BIOS & Overclocking

The first menu in the Asus Crosshair IV Extreme BIOS is labeled "Farthermost Tweaker" and contains all the overclocking options. We set the Ai Overclock Tuner to transmission and increased the vcore voltage to 1.375v. As well, because we were running the retentiveness above specification, the DRAM voltage was increased to one.650v.

The HT and CPU/NB voltage was set at 1.30v, while the north and southbridge chips were set to 1.20v. All voltages are quite conservative and nosotros have no incertitude that overclockers who are more adventurous will reach even greater heights.

For overclocking, we used the AMD Phenom 2 X6 1075T processor, which has a 15x locked clock multiplier, meaning you can only increase the frequency by boosting the front side passenger vehicle. To boost the performance of our Phenom 2 X6 1075T, nosotros raised the front side motorcoach from 200MHz to 270MHz for a full clock frequency of 4050MHz -- a good for you, and very stable 35% overclock.

With a 270MHz base clock, the available memory frequencies started at 1080MHz and climbed to 1440MHz, 1800MHz and 2160MHz. To test the overclocking functioning, we ran our retentiveness at 1440MHz every bit it is only rated for 1600MHz and 1800MHz could take acquired stability bug.

The Crosshair IV Extreme BIOS offers a useful feature called Asus Core Unlocker Technology which unlocks hidden CPU cores and enshroud within certain AMD CPUs with minimal effort. Previous solutions relied on the backstairs in Advanced Clock Calibration along with sufficient technical feel to ensure all hidden cores were workable, but Asus Core Unlocker simplifies the process.

With the assistance of Asus iROG processor, unleashing cores tin can be done regardless of the presence of such a back door. Simply actuate Asus Core Unlocker via either the hardware switch, hotkey (hold "4" during Mail service), or BIOS option, and information technology will scan through the installed CPU for all subconscious cores and caches, and automatically unlock only the working elements.

As we anticipated, the Asus Crosshair IV Extreme offers a rewarding overclocking experience. Getting the most out of our Phenom II X6 1075T processor was all too piece of cake, though we did notice a little bit of over-volting when stress testing. That said, Asus notes that almost third-party applications can't detect the correct vcore reading from motherboards based on Farthermost Engine Digi+. The company suggests that users rely on either the ROG Connect or ProbIt measuring points via a voltmeter to get an accurate CPU vcore reading.