Overclocking is a common practice in the gaming world. With the cost of high end gear being so high, the ablility to coax as many MHz as possible out of your equipment can help gain free performance. Although the debate will continue on about whether there is any real need to overclock, many users will still try to push the limits of their hardware.
Intel’s recent H67 chipset is at the heart of all the current mini-ITX motherboard options and users are already clamoring to know what overclocking capabilities this chipset has. I’m not much of an overclocker, but even I can tell, it”s not much. Read on to find out just what you can and can’t overclock on the DH67CF’s H67 chipet.
I’ve gone through the BIOS on the Intel DH67CF to discover just what overclocking options are available. What I cannot separate is what features have been limited by the H67 chipset or disabled by the BIOS. I am using an unlocked ‘K’ series processor in the i5 2500K to ensure that I’m not being limited by restrictions on the CPU itself.
Once past the warning page, the BIOS presents an overview of the performance settings. Right away we can see that the host frequency is locked at 100 MHz and the multiplier is fixed at 37. The graphics core multiplier can be adjusted, allowing us to overclock the onboard graphics processor. As most of us are running dedicated GPU’s, this is not likely to be much use.
The BIOS does allow some modifications to the processor, mostly minor adjustments to the Turbo Boost. You can set the BIOS to allow Turbo Boost to be used all the time (disabled by default) as well as allowing Turbo Boost to exceed the standard power limit for a brief period (enabled by default).
Memory settings are set to automatic by default. By switching to ‘Manual – User Defined’, the BIOS on the DH67CF will allow you to make changes to the memory timings and adjust the voltage. It also allows adjusting the memory frequency down to DDR3-1066. The memory multiplier is locked at 10.
The only other adjustment that can be made in the performance menu concerns the voltage on the graphics core. THe BIOS will allow power adjustments to the integrated graphics core. Again, with most of our systems running discrete cards, not likely will this be utilized.
Whether through BIOS restrictions or H67 limitations, Intel has quite efficiently locked down overclocking on the DH67CF. Once I have a chance to review other H67 boards from other manufacturers, we’ll learn just what limitations have been imposed on the H67 chipset. Until then, it appears that overclocking is just not an option for H67-based mini-ITX motherboards.
Rumors are circulating that P67 based mini-ITX motherboards are coming down the line. If your an overclocker looking to get some added MHz out of a mini-ITX system, patience might be your best move right now.