Upcoming QF motherboard sets new 3DMark06 record for Radeon™ HD3870, overclocks processor to 6GHz, will have 8-phase digital PWM
Early testing of the latest Quantum Force motherboard, due for release in 2008, has broken 3DMark06 records for the mid-range Radeon™ HD3780 cards and produced stable overclocks of 6GHz for the latest Intel® processors.
With a score of 28,313 the test has produced one of the highest 3DMark06 scores of all time, and a new world record using the mid-range HD3780 graphics cards.
In separate tests, Foxconn engineers easily overclocked an Intel® QX9770 Core™2 Extreme processor to 6GHz, running it stably using LN2 cooling. As a result of the latest tests, engineers are “extremely confident” about the overclocking headroom and stability the forthcoming motherboard will afford enthusiasts.
“This is a motherboard whose BIOS is still immature and whose hardware design is not fully tuned, and yet we already able to show such a strong performance capability” claimed Peter “Shamino” Tan, Technical Consultant for the Quantum Force product line.
The new Intel® platform motherboard, whose details are yet to be released, will include an 8-phase Digital PWM for regulating power around the system. Engineers have hinted this is one reason for the outstanding overclocking ability.
Peter Tan explains:
“When you are overclocking both processor and graphics cards, you are putting enormous strain on the power regulation components of the motherboard. With a lesser power regulation system, the motherboard will ‘fall over’ earlier, and you just won’t be able to hit such big overclocks… but with the 8-phase Digital PWM we have selected and specially tuned, it can sustain the massive demands which will be placed on it by enthusiasts and extreme overclockers, generating less heat and capable of switching between different voltage requirements with greater speed and reliability”.
To ensure almost unlimited boundaries for overclockers, engineers used real-time monitoring of each power phase to fine-tune voltage stability and ensure reliable power delivery under even the most extreme overclocking conditions.
The Quantum Force product team are promising ‘several’ new innovations in the final product which is expected to ship next year.