Product Listing

MSI Z77A-GD65 Gaming Motherboard - The March of the Dragoon Army

By Wong Chung Wee - 1 May 2013
Launch SRP: S$329

Raw Overclocking

Overclocking

The MSI Z77A-GD65 Gaming was overclocked on three fronts. First, we tried to achieve the highest CPU Base Frequency by pushing it beyond the default value of 100MHz. At the same time, we kept the DRAM timings at the default values defined by the Intel XMP specifications that were compatible with our Kingston HyperX memory modules. We also set the DRAM voltages to around 1.65V to ensure system stability at the higher CPU base frequency. In order to ascertain the gains from overclocking, we recorded a baseline Cinebench (version 11.5) score of 7.91, with the board in its normal operational mode.

 

Highest CPU Base Frequency

By adjusting the CPU I/O Voltage to a value of 1.0700V while increasing the DRAM Voltage to a value of 1.6555V, the highest, and stable, CPU Base Frequency we achieved was 108.01MHz. We didn't manage to achieve anything useful from cranking the settings any higher. This put the board almost on par with its overclocked MSI compatriot. For the record, we strongly advise against doing this in the long run as it may risk damaging the CPU and the installed components due to the increased bus operating frequency. In this overclocked state, we recorded a Cinebench score of 8.30, which marked an increment of about 4.7 per cent.

Model Maximum CPU Base Frequency Achieved
MSI Z77A-GD65 Gaming 108.01MHz
Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UP7 110.00MHZ
ASRock Z77 OC Formula 107.00MHz
MSI Z77 MPower 108.20MHz
ASRock Z77 Extreme6

100.00MHz

ASUS P8Z77-V Deluxe 108.00MHz
Biostar TZ77XE4 104.00MHz
ECS Z77H2-AX
104.00MHz
Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H-WB WiFi
109.00MHz
MSI Z77A-GD65 107.86MHz

 

Highest CPU Core Ratio

In the second scenario, we attempted to achieve the highest CPU core ratio, while keeping the host CPU base frequency at 100HMz. We had to increase the CPU Core Voltage to 1.45000V, the CPU PLL to 1.8500V and kept the voltage settings for the memory modules at auto configuration. We managed to reach a stable OC state with the Gaming board achieving a maximum CPU Core Ratio of 47, with its CPU operating at a Turbo-boosted high of 4.7GHz! The board managed to achieve our highest (in this testing scenario) Cinebench score of 9.31, an increment of just over 15 per cent over the baseline score of 7.91.

Model Maximum CPU Core Ratio Achieved
MSI Z77A-GD65 Gaming 47
Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UP7 48
 ASRock Z77 OC Formula 45
MSI Z77 MPower 44
ASRock Z77 Extreme6

43

ASUS P8Z77-V Deluxe 45
Biostar TZ77XE4 45
ECS Z77H2-AX
45
Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H-WB WiFi
44
MSI Z77A-GD65 45

 

Highest Overall Overclock

In the final overclocking scenario, we were unable to maintain a stable OC state once we pushed the CPU Base Frequency beyond 101MHz; as a result, we had to set it just slightly below at 100.90MHz. We also had to set the CPU PLL Voltage to a value of 1.8500V, and set both the Primary and Secondary Turbo Power Limit to the value of 500W. In the end, we managed to reach an overclocked frequency of 4.64GHz. Its Cinebench score of 9.16 marked a 13.6 per cent increment from our baseline score. Overall, the results obtained were commendable for a gaming oriented board.

Overclocking Results
Model CPU Core Ratio CPU Base Frequency (MHz) Maximum Overclock Achieved
MSI Z77A-GD65 Gaming 46 100.90 4.64GHz
Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UP7 45 104.48 4.70GHz
ASRock Z77 OC Formula 45 101.00 4.54GHz
MSI Z77 MPower 43 101.00 4.34GHz
ASRock Z77 Extreme6
43 100.00

4.30GHz

ASUS P8Z77-V Deluxe 44 103.80 4.56GHz
Biostar TZ77XE4 43 103.85 4.47GHz
ECS Z77H2-AX
45 103.50 4.65GHz
Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H-WB WiFi
45 103.00 4.63GHz
MSI Z77A-GD65 41 100.98 4.14GHz


Overclocking Experience

The parameter settings for the MSI Gaming board were sufficient and well laid-out for our overclocking efforts, and we would rank our experience with it as second to that when we were overclocked the ultra high-end Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UP7 board. Do note that the Gigabyte board was built for overclockers in mind while the MSI Z77A-GD65 Gaming board is targeted mainly at gamers. Overclockers and power users are also in the scope of MSI's target audience as the board boasts of Military Class II I VRM components as well as software utilities like fan speed control to regulate the temperature of the rig with both CPU and system fans. Hence, the board's overclocking features were definitely not designed as an afterthought.

From our experience, we would recommend that casual overclockers just adhering to the route of varying the values of the CPU Ratio as the performance gains eked out from increasing the CPU Base Frequency wasn't worth the risk of frying the components on the bus channel, especially the graphics card. We have also shown, in a limited empirical capacity as we only ran the Cinebench software for benchmarking OC gains, the performance gains by increasing both CPU Bus Frequency and CPU Ratio wasn't as high as the singular route of CPU Ratio adjustment.

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8.5
  • Performance 9
  • Features 8
  • Value 7.5
The Good
Consistently good performer across all tests
Very overclockable
Killer Gaming networking controller
The Bad
Lack of bundled Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity which its competitors offer
More PCIe lanes for multi-GPU configuration would have made this the best gaming board
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