Abolishing Memory Limits

Previous tests had all been run using 3x1GB Kingston Hyper X CAS 9-9-9 2000 and G.Skill CAS 9 2000 kits. Oddly enough, we'd never managed to get either of these kits fully stable over 1900MHz with any of our 920 processors when pushing BCLK above 200, leaving us to believe that the IMC of the 920s we have were just not up to the task of these speeds. No amount of tweaking or voltage adjustments really helped either, leaving us stuck at clock speeds that were nowhere near the CPU's capability.


Inserting the Corsair Dominator GT modules ushered in immediate headroom on the 2:8 memory divider. Our previous best 231 BCLK setting for 3DMark06 gained an instant 11 BCLK using CAS 7-8-7-20 timings with a 6GB memory load. This is even more impressive given that the 231 BCLK run shown previously used CAS 8 timings on a 3GB kit that showed no potential for further scaling.



The combination of Classified and Corsair GT manages a very impressive 242 BCLK with HT on - again unheard of.

We then focused on a maximum suicide shot for CPU-Z using the Corsair modules. We eased the load on the integrated memory controller by going to 8-8-8-20 timings to allow the CPU frequency to scale unhindered. The result is a 254BCLK for a 5.3GHz clock on the retail 920 CPU.

Classified + 920 D0 meets Cascade and LN2 Taking Things Down Another Notch
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  • takumsawsherman - Tuesday, May 12, 2009 - link

    Which video cameras have a better interface than firewire? Which audio recording devices? Even removable hard drives benefit from the extremely sturdy Firewire 800 connector. eSATA shows it was designed as an afterthought. As to why bother, they obviously bothered with Firewire 400, but couldn't spend the extra $5 to give the board everything. The same reasoning seems to be why there is no PS/2 mouse port.

    Of course, you are coming from a perspective of someone who doesn't know people who dabble in audio or video unless they own a mac. But there are plenty of audio people who use a PC. Why should they get the short end of the stick if they buy a $450 motherboard when the lowliest Mac buyer does not?
  • Rajinder Gill - Sunday, May 10, 2009 - link

    The fact remains that most people game and overclock are not intrested in Firewire. If there were a demand for such things on boards like these it would already have been 'upgraded'. Fact is most people who are serious about music editing/development will prbably not be spending $400 on a overclocking or sub-zero cooling oriented motherboard - they'd excercise far better intelligence by looking at a dedicated solution.
  • takumsawsherman - Sunday, May 10, 2009 - link

    Well, this board has firewire. It just has the cheap version. Again, considering the difference in cost (minimal) and considering the huge price of this board, why cheap out when it comes to peripherals?

    In my opinion, this board is useless whether or not it as FW800. I just find it disturbing that some are willing to accept paying a premium and getting a product that doesn't even upgrade to the port that's been around for 5 years and is found on $600 computers aimed at Grandma. It's shameful and cheap.
  • Rajinder Gill - Sunday, May 10, 2009 - link

    The people that would buy this board care about sub-zero and i7 over 5GHz the way you do about Firewire..lol
  • Rajinder Gill - Friday, May 8, 2009 - link

    hi,

    We're in the process of intorducing someone new to that segment of reviews. The frequency of articles has been a bit lop-sided at times simply becasue we've been spread a little thin. The high-end perf stuff is my end of things so you've see stuff going up a little more frequenctly as a result (there's less of this stuff in general making it a little easier). Hopefully we should be up to speed on the more everyday stuff soon. I know Gary's working on another round-up, so please beare with us.

    regards
    Raja
  • Busboy2 - Friday, May 8, 2009 - link

    I think you should see how far you can push an i7 965 on liquid nitrogen.... I really want to see those results... I figure if someone is spending this much on a board they are going to get the best processor.
  • bupkus - Friday, May 8, 2009 - link

    Will newegg carry it? I want to enter an automated notification for when the price reaches $79. ;)
  • hemipowered - Friday, May 8, 2009 - link

    If you are talking about the classified, It is already there bought mine like a month ago.
  • Elenseel - Friday, May 8, 2009 - link

    You might have to wait a while for this one...
  • hemipowered - Friday, May 8, 2009 - link

    I bought a Silver Stone ST850 power supply, It worked very well with my X58 Classified

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