ASUS Maximus V Gene question?

[ttechf]

Hi, I had a question about this micro board

The ASUS Maximus V Gene


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131830

After watching this NICE long informative video about it, this seems like a really kickass board, excuse my language.

SO, my question is, does this board include the function where you press the one button on the motherboard itself and it does an automatic overclock? In the video it said you could do this to achieve 4.2Ghz - 4.3Ghz in a snap but they never really specified which boards in their line?

I would think this one would have it due to this is a very high end board.



Thanks! : )

 

[abekl]

The Gene does have the feature, called CPU Level Up. But it's a merketing gimmick mostly. If you want to set your cpu to a specific speed, you'll still have to enter it manually in the BIOS.

 

[ttechf]

The Gene does have the feature, called CPU Level Up. But it's a merketing gimmick mostly. If you want to set your cpu to a specific speed, you'll still have to enter it manually in the BIOS.

How is it a marketing gimmick, does it not work?

 

[philipma1957]

yeah it will work,but in a general way not specific.

so your level up may be 4 not 4.2 or 4.3. I played with it a bit on the maximus iv board. the older board was a nice board I think the newer board is considered even better.

 

[doesn't_compute]

The specs on their website say that it comes with AI Suite II. That has an Auto Tuning feature that will OC for you in Windows. It took my i5 3570k 3.4 up to 4.4. You can also tweak things with it manually to get the OC higher.

 

[HeXen]

i have the Gene board myself. very nice board indeed. I don't OC it though

 

[ttechf]

Thanks for the help guys. Appreciate it. : )

 

[cmdrdredd]

The level up works to give you a basic overclock. In the bios you can select different CPU speeds (4.2, 4.3, 4.6) and they all work. The drawback to this is you end up with auto voltages which are usually higher than necessary and increase the temps. Also with the latest bios you can save your bios settings to a flash drive and load them up when you need them. That way you can have some stable settings saved and don't have to remember all of your settings individually.

 

[borisvodofsky]

Kids these days are after that "Apple" experience, where they don't have to do anything.

That is not how you achieve enthusiast level performance.

If you use auto overclock you're at the mercy of the "mass envelope". which means they used settings that WAY overshoot what the processor's needs in order to guarantee that it works on EVERY processor and every setup.

This is bad because the voltages are much higher than necessary, AND will cause you to hit the thermal boundaries faster.

Since you're on a tech forum, we can overclock the computer for you. All you need to do is tell us when it shows up at your house, and screw it all together.

We'll tell you the exact settings you'll need.

 

[ttechf]

Kids these days are after that "Apple" experience, where they don't have to do anything.

That is not how you achieve enthusiast level performance.

If you use auto overclock you're at the mercy of the "mass envelope". which means they used settings that WAY overshoot what the processor's needs in order to guarantee that it works on EVERY processor and every setup.

This is bad because the voltages are much higher than necessary, AND will cause you to hit the thermal boundaries faster.

Since you're on a tech forum, we can overclock the computer for you. All you need to do is tell us when it shows up at your house, and screw it all together.

We'll tell you the exact settings you'll need.

I kind of take offsense to that because I am not after a quick "apple" experience out of the box crap. I was just asking because I will be limited to the thermals in my 4 inch high HTPC case and I was wondering if it would make my life easier just auto-setting overclocking and calling it a day. I appreciate I can ask for advice here on the exact overclocking setup I need which I will probably do to be safer. I do like that but like I said, it was just a quick question. I got the answer and I like the board.

Thanks

 

[Zap]

I was just asking because I will be limited to the thermals in my 4 inch high HTPC case and I was wondering if it would make my life easier just auto-setting overclocking and calling it a day.

Ahhh, you must have gotten in on the $50 Silverstone Milo ML03B HTPC case deal.

You can use the auto-overclocking, but I would not recommend it. I recall reading in reviews that the auto-overclocking usually gives more voltage than the CPU needed at whatever speed it gave you, thus creating more heat.

 

[Zardnok]

I kind of take offsense to that because I am not after a quick "apple" experience out of the box crap. I was just asking because I will be limited to the thermals in my 4 inch high HTPC case and I was wondering if it would make my life easier just auto-setting overclocking and calling it a day. I appreciate I can ask for advice here on the exact overclocking setup I need which I will probably do to be safer. I do like that but like I said, it was just a quick question. I got the answer and I like the board.

Thanks

Don't think Boris was attacking you, he was offering to help you out with bios settings. He is exactly right that the auto-overclock features will set the voltages too high and cause additional heat issues and with a 4" tall case, I would definitely be worried about heat issues! What cooler do you plan on using with this system? You may very well be limited to simply changing the multiplier up 2 or 3 steps for a mild overclock and minor performance boost. Your best bet is to do as Boris suggests and put it together and get it up and running, then come back and get advice on exact bios settings. You may even be able to under-volt as well with a mild-overclock to reduce heat problems even more.

BTW, what CPU are you using? That will make a huge difference in what overclock you can run as well.

 

[ttechf]

Don't think Boris was attacking you, he was offering to help you out with bios settings. He is exactly right that the auto-overclock features will set the voltages too high and cause additional heat issues and with a 4" tall case, I would definitely be worried about heat issues! What cooler do you plan on using with this system? You may very well be limited to simply changing the multiplier up 2 or 3 steps for a mild overclock and minor performance boost. Your best bet is to do as Boris suggests and put it together and get it up and running, then come back and get advice on exact bios settings. You may even be able to under-volt as well with a mild-overclock to reduce heat problems even more.

BTW, what CPU are you using? That will make a huge difference in what overclock you can run as well.

Hey, I don't have any parts yet. I am preparing myself. I can either go Ivy or Sandy and Im probably going Sandy because obviously, with the case airflow restriction and such and the minimal performance boost in Ivy, Sandy makes more sense to me. Along with the fact Ivy is harder to keep cool.

So the CPU I'd LIKE to use is the 2600k or 2700k, both are the same price right now. I'd love to under-volt if possible. To be honest, I don't even NEED these processors, an i7 but I figure I have the money and it will future proof me for a VERY LONG time which well, is the idea, ha. I don't want to buy another processor in 2 years and I will be taking advantage of Intel's replacement warranty for the processor.

Also, as for the heatsink, you can check the thread i posted yesterday - http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?p=33653696#post33653696


Thank you. : )

 

[thelastjuju]

Sorry to burst your bubble, but going with any hardware today will not futureproof you for very long at all.. In 2 years from now, the next generation of consoles will be out and even the highest end parts of today might not cut it.

PC games have essentially been reduced to console ports, so in the future we're going to want to meet or exceed whatever the next generation of consoles will be equipped with, and we don't know that yet.

I forget who says it around here, but the ONLY way to truly futureproof is to spend LESS money by NOT overbuying on parts, and putting that money you would have otherwise spent aside, for future parts. I'd go as far to say that the concept of "futureproofing" is a complete fantasy.

 

[ttechf]

Sorry to burst your bubble, but going with any hardware today will not futureproof you for very long at all.. In 2 years from now, the next generation of consoles will be out and even the highest end parts of today might not cut it.

PC games have essentially been reduced to console ports, so in the future we're going to want to meet or exceed whatever the next generation of consoles will be equipped with, and we don't know that yet.

I forget who says it around here, but the ONLY way to truly futureproof is to spend LESS money by NOT overbuying on parts, and putting that money you would have otherwise spent aside, for future parts. I'd go as far to say that the concept of "futureproofing" is a complete fantasy.

You bring up a good valid point but honestly, I don't do THAT MUCH with my machine, lol. even an i5 is overkill for me most likely. I know plenty of people with Core 2 Duos who absolutely love them and see no reason to upgrade and that was, what? a good 4+ years ago and still going strong. I believe that although technology is changing and evolving faster, the parts and hardware put out right now in the past couple years and today are lasting longer and longer as well. You don't see people running out and buying new tvs every 3 years. It just doesn't happen and work that way. I know very few people who have bought more than 1 new tv in the last 10 year span. Things are just lasting longer. You don't have to agree but I see it.

Thanks. : )

 

[cmdrdredd]

Sorry to burst your bubble, but going with any hardware today will not futureproof you for very long at all.. In 2 years from now, the next generation of consoles will be out and even the highest end parts of today might not cut it.

PC games have essentially been reduced to console ports, so in the future we're going to want to meet or exceed whatever the next generation of consoles will be equipped with, and we don't know that yet.

I forget who says it around here, but the ONLY way to truly futureproof is to spend LESS money by NOT overbuying on parts, and putting that money you would have otherwise spent aside, for future parts. I'd go as far to say that the concept of "futureproofing" is a complete fantasy.

A PC built today will be faster than the next consoles for sure. They won't make a $800 console...

Not all PC games are ports. Many are actually built from the ground up for PC specifically.

 

[Zardnok]

Hey, I don't have any parts yet. I am preparing myself. I can either go Ivy or Sandy and Im probably going Sandy because obviously, with the case airflow restriction and such and the minimal performance boost in Ivy, Sandy makes more sense to me. Along with the fact Ivy is harder to keep cool.

So the CPU I'd LIKE to use is the 2600k or 2700k, both are the same price right now. I'd love to under-volt if possible. To be honest, I don't even NEED these processors, an i7 but I figure I have the money and it will future proof me for a VERY LONG time which well, is the idea, ha. I don't want to buy another processor in 2 years and I will be taking advantage of Intel's replacement warranty for the processor.

Also, as for the heatsink, you can check the thread i posted yesterday - http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?p=33653696#post33653696


Thank you. : )

Ivy bridge CPUs have higher temperatures than Sandy Bridge CPUs, because they are a smaller die and the heat is more concentrated, but Sandy Bridge CPUs put off more over-all heat. A match is hotter than a heater vent, but the heater vent will warm the room up faster than a match. If you want to reduce heat in your machine, I would go with an Ivy Bridge K series processor. I would build it and get it stable at stock settings then I would set the multi to 40X and the off-set to -0.10 V and I bet it would boot and run fine with the Coolermaster HSF you linked in the other thread. You could then adjust the multi and or voltage as you needed. It might even run cooler over-clocked and under-volted than stock! Nothing you will ever use this machine for will heat it up like LinX will, so any temps on LinX below 90ish and you are golden IMO. Others will argue that an HTPC shouldn't be OCed, but IMO if you paid for the performance, why not get it out of the chip!

PS I just ran my 3570K at 40X and -0.10 for 30 minutes in LinX and max-core temps were at 38C using an H100. I know that CM low-profile cooler can't match a dual radiator, but the chip itself could do the speed with the reduced voltage.