Overclocking

Overclocking with the ASUS P8P67 Pro can be a daunting task. With so many included options for the VRM, it can be difficult to know what exactly you really need to adjust. Fortunately for us, having clocked out memory and CPU on several other products, we knew what was needed, and with that in hand, we set about trying to emulate what other boards offer. This did take a bit of work, as we really wanted to ensure that the same conditions were presented in order to keep our compares on a level playing field, but in the end, the very large differences in VRM design and BIOS support really set the stage for motherboard comparisons with recently released products.


We managed to get the exact same clocks as on our last P67-based platform, at 4500 MHz on the CPU, and 2133 MHz on the memory. However, getting the memory stable at 2133 MHz did require us to set 1.7 V to the DIMMs, and for us, this voltage is far too high for us to be comfortable with, especially considering our two P67 motherboards managed to do the same clocks with 1.65 V.


When it comes to automatic overclocking, ASUS has both included the TPU switch, and some autotuning software as part of the AI Suite II. As we've tested our CPUs beforehand using various cooling and other products, we endeavored to see just how far the automatic clocking would go, and to our pleasant surprise, it topped out at a huge 5100 MHz! However, while we could benchmark with ease at this speed, long-term stability tested proved our cooling was insufficient to maintain these super-fast clocks. We are confident, however, that both the board's BIOS and VRM circuitry are up to the task to max out your system to the utmost extreme, should that be the road you wish to travel down. But let's get back to the fight, and see how well efficiency was maintained while overclocked.

Overclocked Performance Summary

Cinebench provided a substantial performance increase when overclocked, something that resounds true through the entire series of P67-based products. The added memory bandwidth provided by P67 versus P55 really shines through, especially when overclocked.


Likewise, SuperPi 32m results proved the same as Cinebench, with substantial performance increases that just aren't noticed on previous Intel platforms.


WPrime 1024M numbers further the results, showing that there is true power available when overclocking the ASUS P8P67 PRO.


For a bit of 3D action, we fired up CodeMaster's F1 2010, to be pleasantly impressed with the performance boost offered, although a bit smaller than we have noticed on other boards, is still very respectable.