Z68A-GD80 (B3) Overclocking Guide

By the launching of the Intel P67 platform, MSI P67

series mainboards have become the frst choice for PC
players. Following after the Sandy Bridge platform,
the new released Intel Z68 chipsets, enhancing the
CPU and GPU overclocking abilities, are standing
on the top position of the Sandy Bridge families in
desktop feld.
Overview
Recognize the Sandy Bridge Platform
Easy OC for Sandy Bridge ~ OC Genie II
Military Class II Materials
Multi-Graphics Cards Gaming Design
Reach the Higher SATA6Gb/s Performance from Sandy
Bridge
Power Super Speed USB
OC Notice : Cooler Configuration
Manual OC Overview
OC Ability Reference
Z68A-GD80 OC setting reference table
Other Features on Z68A-GD80
Conclusion
Contents
Note
The function, specifcation, data and pictures provided by this guidebook is only for reference.
Please refer to the actual content through the offcial launched product.
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OVERVIEW
Z68A-GD80, based on the P67A-GD80, embedded the Intel Z68 chipset, is the
latest generation of the high-end product.
Z68A-GD80 also includes Native SATA III (6Gbps) support, three PCI-Express
X16 slots, ample USB 3.0 ports, and Military Class II material. This powerful
combination allows for more fexibility, giving users more power to customize
their computer.
4 Z68A-GD80 (B3) Overclocking Guide Z68A-GD80 (B3) Overclocking Guide 5
Recognize the Sandy
Bridge Platform
Despite design and architectural similarities between the Intel Series 60
chipsets for the brand new LGA1155 processors and the previous Series 50
chipsets for LGA1156 processors, none of them are compatible. In addition to
the integrated GPU, the Sandy Bridge is equipped with more demanding OC
restrictions. That is to say, it is less fexible than any LGA1156 processors.
OC : You need K SKU CPU
First, Intel has restricted base clock OC of
Sandy Bridge processors, and the average
BCLK OC range is about 10%. Given that the
default BCLK of the Sandy Bridge is 100MHz,
the OC range will fall within 110MHz. When
compared with the processors of previous
versions, the range is far less. In other words,
we can only adjust the CPU ratio (multiplier)
to run OC on the Sandy Bridge processors,
and the K series processors without ratio
block will surely be the primary choice for OC
power users.
Sandy Bridge CPU OC Ability Comparison
K SKU i7 i5 i3
Base Clock
CPU Ratio
GPU Clock
Chipsets OC Limited
Apart from the range limit of processors, the design
of the Series 60 chipsets also differs. Although the
OC features of the P55 and H55 chipsets are similar
(depending on the mainboard design), it is necessary
for consumers to carefully select the Series 60 chip-
sets in order to run OC on their systems. Despite the
fact that the GPU is integrated with all Sandy Bridge
processors, users are advised to choose the K-series
processors and P67 & Z68 mainbaords in order to ex-
ert the power of CPU OC. However, when one wants
to run OC on the GPU integrated with the processors,
the H67 and Z68 platforms will be the choice. Simply
speaking, it is impossible to run GPU OC on the P67
platforms or CPU OC on the H67 platforms. But both
OC available on the Z68 platforms.
=Adjustable at a limited range.
Sandy Bridge Platform OC Ability Comparison
P67 H67 Z68
Base Clock
CPU Ratio
GPU Clock
=Adjustable at a limited range.
=limited adjustment by HW design.
6 Z68A-GD80 (B3) Overclocking Guide Z68A-GD80 (B3) Overclocking Guide 7
Previously, MSI provided OC Genie to simplify overclocking for the P55
mainboards. Today, MSIs Sandy Bridge boards feature the next genera-
tion OC Genie II. Since Sandy Bridge base clocks are now limited, the
new OC Genie II will take CPU ratio ,GPU ratio, CPU voltage, and XMP
into consideration when overclocking various CPUs. With a press of a
button, the OC Genie II will overclock the CPU beyond what is possible
with Intel Turbo Boost. (GPU overclock only on H67 and Z68 platforms).
Once the
system is
shutdown,
depress the OC
Genie Button, and
the CPU will automati-
cally be optimally over-
clocked. While it is possible
to disable OC Genie from the
BIOS or Control Center II, it is not
recommended.
MILITARY CLASS II MATERIALS
Continuing the premium-quality material design tradition, apart
from delivering a longer lifespan, the MSI Z68A-GD80 mainboard
makes OC operation more stable.
Hi-C CAP
Hi-C CAP, Highly-Conductive Po-
lymerized Capacitor, uses high
electric conduction polymer as
internal electrolyte, featuring
the small size and high ca-
pacity, which are commonly
used in many electronic
products such as laptop
computers, satellites and so on.
The main reason Hi-C CAP can be applied in high tech
and precise machine is that the special Core brings low ESR (Equivalent
Series Resistance), low electric leaks (Leakage Current) and larger adaptation
range of ambient temperature scope. High ESR and Leakage current cause
not only unstable system but also the life cycle reduction of spare part. The
Hi-C CAP performance in
ESR and Leakage current both surpass the present mainstream Solid CAP,
not to say the obsolete EL CAP. Being as for the whole, Hi-C CAP stables the
motherboard power output, enhances the power transference effciency
and has the adjustment function when Inrush Current (burst electric current)
occurs. Naturally, the power loss is extremely low, brings the greatest superi-
ority either in overclocking operation or life cycle.
Incredible lifetime
Less Leakage
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e
Lifetime
Offce
Gaming +
Bad condition
85
o
C
65
o
C
112,000 hours
12.8 years
449,000 hours!!
>50 years
Hi-c CAP
82.5 A
Solid Cap 1250 A
Leakage Current
Higher is better
Lower is better
15x Less Leakage
More stable power output
Higher power effciency
Enhance OC Gunie II performance
to 20% with Core i7-2500K
P1720
P2487
1309
1920
46% UP
Intel Turbo Boost
MSI OC Genie II
3D Mark Vantage 3D Mark Vantage GPU
Easy OC for Sandy Bridge ~ OC Genie II
8 Z68A-GD80 (B3) Overclocking Guide Z68A-GD80 (B3) Overclocking Guide 9
Multi-Graphics Cards Gaming Design
ESR Comparison
Solid Cap
5 m
Hi-c Cap
< 5 m
EL Cap
>20 m
ESR (m) Lower is better
SFC
To reach the lower power consumption, Z68A-GD80s PWM adopt Green
Choke design, SFC (Super Ferrite Choke), utilizing the latest material tech-
nology - iron core. The material's exclusive physical character allows SFC
automatically to adjust the inductance value for optimal power effciency
based on the system's loading. During light loading such as surfng the net
or running 2D operations, SFC can help provide up to a 20% improvement
in power effciency compared to a normal ferrite choke. For heavier loading
such as playing 3D games, SFCs ultra-low impedance still helps to maintain a
low operating temperature. Even when overclocking to the max, Super Fer-
rite Choke offers an incredibly stable supply of power. Clearly, SFC can satisfy
every possible power demand and usage scenario.
SFC provides over 20% power
effciency improvement during
light loading. Ultra-low imped-
ance ensures low operating
temperature and stable power
supply when overclocking.
MSI Z68A-GD80 is equipped with three PCI-E x16 slots to support 3-Way
CrossFire as well as 2-Way SLI, allowing users to maximize their gaming expe-
rience with Nvidia and AMD graphics cards.
Multi-VGA cards system confguration
Mainboard Z68A-GD80 (B3)
BIOS H0D
CPU Core i7 2600K
Memory Kingston KHX2000C93T1K/6GX*2
Graphics Card Nvidia GeForce GTX480/ ATI Radeon HD 5870
HDD Intel SSDSA2MH080G2GN
PSU XIGMATEK NRP-HC1001 1000W
OS Windows 7 64bit RTM7600
Z68A-GD80 (B3) PCI-E Confguration
PCI_E2 X16 X8
PCI_E4 ---- X8
PCI_E5 X4
0 Z68A-GD80 (B3) Overclocking Guide Z68A-GD80 (B3) Overclocking Guide
ATI CrossFire 3DMark Vantage Benchmark Comparison
1-Way
2-Way
3-Way
ATI CrossFire 3DMark Vantage GPU Score Comparison
1-Way
2-Way
3-Way
P19954
P29200
18973
31656
Nvidia SLI 3DMark Vantage Benchmark Comparison
1-Way
2-Way
Nvidia SLI 3DMark Vantage GPU Score Comparison
1-Way
2-Way
P23184
P36938
19219
32698
P32964
37920
REaCh thE hIGhER Sata6GB/S
PERfORmanCE fROm SandY BRIdGE
Unlike previous Intel chipsets that only supported SATA 3Gb/s, the Sandy
Bridge Z68 now has two native SATA 6Gb/s ports. MSIs Sandy
Bridge series can utilize the full potential of solid state
drives to deliver high performance read and
write. Note that SATA 6Gb/s ports
are now indicated by their
white coloring.
SATA 6Gbps
SATA 3Gbps
S
A
T
A
P
e
r
fo
r
m
a
n
c
e
C
o
m
p
a
r
is
o
n
To ensure the hard disk transmission rate is optimized, it is strongly recommend-
ed to use SATA 6Gb/s SSD. Even create a RAID 0 disk system with two hard disks
that support SATA 6Gb/s.
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USB 3.0 has become the accepted standard for high-speed transfer. As a
response to the growing demand of USB 3.0, the Z68A-GD80 breaks through
previous limitations by including two NEC USB 3.0 chips to increase the num-
ber of USB 3.0 ports possible.
The blue USB ports or pinhead-
ers supported by two USB 3.0
chipsets all provide USB 3.0 super
speed data transmission.
Power Super Speed USB
USB Performance Comparison
USB 2.0 USB 3.0
To ensure the hard disk transmission rate is optimized, it is strongly recom-
mended to use USB3.0 SSD.
Well-controlled temperature is sure to enhance overclocking capability. The
higher the CPU temperature rises, the higher risks of system instability and
overclocking failure may cause. According to our clinical test, temperature
of the boxed CPU fan of Intel may exceed 50 easily during OC usage due to
its small-scale cooling design. That is why changing a high-effciency CPU fan
with better heat dissipation is recommend, radiation fan for instance, seems
to be a better solution for both of CPU and PWM. Furthermore, if you intend
to push your hardware to the limit, then CPU-LN2 would be the best choice
of all so far.
OC nOtICE:
COOLER COnfIGURatIOn
Intel offcial boxed CPU fan
This is the original boxed LGA1155 CPU
fan, and its not suitable for overclocking
due to its small-scale cooling design.
Better to use enhanced cooler set
The dissipation effect of the enhanced
cooler set is better than that of the origi-
nal factory fan.
The special design cooler set of
overclocking
It takes the illustrated proprietary design
cooler set to lower temperature and
avoid system instability.
Not recommend
Acceptable
Better
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Manual OC Overview
Starting from the Sandy Bridge series, MSI will now adopt the new UEFI BIOS
as well as Click BIOS into its products. Previously, overclocking options were
listed in the Cell Menu those options can now be accessed by clicking on
the OC picture.
Frequency Setting
Limitations of CPU base clock introduced by the Sandy Bridge series means
that there will only be a limited range of adjustment. Therefore, to over-
clock effectively, we will have to mainly increase the CPU ratio and leave CPU
base clock to make fne adjustments. The range of possible CPU ratios based
on the CPU will be refected in the BIOS.
Also, users were advised to shut down the Intel Turbo Boost when running
OC manually. On the Sandy Bridge processors, however, users are advised
to turn the Intel Turbo Boost in order to obtain the unexpectedly great OC
effect.
Note that the Memory Frequency adjustment is also limited by CPU base
clock. With the default 100MHz base clock, the possible memory frequency
are as follows: DDR3-800MHz, DDR3-1066MHz, DDR3-1333MHz, DDR3-
1600MHz, DDR3-1866MHz, and DDR3-2133MHz. Any overclocking to the
memories will require adjustments to the base clock.
Voltage Setting
CPU Voltage, CPU IO Voltage (VTT), DRAM Voltage, System Agent Voltage,
and etc can be access in the OC options. The parameters relevant to CPU
overclocking are CPU Voltage and IO Voltage. The parameters relevant
for memory overclocking are DRAM Voltage and IO Voltage. In addition,
Internal PLL Voltage affects K SKU CPUs overclocking ability; we recommend
turning on this option when overclocking. Important to note that the CPU
has built-in protections that will decrease CPU ratio if the CPU is too hot;
thus, when increasing the voltage, be aware that there may be circumstances
where more higher voltage may lower system performance.
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Advanced Memory Timing Setting
Users can assign different settings for particular channels of memory. This
has the advantage of individual memory parameter optimization, even using
the different memory specifcations. When you set the detailed parameters,
and dont know where to start with values, you can refer to the bottom of
the Current memory values list in the gray font block to set the appropriate
parameters for overclocking and not too far off the mark.
CPU Feature
The CPU Feature menu can be used to adjust settings such as Execute Disable
Bit, Virtualization Technology, Power Technology, C-State, etc. The Long/
Short Duration Power Limit setting in particular can be used to adjust CPU
TDP wattage limit. These two settings will affect the processor when it is
under heavy load but will not affect CPU ratio.
OC Ability Reference
Let us try out the Intel i7-2600K on the Z68A-GD80! Below are the overclock-
ing capabilities of the system.
CPU Voltage: 1.520V
CPU Ratio: 52
Base Clock: 100MHz
Reference setting : 5200MHz
Demo system confguration
Motherboard Z68A-GD80
BIOS H0E
CPU Core i7 2600K
Memory Kingston KHX2000C93T1K/6GX*2
Graphics Card MSI Nvidia GeForce GTX470
HDD Intel SSDSA2MH080G2GC
PSU XIGMATEK NRP-HC1001 1000W
OS Windows 7 64-bit Ultimate RTM 7600
Note: Although the BIOS is the Beta edition, but the function will be added into the offcial
edition.
Max CPU Core Speed
Previous platforms based on the P55 and X58 chipsets can overclock up to
about 4GHz~4.2GHz with air cooling. The unlocked ratio of the LGA 1155 K
SKUs allows the new CPU to overclock even further. K CPUs depend on CPU
ratio to overclock, while using base clock to make fner adjustments. CPU
voltage can be controlled with the VCore Voltage setting. CPU I/O voltage
should also be adjusted in with respect to base clock. In addition, changing
Vdroop voltage to Low Vdroop will increase stability for systems under heav-
ing load. Extra care should be taken when using Low Vdroop, as voltage can
be erratic as well under heavy load.
Internal PLL Overvoltage: Enabled
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Max Memory Frequency
Memory overclocking on the Sandy Bridge is limited by the Memory Ra-
tio. Memory frequency can only be set to 800MHz, 1066MHz, 1333MHz,
1600MHz, 1866MHz, or 2133MHz.
In other words, the most stable memory overclock that can be achieved with
XMP is 2133MHz. To increase the frequency even further, the Memory Ratio
will need to be adjusted along with CPU base clock and voltage.
CPU Voltage: 1.35V
CPU IO Voltage: 1.35V
DRAM Voltage: 1.65V
CPU Ratio: 33
Base Clock: 102MHz
Reference setting : DDR3-2176MHz
Z68a-Gd80 OC SEttInG REfEREnCE taBLE
Max GPU Frequency
Players can overclock the GPU embedded in CPU due to the Z68 chipset cov-
ers all the overclocking abilities of H67 chipset. Although the performance of
the Sandy Bridge GPU cannot keep pace with the add-on graphics cards, you
can still have some fun in overclocking. Simply activating the GT Overclcok-
ing and tuning the GT Ratio and GPU Voltage, it is so easy to overclock the
GPU.
Tuning Item Default Increment Easy Normal Fun Danger
Not Recom-
mend
CPU Ratio 34 1 34~40 40~45 45~50 50~55 >56
CPU Vcore
(V)
1.160 0.005 ~1.3 1.3~1.4 1.4~1.5 1.5~1.6 >1.6
CPU IO Voltage
(V)
1.112 0.0265 ~1.2 1.25~1.3 1.3~1.4 1.4~1.5 >1.5
Memory Frequency
(MHz)
DDR3-
1333
Depends
on DRAM
Ratio
DDR3-
1333~1600
DDR3-
1600~2000
DDR3-
2000~2133
>DDR3-
2133
> DDR3-
2300
RAM Voltage
(V)
1.472 0.007 1.5~1.6 1.6~1.65 1.65~1.8 >1.8 >1.9
GPU Frequency
(MHz)
850~1350 50 1100~1300 1300~1450 1450~1600 1600~1750 >1800
GPU Voltage
(V)
0.44 0.005 1.0~1.2 1.2~1.3 1.3~1.4 >1.4 >1.5
Note:
1. The reference value above is for Core i7 2600K D2 ver. Processor.
2. The condition is based on air cooling.
3. BIOS Internal PLL Voltage function enable.
4. Increasing voltage may raise the success rate of overclocking as the risk of damage
the CPU; thus,we suggest use the special design CPU cooler set to prevent the CPU
from overheating.
5. Below voltage value would cause the damage of component while under air cooling.
CPU Voltage:1.6V
CPU IO Voltage:1.5V
DRAM Voltage:1.8V
GPU Voltage:1.4V
We suggest disable some item in BIOS,such as Green Power Phase Control and
OverSpeed Protection.
Reference setting : GPU-1800MHz
GT Overclocking : Enable GPU Voltage : 1.400V GT Ratio : 36
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Other Features on Z68A-GD80 (B3)
With the new UEFI technology, graphi-
cal user interface as well as mouse
control, games, and media can now be
integrated into the BIOS.
MSIs newest Multi-BIOS technology can
back up the BIOS by using an extra ROM
chip, avoiding situations where the
motherboard may be unable to boot
because of BIOS failure.
The frst USB pin header on the motherboard also
supports Super Charger. Super Charger will support
the charging of iPad and iPhone. In order to deliver
the fastest charging speed, Super Charger will also
be able to automatically detect the optimal charging
mechanism to use. Super Charger is in essence, the
improved version of iCharger. (this feature requires
the appropiate software in order to work)
V-Check Points detects voltage for core
components during overclocking activities.
There are four measure points at the edge
of this mainboard, allowing enthusiasts to
check relevant voltage values through a
multimeter.
22 Z68A-GD80 (B3) Overclocking Guide Z68A-GD80 (B3) Overclocking Guide 23
Power Plane dedicatedly for VGA could
provide stable and extra demand for
hard core user scenario. The 6-pin on-
board VGA power stabilizes the graphic
performance of high-end graphics cards.
The Z68A-GD80 totally
integrates 12-phase
DrMOS IC in CPU power
circuitry.
There are 1 Front USB3.0 connector to
transfer more 2 USB3.0 ports for using.
Active Phase Switch (APS) is a power saving solu-
tion. There are LEDs on the motherboard, LED
status is real-time and dynamic switching to let
user monitor the status of power usage. By the
way, user can set up the APS function by BIOS or
Control Center Utility.
24 Z68A-GD80 (B3) Overclocking Guide
Since the Z68 chipset joins the Sandy Bridge
family and becomes the king of the overclock-
ing and performace, the MSI Z68A-GD80 also
becomes the high-end product which comes
with more funs in GPU overclocking. Following
the high quality and performace design, in the
name of Military Class II and covering the OC
Genie II for GPU/GPU auto overclocking, the
Z68A-GD80 can surely provide more and more
performance and power.
Conclusion