or the next.
Bryan dude, your reviews crack me up
Thank you thank you.
To be honest, I was all in favor for the 1366 especially since the first review but has somewhat changed after this review.
Kinda keen if you opion is changed after the new revision ?
The 1155 is amazing though. Either in 2500K guise or 2600K if you need HT.
If you must have the absolute top-end, hold on for the 2011 revision in a few months time.
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Originally Posted by VonBlade
I'm only a humble reviewer, but it depends what you've got now and how desperate you are to upgrade. 1366 will soon be phased out for 2011. The 1155 is amazing though. Either in 2500K guise or 2600K if you need HT. If you must have the absolute top-end, hold on for the 2011 revision in a few months time. |
Its running fine, no probs. However mine son needs a new PC.
He`s using a Opteron 147/A8N32-Sli/4GB ram/2x7900GT.
So he`ll be getting mine and me gonna get a new one.
I was aiming at a 1366 setup, however since the revised review I am kinda in the middle.
Seeing this review and the looks of it I kinda eager to get this.
With a 2600k/16Gb dominator ram/2x560Ti Sc it will suite me fine.
But seeing Toms opion I kinda like hmmmm what to get ?
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Originally Posted by CueBall
Well to be honest, I have now a q9550/Maximus formula/8Gb ram/2xGTX460. Its running fine, no probs. However mine son needs a new PC. He`s using a Opteron 147/A8N32-Sli/4GB ram/2x7900GT. So he`ll be getting mine and me gonna get a new one. I was aiming at a 1366 setup, however since the revised review I am kinda in the middle. Seeing this review and the looks of it I kinda eager to get this. With a 2600k/16Gb dominator ram/2x560Ti Sc it will suite me fine. But seeing Toms opion I kinda like hmmmm what to get ? |
At the end of the day not everyone is interested about doing all the fiddling about and they just want a powerful PC and there is nothing wrong with that IMHO.
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Originally Posted by SieB
The thing is those are Tom's opinions, and he is basing them on the fact he likes to tinker with his PC and adjust all the settings himself instead of letting the motherboard do it all for him. If you want a powerful PC and you are not bothered about doing all the settings and balancing this and changing that and then upping the other then there is nothing wrong with 1155. But if you do like to do all the settings and tinker with them and spend time getting them all right then you would be better off with 1366 or waiting for 2011. Personally i missed out on X58 and went strait from 775 to 1155 and never learned about how to do overclocking properly but when 2011 comes ouit i am thinking of upgrading so I can learn. At the end of the day not everyone is interested about doing all the fiddling about and they just want a powerful PC and there is nothing wrong with that IMHO. |
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