Overclocking

Considering the inherent risks associated with overclocking, ABS makes it clear that any unauthorized attempts at it will void your warranty. They will overclock the CPU up to 20%, but it's going to cost you $250. Quite a price to pay, but if you want that extra performance while keeping your warranty intact, you don't have a choice. However, if you choose to throw caution to the wind, the ASUS Striker Extreme offers a veritable cornucopia of overclocking options.

On the novice end of the spectrum, there are several settings for automatic overclocking. You can increase the clock speed up to 20% in 5% increments or set the front-side bus and memory speed to any of five combinations. One interesting feature is called N.O.S.; Advertised as a "boost of nitrous," the Non-delay Overclocking System will detect when CPU load is high and automatically overclock it up to 10%. When the load is off, it returns to the original frequency.


The power user will feel right at home with the plethora of settings for overclocking that include PCI-Express frequencies, obligatory FSB and multiplier settings, spread spectrum options, and the full range of RAM timings. Last, but not least, all the voltage controls are accounted for. The VCore is adjustable in 0.00625V increments all the way up to 1.9V. That is certain to help you push the unlocked Core 2 Quad Extreme processor to the limit. Don’t worry if you go too far and the system hangs; CPU Parameter Recall, or “CPR,” will restore the default settings automatically.

This system received the royal overclocking treatment; The FSB was increased to 1200 MHz, the multiplier kicked up a notch to 12, the VCore cranked to 1.55V, and the 3:2 memory divider selected. As a result, the CPU clock is rock solid at 3.6 GHz and the memory is running full-steam at 800 MHz.

The Test Setup

ABS Ultimate X Striker Extreme
Intel Core 2 Quad Extreme QX6800 @ 3.6 GHz
2x EVGA GeForce 8800 Ultra in SLI
ASUS Striker Extreme motherboard
4GB Wintec AmpX DDR2-800 RAM @ 5-5-5-15
SoundMax 8.1-channel High-Definition Audio, onboard
2x Western Digital Raptor 10k RPM 150GB in RAID 0
Windows XP Professional SP2 (ForceWare 158.22)
Windows Vista Ultimate 32-bit (ForceWare 158.43)

Benchmarks
3DMark06
Supreme Commander
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
Company of Heroes
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas
Lost Planet DX9 and DX10 demos
Call of Juarez DX10 demo

To give a sense of the benefit gained by the CPU overclock performed by ABS, several tests were run at the stock frequency, as well. The Lost Planet and Call of Juarez Demos were run under Windows Vista, as is required to test DX10 performance.