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TEST SYSTEM, OVERCLOCKING, AND BENCHMARKS
TEST SYSTEM
Processor: Intel Core i7-2700K @ 4GHz
Motherboard: ASROCK Z68 EXTREME4
Graphics Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 560Ti 1GB @ Stock
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport VLP 16GB & Crucial Ballistix Tactical LP 16GB
Power Supply: Hec Cougar Series Zephyr 700W
Storage: OCZ Vertex 3 480GB SSD
Heatsink: Cooler Master Hyper 212+ EVO (Dual-Fan)
Case: Cooler Master Storm Scout II
Operating System: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-Bit
Since both modules are rated for 1.35v we should expect great overclocking potential, especially from the Tactical LP Ballistix sticks. The great feature for both of these kits is that they work perfectly fine at 1.50v for older motherboards that do not support the lower (and newer) 1.35v specification. Even better, during testing they hovered around a mean temperature of seven degrees Celsius so overheating was never an issue even at highest overclocks.
Starting from CPU-Z 64-bit, let us take a look at the XMP profiles. Both have the XMP’s spot on via simple plug-and-play, but with the ASROCK Z68 EXTREME4, I had to manually adjust the Tactical LP’s. The Sport VLP’s were recognized and adjusted automatically:
Clocking both at 1600MHz, neither had problems running at 1.35v at CAS 8 and CAS 9:
Both also ran fine at CAS 9 at 1866MHz using 1.35v, but at 2133MHz the voltage needed to be bumped up to 1.45v and the timings loosened. To play it safe and keep them stable, I used 1.50v. For the Tactical LP’s the timings were set at CAS 10, and CAS 11 for the Sport VLP’s.
The first test starts out with AIDA64’s memory and cache benchmarks. Since both have nearly identical results, I decided to show one benchmark from each (left is Tactical LP’s at CAS 9 1600MHz; right is Sport VLP’s CAS 11 at 2133MHz):
