Best z77 overclocking motherboard?

[Coaxialgamer]

So i have a feeling my current motherboard and its power phases are keeping my cpu from going any higher.

What are the best overclocking motherboards with the z77 chipset?

Please suggest multiple boards, so i can choose depending on availability and price.

Cooling isnt an issue and i plan on deliding.

[TheGamingBarrel]

Z77 OC Formula - ASRock

Z77 MPOWER - MSi

Z77 Maximus V Extreme - ASUS

 

These are all stellar boards.

 

And the holy grail of Z77, The GIGABYTE Z77 UP7.

[Guest]

Z77 OC Formula - ASRock

Z77 MPOWER - MSi

Z77 Maximus V Extreme - ASUS

 

These are all stellar boards.

 

And the holy grail of Z77, The GIGABRICK Z77 UP7.

ftfy

[Lotus]

...Probably not. Check in CPU-Z and unless your CPU VCore is fluctuating under load, it's not your motherboard but the silicon lottery. Worst case even if it is fluctuating is you just up the VCore so the low end of the fluctuations are still okay for stability and deal with the additional heat. Z77 chipset has no hot chips (relatively), unlike x79 which has 130W monsters. Highest stock TDP you'll see on z77 (ignoring the iGPU) is 80W.

[TheGamingBarrel]

ftfy

Only if you use it wrong

[Coaxialgamer]

...Probably not. Check in CPU-Z and unless your CPU VCore is fluctuating under load, it's not your motherboard but the silicon lottery. Worst case even if it is fluctuating is you just up the VCore so the low end of the fluctuations are still okay for stability and deal with the additional heat. Z77 chipset has no hot chips (relatively), unlike x79 which has 130W monsters. Highest stock TDP you'll see on z77 (ignoring the iGPU) is 80W.

Well, the thing is i can't get a higher clock whatever voltage i tried. Even tried 1.45 from 1.23 (current vcore), and it is not stable at 4.8ghz.

I supposed it would eventually reach those clocks with high enough voltage.

[TheGamingBarrel]

...Probably not. Check in CPU-Z and unless your CPU VCore is fluctuating under load, it's not your motherboard but the silicon lottery. Worst case even if it is fluctuating is you just up the VCore so the low end of the fluctuations are still okay for stability and deal with the additional heat. Z77 chipset has no hot chips (relatively), unlike x79 which has 130W monsters. Highest stock TDP you'll see on z77 (ignoring the iGPU) is 80W.

before overclocks

[TheGamingBarrel]

Well, the thing is i can't get a higher clock whatever voltage i tried. Even tried 1.45 from 1.23 (current vcore), and it is not stable at 4.8ghz.

I supposed it would eventually reach those clocks with high enough voltage.

Better LLC? If it is fluctuating it could be that.

But some chips are just bad, my i5 and Pentium were roughly the same with 1.45V for 4.8.

[Coaxialgamer]

Better LLC? If it is fluctuating it could be that.

But some chips are just bad, my i5 and Pentium were roughly the same with 1.45V for 4.8.

Is llc affected by the motherboard?

[Lotus]

before overclocks

Well yeah, but my point is even a 212 Evo can hit the point of diminishing returns on these chips. I went from a 212 Evo to a Cryorig R1 (which is an enormous 7 heat pipe dual tower dual 140mm fan cooler) and got a "massive" 0.1 GHz bump on my i7-4770k. It was a waste. On something like an i7-5820k, the heat gets up there so then a cooler like the R1 would be more important.

[TheGamingBarrel]

Well yeah, but my point is even a 212 Evo can hit the point of diminishing returns on these chips. I went from a 212 Evo to a Cryorig R1 (which is an enormous 7 heat pipe dual tower dual 140mm fan cooler) and got a "massive" 0.1 GHz bump on my i7-4770k. It was a waste. On something like an i7-5820k, the heat gets up there so then a cooler like the R1 would be more important.

What TDP Can the R1 Handle, 300W?

 

Is llc affected by the motherboard?

LLC Can normally be adjusted, but some cheaper boards may not allow changing, which is sad

[Lotus]

What TDP Can the R1 Handle, 300W?

 

LLC Can normally be adjusted, but some cheaper boards may not allow changing, which is sad

Yup, but hey, my $25 212 Evo can handle 180W so I don't know what I was thinking replacing it. As I said, on these 80W chips I had already hit the diminishing returns with the cheap $25 cooler.

[runit3]

Well, the thing is i can't get a higher clock whatever voltage i tried. Even tried 1.45 from 1.23 (current vcore), and it is not stable at 4.8ghz.

I supposed it would eventually reach those clocks with high enough voltage.

4.8 isn't a low OC for that chip, even 4.6 is fairly respectable. You're limited by the silicon in this situation, rather than heat or voltage (assuming you're not thermal throttling at 1.45v).

 

Unless 1.5v works and you're comfortable with some degradation over time there really isn't much point in trying to neck out 200MHz. That chip will never be a "winner" sitting happy at 5GHz and 1.45v, no matter what cooling solution or board you have. Saving your money for the next platform upgrade is the best advice.

[Coaxialgamer]

4.8 isn't a low OC for that chip, even 4.6 is fairly respectable. You're limited by the silicon in this situation, rather than heat or voltage (assuming you're not thermal throttling at 1.45v).

Unless 1.5v works and you're comfortable with some degradation over time there really isn't much point in trying to neck out 200MHz. That chip will never be a "winner" sitting happy at 5GHz and 1.45v, no matter what cooling solution or board you have. Saving your money for the next platform upgrade is the best advice.

Well, i plan on deliding, which ahould give me more headroom ( currently sitting at 80C at load), and i read that since ivy doesnt have integrated VRM's, the motherboard can have a big impact on overclocks. I can get to 4.7 though.

[Coaxialgamer]

it seems my board does not have an llc setting .