Banyak enthusiast dan overclocker menyambut gembira Core i5 (Lynnfield) dan chipset Intel P55 Express. Namun, ada beberapa informasi penting yang Anda harus ketahui bila Anda berencana meng-overclock prosesor Core i5 dan motherboard P55 Anda. Info pertama adalah VRM.
Dari Tom’s Hardware:
“Encouraged by a far-lower TDP rating on the new generation of Core i7 processors (95W, down from 130W), these companies probably designed LGA 1156-based models with a similar percentage of “overcapacity” as they’d used on LGA 1366 boards. But the fault doesn’t sit solely with each motherboard’s initial design team, as testing should have revealed the problem before the boards reached mass production or distribution.
Maybe a better question would be “what’s missing”? It seems that many of our previous-generation motherboards would shut off when overloaded, before anything was damaged. That’s called over-current protection, and it’s a feature apparently now reserved for high-end boards.”
Andaikan VRM yang digunakan motherboard telah dilindungi over-current protection, Anda tetap harus berhati-hati dengan soket prosesor. Tampaknya beberapa motherboard tidak benar-benar menempatkan prosesor dengan benar. Kontak antara pin (di soket) dan pad (di prosesor) tidak terlalu baik, sehingga menjadi masalah saat aliran daya antara kedua komponen ini tinggi (biasanya terjadi pada overclocking ekstrim).
“At first glance, one might be inclined to think LGA-1156 based processors are intolerant of high-end overclocking, almost as if by design. This is correct to some extent; a quick glance at Intel’s white papers for socket 1156 CPU’s reveals that there are around 175 pads for VCC compared to over 250 for socket 1366 CPU’s. This means socket 1156 has around 66% of the current capacity of socket 1366, the caveat being that when overclocked, processors from both platforms draw similar levels of current.
When overclocked to 4GHz, processors from both platforms will draw around 15-16 amps via the EPS 12V rail to VCC, VTT and some of the other sub –system power rails under full 8 thread load from the Intel burn test (Linx). Assuming 85% PWM efficiency, we’re looking at power draw in the region of 130-140w to VCC on both platforms. The facts point toward tighter current handling tolerances for socket 1156 when compared to socket 1366, especially when it comes to non-connection of VCC/VSS power delivery pins.“
