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The ASUS OC Station is a pretty cool idea, and we like the concept. However it does have one glaring omission and that is quite simply that it is a Windows based overclocking tool. There is no getting around that, and what it means is if you enter the wrong setting or get a little over zealous, the system will crash in one way or another. Those that care about their Windows install should probably keep the BSOD at bay, and avoid any unscheduled resets. Not only does the OC Station fail due to the fact that it is a Windows based overclocking tool, it also fails due to lack of compatibility. While the OC Station only works with a small handful of high-end ASUS motherboards, we tried it on two of them and one failed completely while the other only half worked. The OC Station is a cool looking device and as far as fan speed controllers go this one kicks some serious arse, though we suspect so too will the price tag, only that will be kicking your arse. The problem we have with the OC Station, apart from the fact that it completely failed to work, is its intended purpose, which is to make overclocking easy.  This is due to the fact that when using the OC Station, we quickly realized that users will need to understand what the FSB is and how it impacts processor and memory speeds. They will also need to know what the clock multiplier is, not to mention what voltage settings will need to be adjusted and by how much. Really, to be effective users are going to require quite a bit of overclocking knowledge when using the OC Station. The point is, if you the user understands FSB and multiplier overclocking methods, understands how fast their memory can be clocked and how much voltage everything will need when overclocked, why not just jump into the BIOS and quickly change everything there? It’s bad enough that you could crash the system or run into a BSOD when testing an overclock for stability, do you really want all these problems when actually overclocking? If ASUS really wants to make overclocking safer and easier, they need to create an overclocking operating system, much like “Express Gate” but for overclocking only. Here all the tweakable settings of the BIOS could be found but in a more organized fashion, with a better explanation of what each setting does. There could even be a facility to stress test the settings to avoid any crashes once Windows is loaded. Bottom-line is, if you do not have the grapes to jump into the BIOS and overclock your system, then there is just no way you should be doing it within Windows. As far as we can tell, you need just as much overclocking knowledge to use the OC Station as you do to overclock via the traditional method. Regardless of the price, we feel the OC Station is one product you can give a miss. ASUS motherboards feature world-class overclocking abilities, with well laid out BIOS configurations that are designed to make overclocking easy, so we suggest you use the blue and red screen instead. Reviewed By Steven Walton |
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