Toms Hardware uncovers LGA775 FSB Overclocking Lock

[Omega65]

Toms Hardware (http://www.tomshardware.com/motherboard/20040619/index.html) reviews 11 motherboards based on the new Intel LGA775 platform and uncovers that Intel has implemented a FSB Overclocking lock!

Intel Puts The Lock On Overclocking (http://www.tomshardware.com/motherboard/20040619/socket_775-23.html). A partial solution is also explored.

What Intel did is implement an overclocking limiter to the MCH chips: If the CPU clock exceeds the threshold (we determined that this is 10% over specification), the required PLL (Phase Lock Loop) will reset and <s>won't</s> (will) refuse to lock that frequency. Basically that is a very simple way of throwing a spanner in the works, as it causes a system crash.
Well, Well ,Well. First Intel (and later AMD lock the multipliers and now the dreaded FSB OC Lock appears. Maybe the days of the easy OC are over. :(

Source: Toms Hardware (http://www.tomshardware.com/motherboard/20040619/index.html)

[entropy]

Mobo manufacturers have already got a bypass in place. Granted, they can only get a 15-20% overclock now, but then again this chipset/interface is still relatively new. I have a feeling there'll be a full bypass before these things go really mainstream, or else Intel is gonna lose a LOT of overclockers, even if we are a small portion.

[muddocktor]

Anandtech also has an article (http://www.anandtech.com/chipsets/showdoc.html?i=2092) on the overclocking abilities of Asus's new 925X chipset board, the P5AD2 Premium mobo. It looks like that it's max overclock is around 24%, even with their workaround, no matter what speed processor is thrown into the board. The max fsb speed they were able to manage was 248 fsb, with the multi on their ES proc backed down to 14, which was the same fsb speed acheived at higher multis also.

I'm curious to see if Abit's implementation of the lock bypass performs better.