MSI P67A-GD65 Motherboard Review

OverclockingOverclocking capability is always a very important factor when talking about a motherboard. The way Intel has ‘locked down’ the P67 platform and its LGA 1155 processors means that the days of massive overclocks via the FSB or base clock are all but over, well for LGA 1155 at least! On the P67 platform, the overclocking is done via adjusting the multiplier of the ‘K’ series CPU’s which feature an unlocked multiplier.

We have already shown the extra performance that is available from a very easily obtainable 4.6GHz overclock. This overclock used a CPU voltage setting of just 1.288V in the BIOS (around 1.328V when under load thanks to high VDroop settings). It was completely stable and we would have no worries recommending this for 24/7 usage. That is a good start to the overclocking capabilities from the GD65.

Being the enthusiasts we are, we wanted to see how far this board could take the 2600K, while still remaining stable and with decent temperatures. We turned the RAM frequency down to 1066MHz to take it out of the overclocking equation.

1.35V in the BIOS took us all the way up to 4.8GHz with no problems or BSOD’s whatsoever. When we checked the load temperatures, the CPU was hitting a dangerous 82C after just 2 minutes of Prime95, using our Alpenfohn Matterhorn cooler. This was much higher than we would have liked, so the goal now changed from finding the maximum overclock the board was capable of, to seeing how easily we could get to 5GHz.

We wanted to keep the voltage as low as possible so that 24/7 usage wouldn’t be a problem. We decided to try and stay below 1.38V so that temperatures wouldn’t rise any further and stability wouldn’t be sacrificed. We managed to get to 5GHz with just 1.375V in the BIOS by turning off HyperThreading for less heat output and extra stability. We were very, very pleased to reach 5GHz with such a low voltage which peaked at just 1.424V (under Prime95 load). The temperatures were acceptable for 24/7 usage at just below 75C under load.

This calibre of overclock with such low voltage is very impressive and shows that the board’s “Military Class” components are living up to their name by efficiently delivering clean power to our CPU.