Article: My experience overclocking with Intel® Desktop Board DH55TC and Intel® Pentium G6950

It's been quite some time since I last posted an "Article" kind of blog post. I can't really recall the last time I did it since most I post are mostly Brag, Rant, and Misc as well as a few Tech Links. Of course, you can blame the fact that I have also stopped the site for a long time.

But excuses aside, let me welcome you with this short article, sharing my experience when overclocking an processor with this board. Yes, this board has an overclocking feature (Host Clock Frequency Change). I won't go to the details of how to overclock or about the many benchmarks but I'll just share a few benchmarks that I used to show that the board DOES overclock. Be forewarned, I never took many pictures of the actual product nor went into the details of the board. For that kind of article, let me guide you over to several articles at
XBitLabs, Motherboard Reviews, and a YouTube one with Motherboards.Org.

So how does this article differ? Well, read on...



Well, for starters, it differs because the review came from a FanBoy. As if you haven't been warned enough of the site name itself, I have already said the keyword: I am an Intel FanBoy! I will also use archaic benchmarks known to man such as 3DMark01 (yes, not even 06 so don't expect the "Vantage" type), PCMark02 (yeah, oooooolllllldddd), Aquamark 3 (lol) and SiSoft Sandra (I think I downloaded the "latest" one).

Ok, so why did I even make an article based on old benchmarks? Simply because it's the first time I've seen Intel board got an overclocking feature on their non-extreme board. And the fact that Intel isn't even touting it nor advertising it adds to the excitement (of a fanboy level).

System Specs:
So first, the System Specs: Intel DH55TC board, Intel Pentium G6950 processor (no, I'm not going to test more processors), and OCZ PC3 12800 Obsidian Series RAM. The power supply, optical drive and hard drive will remain anonymous. And yes, I'm using the on-board graphics (so that explains the lack of high end 3d benchmark).

The Oberklokxz:
As you can see, I manage to overclock the CPU upto 180Mhz! According to XbitLabs, they are only able to overclock upto 146Mhz! Sure, they used a different CPU than what I used and the author's point is somewhat valid (that their CPU OC to 152Mhz, with err, 6Mhz gap) but still, it gives the board a very bad outlook by showing that it can only do up to 146Mhz! Clearly, my VALIDATED CPUZ isn't a lie! At 180Mhz, I am only limited by my ability to push the vCore (ok, probably other tweaks). I can do 185Mhz but that's a suicide run and not even stable.

The way of the benchmarks:
So how does it fare? Oh, the board stood strong against the barage of benchmarks I throw at it. The scores I gathered came from this testing methodology:
a) Five(5) runs of each bechmark. Remove the bottom two low scores, and top two high score, and select the median score
b) Run 3DMark01 for 24hrs stable

In case of any failure, i.e. I failed once benchmark out of 5, the overclock is considered unstable and will be moved to the next stable clock frequency and the benchmark restarts.

And the scores!
Here are a few benchmarks to compare and ponder upon:
Aquamark3-Stock


Aquamark3-Overclock








3DMark01-Stock


3DMark01-Overclock








PCMark02-Stock


PCMark02-Overclock








SiSoft Sandra CPU Arithmetic-Stock


SiSoft Sandra CPU Arithmetic-Overclock








{Biased}Conclusion:
This board is rock solid in all it's untouted oveclocking capability. It is a decent board and carries a decent price tag. However, what other reviewers might have failed to tell you is that, most Intel boards carries 3yr limited warranty. By getting Intel boards, it also means you can get technical support via a live person or thru email and even thru chat. Now, tell me what other product carries such huge extras. And did I mention that if your board fails and that your point of purchase refuses to help you, that Intel will assist you and replace your defective product (assuming it is within warranty period).

So yeah, the verdict: GO GET IT BOYZ!