MSI X99A XPOWER AC Motherboard Review

1. Introduction2. MSI X99A XPOWER AC: Packaging and Bundle3. MSI X99A XPOWER AC: Board Layout and Features4. MSI X99 UEFI5. MSI X99 Software6. Testing Methodology7. Tests: System-related8. Tests: Processor-related9. Tests: Gaming-related10. Tests: Motherboard-related11. Overclocking: Frequencies12. Overclocking: General Performance13. Overclocking: OC Cache/Ring & 3GHz Memory Performance14. Technical: Power Consumption15. Closing Thoughts16. View All Pages

CPU Cache/Ring Overclocking Performance

We examine the performance gains that can be had when overclocking the CPU cache/ring, in addition to the CPU core.

Overclocking the CPU cache/ring frequency to 4.2GHz delivered a strong performance boost in the CPU-intensive Cinebench test.

Temperature levels for the CPU did not show a noticeable increase despite there being a ~20W increase in system-wide power consumption.

3GHz Memory Performance

While XMP dictates the memory operating frequency, voltage, and primary timings, the secondary and tertiary timings are set at the motherboard vendor’s discretion. That can lead to performance differences in memory-intensive workloads.

We used G.Skill’s Ripjaws4 modules set to their 3GHz XMP frequency to test memory bandwidth and latency numbers.

MSI's 3GHz XMP settings are clearly biased towards lower latencies. This is good for users whose benchmarks like low latency memory, although could be considered a negative for bandwidth-intensive tests.

Manually tweaking the memory timings will change the performance levels, so there is no cause for concern at the X99A XPOWER AC motherboard's preference towards lower latency operation.

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