For all Overclocking Testing, an Intel Core i5 2500K (stock 3.30GHz) and 2 x 4GB Corsair Vengeance (1600MHz DDR3 9-9-9-24-1T @1.50v) memory modules running at DDR3 1600MHz were used. The CPU was cooled with a home brew water cooling setup consisting of a Swiftech MCR320 triple radiator, 3x120mm fans, Swiftech MCP655-B pump, and a Koolance CPU-350 AT water block with LGA1156 / LGA1155 mounting hardware.
OK, so up until now the board has been a little rough around the edges or rather its software has. The hardware has been great with no problems or issues but the software has been somewhat lack luster. However, if there is one trade off it’s that the Z68A-GD65 G3 is the second best overclocker I’ve ever seen and the only board that did better was much, much more expensive. So automatically I’ve got to applaud MSI on this front and again while rough around the edges, when it comes to overclocking, the Z68A-GD65 G3 has the chops to hang with the best of them. I did the usual and went right for glory on this one as I’ve become quite familiar with what it takes to get 4.8GHz+ out of these things. I enabled PLL overvoltage, set it to 1.95v, and increased CPU voltage to 1.475v. I did have to make a slight adjustment to the base clock as the MSI default clock runs slightly under spec at 98MHz. I increased it to 102.1MHz which gave me exactly what I needed for 5.0GHz. Load temps were about 69c which is a little lower than I usually get when I push this far up, but nicer ambient temperatures (thanks to slightly cooler weather) in my office are probably helping. Still, we have NEVER seen a 5GHz overclock out of this particular 2500K though! Below are screen captures of my results for your viewing pleasure using a water cooling setup.
