Once we did this, we decided we should try overclocking our test CPU, which works at the nominal 2.4GHz. We increased the multiplier to 8x and Vcore to 1.5V. with these settings our Athlon 64 3800+ CPU worked stably at 2.7GHz clock frequency, which is a normal result. The clock generator frequency in this case equaled 337MHz.

However, we reduced the memory frequency when we overclocked the CPU. So, in conclusion to our overclocking session we decided to take a look at memory overclocking efficiency on Gigabyte GA-K8NXP-SLI. We took a pair of Corsair CMX512-3200XL memory modules built of Samsung TCCD chips and checked the maximum frequency these modules could work at in this mainboard with their timings set to 3-4-4-10 and 1T Command Rate. For better results we raised the Vmem on the DIMM slots to 2.8V. The maximum memory frequency we managed to achieve in this experiment was 245MHz.

Unfortunately, this is not the result we had expected to see. So, even though Gigabyte GA-K8NXP-SLI allows overclocking the CPUs quite efficiently, its work with the RAM leaves much to be desired. And it is not only the insufficient DIMM voltage that causes these problems. Other nForce4 based mainboards allow raising the memory frequency to 300MHz in the same testing conditions and even higher than that. What is the matter with Gigabyte GA-K8NXP-SLI? I believe it is the DIMM slots layout that limits the supported frequency range and aggravates the mainboard stability.

Therefore, we have to rank this mainboard as a mainstream overclocker’s solution, even though it allowed raising the clock generator frequency quite high.

Moreover, I would like to add that Gigabyte engineers didn’t make the entire overclocking process very user friendly and comfortable. Unfortunately, the mainboard doesn’t allow resetting all the parameters to their default values in case of over-overclocking. So, you will have to get to the CMOS jumper, which is located in far not the easiest-to-reach place on the PCB.