Overclocking Results:

stock max. oc cpu multiplier: x33 x47 motherboard blck: 1000 mhz 1048 mhz if you're new to Overclocking and not sure what to do, check out these two excellent Guides for some pointers: Overclocking the CPU and Memory Overclocking the Videocard

Since the first Intel Sandy Bridge CPUs hit the streets overclocking has taken a bit of a strange turn. If you were savvy enough to buy an unlocked Intel Core i5 2500K or 2600K CPU from the get-go, you already know the unlocked CPU multiplier will let you push these chips into the mid-4 GHz range with little effort.

Owing to the integrated graphics on Sandy Bridge processors, overclocking via the processor BCLK turned out to be an exercise in futility however. If you don't have an unlocked Sandy Bridge processor there's not much room to push a BLCK beyond about 104.8MHz.... TurboCore does what it does, and you've learned to be happy with that.

With the previous generation of Intel P67 motherboards, overclocking was easy. Intel H67 motherboards for the most part lack even basic overclocking options, so if you ended up combining an H67 board with a K-series chip someone really cheated you at the computer store.

The Intel Z68 chipset combines the best of the Intel P67 and H67 chipsets into one platform, and let's face it... puts the final nail in the coffin of both. Not all Z68 boards offer the video output jacks, but those that do give you full overclocking control of both the processor and integrated graphics clock speed.

Gigabyte's GA-Z68X-UD5-B3 motherboard offers up a full range of CPU overclocking controls in the BIOS and from within Windows via the new TouchBIOS interface. Since BCLK overclocking is generally limited to 105MHz, PCSTATS left memory settings alone and focused on the CPU multiplier. Starting from the default x33 multiplier, PCSTATS pushed this to x45... x46... x47... x48 before the system crashed loading into Windows 7.

Without tweaking any voltage settings the Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD5-B3 motherboard could post at a x48 multiplier. The maximum stable overclock was x47 or 4.7GHz for the test Intel Core i5 2500K (3.3GHz) processor.

Since Gigabyte's GA-Z68X-UD5-B3 motherboard does not feature onboard video ports there are no integrated graphics overclocking options in the BIOS. Next up, the complete PCSTATS motherboard benchmark suite compares the Intel Z68 against Intel P55, P67, X58 and AMD 890FX based platforms.

Test System Specifications

The details of how the Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD5-B3 motherboard was configured for benchmarking, including specific hardware, software drivers, operating system and benchmark versions are all indicated below. Other columns list the general specs of the current and legacy reference platforms. Please take a moment to look over PCSTATS test system configurations before moving on to the individual benchmark results.

Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD5-B3 Motherboard

PCSTATS Test System Configurations

test system - intel core i5 2nd generation reference system reference system reference system processor: intel core i5 2500k (32nm) intel Core i5 750 (45nm) AMD Phenom II X6 1090T (45nm) Intel Core i7 920 (45nm) Clock Speed: 33 x 100 MHz = 3.3 GHz 20 x 133 MHz = 2.66 GHz 16 x 200 MHz = 3.2 GHz 20 x 133 MHz = 2.67 GHz Socket: Socket LGA1155 Socket LGA1156 Socket AM3 / AM2+ Socket LGA1366 Motherboard: - Intel Z68 - Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD5-B3 Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 - Intel P67 - Gigabyte GA-P67A-UD7 Gigabyte GA-P67A-UD7-B3 Gigabyte GA-P67A-UD4 ASUS P8P67 Pro MSI P67A-GD65 ECS P67H2-A - Intel H67 - Biostar TH67XE ECS H67H2-M Intel DH67BL - Intel P55 - Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD5-B3 * Gigabyte GA-P55-UD6 Gigabyte GA-P55-UD5 Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD4P * Gigabyte GA-P55-UD3R ASUS P7P55D Premium * ASUS P7P55D Deluxe ASUS P7P55D-E Pro - AMD 890FX - ASUS Crosshair IV Formula Biostar TA890FXE MSI 890FXA-GD70 Gigabyte GA-890FXA-UD7 - AMD 790FX - Gigabyte GA-MA790FXT-UD5P - AMD 785G - MSI 785GM-E65 Gigabyte G1.Assassin (X58) MSI Eclipse Plus (X58) Videocard: Gigabyte GV-N470SO-13I (Geforce GTX470) ASUS ENGTS250 DK (Geforce GTS250) Memory: 2x 2GB Crucial Ballistix DDR3-1600 8.8.8.24 2x 2GB Corsair XMS3-1600C9 2x 2GB Corsair XMS3-1600C8 3x 2GB Corsair TR3X6G1600C8D DDR3 Memory Speed: DDR3-1333 DDR3-1333 DDR3-1066 DDR3-1066 120GB OCZ Vertex2 SSD (3GB/s SATA II) Intel SRT Tests: 74GB Western Digital Raptor WD740 & 20GB Intel Larson Creek 311 SSD 74GB Western Digital Raptor WD740 (3GB/s SATA II) 2TB Segate Barracuda XT (6GB/s SATA III) * for Marvell 9128 Compliant boards Optical Drive: Plextor PX-B310U Blu-Ray ASUS BC-1205PT-BD Power Supply: Seasonic SS-760KM (760W) PC Power & Cooling TurboCool 750W Heatsink: Intel Reference LGA1155 Heatsink Intel Reference LGA1156 Heatsink Athlon64 K8 Reference Heatsink Intel Reference LGA1366 Heatsink Monitor (1080p): ASUS MK241 24" HD LCD Software Setup: Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate 32-bit Intel 9.2.0.1025 nVIDIA 266.58 Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate 32-bit Intel 9.1.1.1019 nVIDIA Forceware 190.62 Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate AMD Catalyst 9.12 nVIDIA Forceware 195.62 Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate Intel INF 9.1.0.1012 nVIDIA Forceware 182.08 Benchmarks: System Benchmarks: SYSmark 2007 PCMark Vantage SiSoft Sandra 2011 Gaming B/M: 3DMark 11 3DMark Vantage 3DMark 06 FEAR