- Back to homepage
- Related articles
  Related articles

Trio of Z87 OC Motherboards Tested

Motherboards/Intel S1150 by leeghoofd @ 2013-07-26

Today we will be looking at 3 high end Overclock optimized mainboards for Intel's 4th generation processors. Madshrimps received the Z87-OC Formula sample from ASRock, the Gigabyte Z87X-OC and MSI's Z87 XPOWER flagship. Three boards, although all listed in total different price categories, targeted specifically at the enthusiast crowd. Fully equipped to squeeze the last MHz out of your Haswell. Due to the specific nature of these particular boards we have adapted the review method slightly to go more into the efficiency aspect instead of listing all of the onboard features/chips.

Memory Compatibility

Even though the MHz records set by single sided 4GB Hynix MFR kits might seem impressive, it's not always that this means this is the most efficient for benching or even daily usage. Haswells' IMC is far superior to what Ivy ever could deliver and we see even older kits scale well with some added voltages. Since these boards are designed for overclocking, RAM compatibility can make or break a board. We test 4 of the more popular IC brands used.

Kits we used:

G.Skill 2200C9 using BBSE ICs 2 x 2GB

G.Skill 2000C7 Flare using PSC ICs 2 x 2GB

CORSAIR 2666C10 using Samsung ICs 2 x 4GB

CORSAIR 2800C11 using Hynix CFR 2 x 4GB

Both the vintage sticks ( PSC and BBSE ) need to run SuperPI 32M at 2600MHz C8-12-8-28 1T to pass the test

The Samsung sticks need to be able to reach 2800MHz C10-12-12-24 1T

The Hynix sticks have to run with tighter timings then XMP at 2800MHz C11-13-13-31 1T

The ASROCK Formula has got a brilliant compiled bios, making it a breeze to tweak our RAM kits at the above speeds.

PSC at 2600C8-12-8-28 1T: OK at 1.9Vdimm

BBSE at 2600C8-12-8-28 1T: OK at 1.88Vdimm

SAMSUNG at 2800C10-12-12-24 1T: OK at 1.8Vdimm

Hynix CFR at 2800C11-13-13-31 1T: OK at 1.82 Vdimm

The Gigabyte OC board had us fooled big time. Usually the Gigabyte BIOS engineers really set the boards RAM timings way too tight. Mostly they even refuses to post at all. Manually adjusting each timing was the only option to get it working. However the Z87X-OC board surprised friend and foe. We only had minor issues with the vintage kits as we did not adjust the PWM Frequency setting and left it on AUTO. Adjusting it to High allowed us to boot and to be Superpi32M stable

PSC at 2600C8-12-8-28 1T: OK at 1.91Vdimm

BBSE at 2600C8-12-8-28 1T: OK at 1.9Vdimm

SAMSUNG at 2800C10-12-12-24 1T: OK at 1.82Vdimm

Hynix CFR at 2800C11-13-13-31 1T: OK at 1.85 Vdimm

The MSI XPOWER is another cup of tea, the ASRock was pure child's play and the Gigabyte required some extra fiddling to get it rocking at the required speeds. We experienced issues with any Bios before 1.18 to even allow us to boot, let alone be stable at XMP speeds with e.g. our CORSAIR 2666C10 kit . The new 1.19 bios solved most XMP related issues but the low latency bug is still present. Resulting in the performance not being up to the required level. The latest test Bios A11 really improves the performance of the XPOWER, but the Bios team's work is not over yet.

These are the results for the 1.19 bios

PSC at 2600C8-12-8-28 1T: FAIL, OK at 2400C7

BBSE at 2600C8-12-8-28 1T: FAIL

SAMSUNG at 2800C10-12-12-24 1T: OK at 1.86VDimm

Hynix CFR at 2800C11-13-13-31 1T: FAIL, OK with CR 2T

Comment from Teemto @ 2013/07/26

Really like the editor's note

Comment from NordWolfe @ 2013/08/03

Finally somebody with the balls to tell it like it is. Now I would just like somebody to call-out Intel, for their woeful/unacceptable manufacturing quality control on their CPUs, and AMD, for their incompetence that permits these abuses from their rivals. At least, so it seems, AMD is now hiring the right people for their CPU division. Hope this pays off quickly so that Intel loses it’s arrogance, and total lack of respect for it’s customers. For that to happen we need many more true reviewers, such as yourself, and not Corporate Whores, such as we see in most sites, and youtube channels.
I salute your courage, integrity, and the knowledge you have on your mission.
Cheers.

Comment from leeghoofd @ 2013/08/04

Thx guys for the feedback. It's not what the manufacturers or people from the PR team want to read, but at least it's the truth based on hard facts... apreciated that my hard works is applauded

All information and graphics contained in Madshrimps are sole property of the Madshrimps crew and may not be reproduced or copied in any manner without written permission from us.