EVGA Z77 FTW Motherboard Review
Author: Dennis Garcia
Published: Monday, June 25, 2012
Benchmarks - Overclocked
As with all of our reviews, we pit the default speed system against the overclocked one in a head-to-head byte match. The effective overclock for these tests is 4.8GHz @ 46x multiplier and 104 BLCK. The results are show below.
SiSoft Sandra Various Overclocks
Unreal Tournament 3
Crysis
Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare
Overclocking Conclusion
Overclocking the Sandy Bridge architecture is a little different and requires a K type chip for the best result since straight BLCK adjustments are often limited by the processor and onboard components.
We were able to run our 3770K at 5.1Ghz without issue however we found that by lowering the system speed to 4.8Ghz we could run the system stable with less voltages (1.35v) and reduce the overall system temperature. The speed is still plenty fast for our benchmark suite and represents what most users might get from aircooling 24/7.
Overall we had no issues overclocking but did find the UEFI to be rather cumbersome to use especially when setting voltages. Each of the voltage options allowed you to directly key in the desired value but required them to be mV numbers instead of standard decimal volts. While the conversion is easy the fact you have to convert your numbers can be a little disconcerting.
The EVGA Z77 FTW is designed for the extreme overclocker and there are a few quirks in the UEFI to help you get the most from your system. In fact if you take the right steps it is possible to run the Ivy Bridge with "full pot" (lowest LN2 temperature) and adjust things using EVGA ELEET from within windows. Of course a system crash may trigger a CBB causing you to start over from scratch but that is part of the fun.
We were able to run our 3770K at 5.1Ghz without issue however we found that by lowering the system speed to 4.8Ghz we could run the system stable with less voltages (1.35v) and reduce the overall system temperature. The speed is still plenty fast for our benchmark suite and represents what most users might get from aircooling 24/7.
Overall we had no issues overclocking but did find the UEFI to be rather cumbersome to use especially when setting voltages. Each of the voltage options allowed you to directly key in the desired value but required them to be mV numbers instead of standard decimal volts. While the conversion is easy the fact you have to convert your numbers can be a little disconcerting.
The EVGA Z77 FTW is designed for the extreme overclocker and there are a few quirks in the UEFI to help you get the most from your system. In fact if you take the right steps it is possible to run the Ivy Bridge with "full pot" (lowest LN2 temperature) and adjust things using EVGA ELEET from within windows. Of course a system crash may trigger a CBB causing you to start over from scratch but that is part of the fun.
