[section_title title=”Overclocking”]
Overclocking
Our Intel Core i7 5960x processor is capable of around 4.6-4.7GHz 24/7 on the right cooling method as being honest, 8 cores and 16 threads of power isn’t going to come without its drawbacks (heat). One interesting thing I noticed about this board was no matter how small it is, the amount of key components such as power phases and even the 12v CPU power connector, they both scream OVERCLOCK me; 8-pin 12v CPU connector and 6 phases for those wondering.
Upon a cold boot with no BIOS tweaking whatsoever, our i7 5960x booted up at 3.3GHz which isn’t bad and if you wanted to use the included server cooler, this would be a more than ample set up but obviously this is overclocking so stock isn’t going to cut it; neither is the inclusive box shaped server cooler.
I was heavily impressed with the ASRock X99E-ITX/ac board in terms of overclocking ability and I managed 4.5GHz with ease on the Corsair H80i; temperatures were a little high but this is to be expected with such a high clock speed/voltage ratio; surprisingly average for an i7 5960x too might I add!
Vdroop automatically shaved 0.02v off my 1.4v setting but this of course can be tweaked in the BIOS and with good options for LLC (Load Line Calibration), overclocking is not only straight forward with this board, but it packs such a punch that it might be the one to finally topple Mayweather; bad pun but you get the picture!
It is also worth mentioning that I did try for 4.6GHz but the system wouldn’t post; effectively hitting my limit for the CPU; not something that the board held me back with!
