Review: Asus Z170 Pro Gaming

by Ryan Martin on 5 August 2015, 13:00

Tags: ASUSTeK (TPE:2357)

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Overclocking

 

The Asus Z170 Pro Gaming managed to carry our Core i7-6700K chip to a stable 4.9GHz using a toasty 1.44V, and this was slightly better than the 4.8GHz we achieved on the MSI Z170A Gaming M7 which couldn't quite snag the same 4.9GHz frequency even with additional voltage. Motherboard vendors recommend going no higher than 1.45 volts for safe operation, so users looking for a 24/7 overclock would be wise to stay at 1.4V or lower, if possible.

The difference in performance is almost negligible between 4.8 and 4.9GHz and most users will find frequency is difficult to scale beyond 4.6GHz, irrespective of voltage, when using air and liquid cooling. Overclocking with retail chips is more likely to top out at 4.6-4.7GHz; we can corroborate this as the retail CPU used for the Core i7-6700K review managed just 4.6GHz.