The chaps over at MadShrimps have published an article called 4-Way Intel P35 Motherboard Overclocking Roundup. In this group test they compare the overclocking capabilities and performance of 4 motherboards based on the mid-range P35 Intel chipset. From the low cost Asus P5K, affordable Foxconn P35AP-S and MSI Platinum Combo to the expensive DFI P35 Lanparty, which one will come out on top?

As you might know, most P35 chipset based motherboards are capable of running past 500MHz FSB quite easily. However, to go past 600 (with a multiplier of 7, for instance) you absolutely need the best of the best. All tested motherboards were capable of running a FSB at 500MHz, which suits the basic overclocking needs. If you want to hit the 600MHz barrier, you'd better choose a board build for the enthusiast, such as the DFI P35 LAN party. In general, more expensive boards will overclock higher, but there's no need to buy expensive boards if you cool you CPU with air-cooling only.

In terms of the memory support, we have a few remarks. First of all, don't go for a 'combo' motherboard (both DDR2 and DDR3) if you want a high memory overclock. Both motherboards had problems when clocking the memory at 600MHz, whereas the 'normal' boards (DFI and Asus) had no problem at all. Both MSI and Foxconn were contacted and the Foxconn engineers assured us to check out the problem and try to find a solution, whereas MSI advised us to run the board with Corsair or OCZ memory. The MSI even had problems running the memory at 500MHz when using Cas4!

Another thing to pay attention to is the voltage droop problem. The DFI is rock stable, really, no vdroop at all, whereas the Asus P5K has some serious problems, most likely due to the 4-pin power connector. A vdroop of 0,1v is just too much to be comfortable with, especially when looking at what cpu I'm using. Please, don't use this board in combination with a quad core. We have heard too much stories of people who blew up their motherboard!

Bios options ... that's what overclocking is based on. To put it as simple as possible, both DFI and Foxconn have an enormous amount of options, respectively using the Genie Bios and the Gladiator Bios. The two other boards provide the basic options, which is enough for occasional overclockers.