EVGA X58 3X SLI Classified LGA1366 Motherboard Review

Stability & Overclocking Results

We have talked a bit about the overclocking results as of late and how they don't really rely heavily on the motherboard with Intel i7 and the X58 chipset. The changes made to the processors and thus the chipsets, changes the balance of what limits a particular overclock. At one time when FSB was heavily dependent on the motherboard, the base clock (BCLK) of the X58 chipset seems to rely more and more on the CPU used than the motherboard in question. At around 220BCLK, most - if not all - motherboards tend to run out of gas for 24/7 stability. The processor we have used seems to not like much over 200BCLK when cooled by air.

We have had this particular processor on a number of motherboards and all of them have been limited to just over 200BCLK with normal air cooling for 24/7 stability. We have also found that memory overclocks are being limited by this chip as well for 24/7 clocks, which is likely more a result from the uncore frequency needed to run high memory clocks than anything else. It is these reasons that this overclocking section isn't so much about how far we can push a motherboard, as it is a question of whether the motherboard in question is up to the standard of the others. We of course will also see if the EVGA X58 3X SLI Classified manages to miraculously break some of the limits we had found on previous motherboards with this processor.

Corsair Dominator 3x2GB PC3-12800 8-8-8 (TR3X6G1600C8D) XMP Stability Testing

As always, we start with some of the more basic testing which involves the XMP profile testing of a pair of Corsair memory kits. Up first is the extremely popular Corsair Dominator 3x2GB PC3-12800 8-8-8 kit. This kit seems to be the talk of a number of forums as the standard kit of memory for any motherboard. That streak definitely continues in our testing as the modules had no problem running their XMP profile on the Classified. It is nice to see XMP profiles not only implemented on the Classified from EVGA, but also working 100% with a staple in a number of i7 builds.

Corsair Dominator-GT 3x2GB PC3-15000 7-8-7 (TR3X6G1866C7GTF) XMP Stability Testing

Moving up the performance ladder, we step into the upper echelon of memory kits with the blistering fast Corsair Dominator-GT 3x2GB PC3-15000 7-8-7 kit. Like its darth vadored nephew, the Dominator-GT's ran as smooth as silk on their XMP profile. Having the ability to simply go into the BIOS and adjust a single setting - choosing XMP profile - and being able to be up and running at DDR3-1866 with timings of 7-8-7 is an absolute treat. Manually setting up memory to run at these settings takes some knowledge and effort. The Classified, and Corsairs solid XMP profile, handled the task quite easily. It really was nice being able to report smooth sailing with this combination as we were a bit apprehensive with this high performance memory going into testing.

Base Clock/QPI Stability Overclocking Part 1

Step one for the QPI/BCLK stability testing was to ensure that we could run 200BCLK with low memory frequency. We decided to give an uncore frequency of 4GHz a run at these memory clocks and as easily as any motherboard we have tested, we zipped through our stability testing with ease. We are able to run this with all voltages at their lowest selectable in the BIOS, aside from vDIMM, vTT, and vCORE which needed to be adjusted appropriately for each component. Like the first X58 3X SLI and the DFI X58-T3eH8 before it, the Classified got up to 200 BCLK with this processor with next to no effort...going over proved near impossible though.

We were really hoping for some miracle that the Classified could pull out of its hat and turn this CPU into a higher BCLK'ing one but it just wasn't meant to be. So with that bubble burst, we wanted to see if it could handle this high of a BCLK with high memory frequency and tight timings. Our Dominator-GT's were up for it, but was the Classified?

Base Clock/QPI Stability Overclocking Part 2

The answer was a resounding yes. In fact, the Classified needed absolutely no adjustments going from DDR3-1600 to DDR3-2000. All voltages remained the same, we simply changed the memory ratio and the timings. Again, going much higher with memory obviously was an option at this BCLK, and we did attempt to clock this kit higher with the 2:12 ratio but it ran out of gas right around 1005~1010MHz @ 7-8-7, much like it has on all other motherboards. With more volts it might be stable higher but for 24/7 clocking we don't really want to go much higher with vDIMM.

The last step is to bring it all together for our overall overclock.

Overall Stability Overclocking

This is where things got interesting, and the Classified started to show us where it was superior to all others. When we started overclocking the CPU to find its maximum frequency, we were quite surprised to find the climb over 4GHz to come rather easily. In fact, we pushed this 965 up to 4.1GHz without too much trouble, which we haven't done on any other motherboard. This is the first time we have gotten the CPU stable over 4GHz on any motherboard and we were only held back by temperatures being on air. The ability to run higher volts and still stay stable is a testament to what kind of PWM power center this Classified is home to. Our obsession with tight 6-7-6 timings shows up again as we opted for a combination of BCLK and CPU multiplier that has us near the 900MHz mark again with memory.

With a marked improvement in CPU overclocking, we are really excited to see the Extreme Overclocking section where we feel other boards just haven't been able to supply the stable power needed to get any more out of this CPU. If we see any kind of gains from this motherboard when benching under liquid nitrogen, there will be some fun benchmark results to look at.