Power consumption and overclocking
| Power consumption - idle | |
|---|---|
| Foxconn Bloodrage X58 | XFX X58 XT |
| 181 | 164 |
| Power consumption - load (2D) | |
|---|---|
| Foxconn Bloodrage X58 | XFX X58 XT |
| 256 | 244 |
It's not all about pure performance, especially with energy bills now playing a part in the decision-making process.
The XFX idles at around 17W lower than the Foxconn, with the same components and all voltages set to Auto in the BIOS. The gap, as you can see, closes when under load.
Overclocking
| Highest stable (Core i7) reference clock | |
|---|---|
| Foxconn Bloodrage X58 | XFX X58 XT |
| 208 | 196 |
Running a BCLK of 133MHz provides us with an apples-to-apples comparison, but most potential buyers would purchase the Core i7 920 and raise the speed by increasing the clock-rate.
Dropping the 965 EE's multiplier to 14x to eliminate CPU-related problems, and pertinent voltages - IOH, CPU, SB, etc - were raised by around 10 per cent, which is well within the range offered in the BIOSes. Basic stability is defined as one run of wPrime32 1024m.
The Foxconn wins out, but the XFX is no slouch. At a 920's native multiplier that's a final speed of some 3.92GHz.
