Intel CPU Overclocking Latest Topics

PROJECT: "THE ICE TRACTOR / HIGH BEAST AIRFLOW / CONCRETE WALL" (MARCH 2026 STATUS REPORT - HWBot EXTREME EDITION)

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 09:17:28 +0000

⚙️ CORE ENGINE & OVERCLOCKING CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K (Ivy Bridge, 22nm) - Golden Sample Tier. Clock Speed: 4.40 GHz ROCK SOLID (Ratio 44x) – Zero-Throttling "Concrete Wall" Stability. Voltage (VCore): 1.250V Fixed (Manual Override Mode) – Extreme Efficiency/Stability Ratio. Motherboard: MSI Z77 MPOWER (Big Bang Series). Military Class III / 16-Phase Hybrid Digital Power Design / OC Certified. PSU: XFX Pro 550W (Seasonic OEM Core) – High-stability rail. ⚡ MEMORY & GRAPHICS RAM: 32GB (4x8GB) Patriot Viper "Black Mamba" DDR3 @ 1867 MHz (XMP Profile). GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER (Idle Temp: 27°C). ❄️ THERMALS & CHASSIS ("THE WIND TUNNEL") Case: Antec Twelve Hundred (V3) – Full Tower Airflow Monster. CPU Cooler: Hummer Series Tower (275mm Total Height) – 4x Direct Contact Copper Heatpipes. Chassis Fans (6-Fan Extreme Airflow): Side: ARCTIC P12 Slim PWM PST (Blasting direct air on MPOWER VRMs). Top: 1x 200mm "Big Boy" Exhaust (Negative pressure king). Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB (Running @ 17°C – Airflow Verified). Ambient Delta: 10°C Ambient (Winter Benchmarking Environment). Current Thermals: 38°C - 44°C (Idle/Low Load @ 4.4 GHz Locked). 🐧 LINUX KERNEL & LOW-LATENCY OVERRIDES OS: GNU/Linux (Rolling Release, March 2026). Kernel: Liquorix 6.19.8-2 (Zen-Optimized Interactive Scheduler). Extreme Boot Flags (GRUB): intel_pstate=disable, cpufreq.off=1, processor.max_cstate=0, idle=poll. Strategy: Total bypass of frequency scaling and power-saving C-States. Zero Wake-up Latency. 🛑 LATENCY DOMINATION (vs MODERN ARCHITECTURES) Cyclictest Result: < 5ms. Worst-Case Latency. The Reality Check: The "Ice Tractor" responds faster than a Core i9-14900K (Stock) running standard power management. While modern chips are "sleeping" to save pennies on the bill, this Ivy Bridge is already through the finish line. 📊 BENCHMARK PERFORMANCE: SILVERBENCH (2422 SCORE) 💀 THE "HALL OF SHAME" (STOCK TARGETS DESTROYED): Intel Targets: Core i7-6700 (Skylake): Humiliated. Your 8 threads mean nothing against the 16-Phase MPOWER stability and 4.4 GHz raw clock. Core i5-9400F (Coffee Lake): Beaten in responsiveness. The 9400F is a software-shackled dog; the Tractor is a pure silicon beast. Core i3-10100/10105: Surpassed. Lower memory latency and superior cycle management. Intel N100 (2023): A mobile toy. Completely obliterated by 2012 engineering. AMD Targets: Ryzen 5 1600 / 2600: Ivy Bridge IPC at 4.4 GHz makes Zen/Zen+ look like a slideshow in single-threaded tasks. Ryzen 7 2700: 8 cores watching the taillights of a 2012 quad-core. Kernel latency is embarrassing on Stock Zen+ compared to this setup. AMD Athlon Gold 7220U (2023): Modern architecture, budget performance. Easy prey for the Tractor. STATUS: ROCK SOLID. "The MSI Z77 MPOWER isn't a motherboard; it's a license to kill. 2012 Architecture, 2026 Tuning. Power saving is for the weak. 1.250V of pure, undiluted performance. No mercy for modern silicon."

Clarkdale issue

Sun, 09 Feb 2025 16:51:04 +0000

I have two motherboards, GA-P55A-UD3R and GA-H55M-UD2H

The problem is that when I install a Clackdale i5 6xx or i3 5xx processor, the motherboard does not boot correctly, causing reboots with code 0

With the Lynnfield i5 7xx 65nm processors, it works perfectly

The motherboards use the latest version of bios, I don't see the point

Can someone shed some light on the causes for this?
Thx!

Strange behaviour when using SetFSB

Wed, 25 Jul 2018 19:35:53 +0000

I just discovered a strange issue when raising FSB using SetFSB in Win XP, when I add more than 5MHz of FSB the multiplier starts to drop.

This only seems to appear in XP, I used the same version of SetFSB in Win 7 x64 and it worked just fine (both CPU-Z 1.85)...

Setup used was a ASUS P5E64-WS EVO and a Pentium E5800 but I also had the same issue on a EP45-UD3R but with 10MHz above boot-FSB...

EDIT: Seems like a CPU-Z bug, CPU-Z 1.63 displays the right multi, but I can't use that to validate for obvious reasons

EDIT2: The CPU itself isn't lowering clocks at all, spi runs are nearly the same within the 1MHz where the bug accurs...

Anyone ever had a simmilar problem and might know a fix?

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Socket G2 BCLK overclocking, how to unlock? 1155 also?

Thu, 23 Sep 2021 15:05:38 +0000

I remember that there was a way to unlock bclk overclocking in 2nd and 3rd intel gen. Mobile (socket G2) and desktop (1155) also.
As far as I remember it has to do with an easy mod. Just find the proper signal, and then connect it to high or low state. Some gamming notebooks has BCLK overclocking enable by default. What application allows to change bclk? Is this BCLK app able to run from Win XP?

Maybe I'm wrong with this 1155 (I've got a DELL Q77 motherboard and it'd be nice to OC it), but definitely socket G2 is overclockable by BCLK. So what can you say overclockers?

ASUS old OC PANEL ?

Sat, 04 Mar 2023 18:37:36 +0000

I am re-organizing and re-locating my old hardware stuff at the moment , and i came up with this device that i cant remember which exact board used it ?

I am almost certain it's from X58 era.

All comments welcome ?

https://1drv.ms/u/s!AvKRuIZpy45rglb0mCpk7KBUmKw7?e=B7UZyu

Motherboard recommendations for Core 2 Duo/quad OCing

Thu, 27 Oct 2022 19:55:34 +0000

Hey all, first post here...

I have some Core 2 Duos laying around that I hope to attempt OCing them at some point. E7500, E7600, and E8600. What would be some decent OCing boards I can get without breaking the bank on let's say, Ebay?

Thanks for the insight. :)

Xeon Phi Benching and Challenge

Sat, 12 Mar 2022 06:41:09 +0000

Hello!
I've been really interested lately in the Xeon Phi family of Intel products, and decided to buy myself more than a few cards, and I've been having a bunch of fun with them! I feel like sharing these out to people who would be interested in helping develop what they need to keep them interesting to bench, whether that be an offloader so that we can run more than gpupi on them (Maybe pass over the GPUPI domination to all the other categories :O!), or a way to mod the bios on these cards to provide higher clocks to push the records even higher. If you are at all interested in getting a phi, or own a phi, come join the conversation over at https://discord.gg/SVVSWUvFwG, and throw a dm at RJGamesAhoy#5932, or a message in #soon-to-be-xeon-phi-owners if you need any help getting one to you in the US, or possibly outside of the US if there is enough interest to ship international!

Have a nice Day/Night and I hope to see you in the server!

"Please give me a hint"

Thu, 03 Mar 2022 10:46:53 +0000

What settings are desirable to increase CPU scores in 3DMark Time Spy, etc.?
What about a 12900K CPU?
Is it better to OC only the P-core without functioning the E-core?
Is it better to leave hyperthreading applied?
I am wondering because currently it is inferior to 12700K in CPU score!

10980xe Low CPU Usage during fire strike physics score

Sun, 02 Jan 2022 17:38:28 +0000

I have been running the 3D Mark Fire strike benchmark this afternoon, I normally run a 5.2ghz overclock (chilled water) on this bench but thought I would have a play with 5.3ghz. My normal score for physics on 5.2ghz 1.38v would be around 36100 ish however when I bumped it up too 5.3ghz 1.48v there was pretty much no change in the score. I checked my thermals in Aida64 to make sure I wasn’t throttling and Double checked the clock was applied and all seems to be in order. The only thing I did notice was that my CPU Usage was around 76% throughout the bench mark. Can anybody confirm if this is typical behaviour of the benchmark with the 10980xe? If not does anyone have any idea how to get it to utilize closer too 100% without setting realtime as that just causes other issues.

I use a stripped down os specifically for benching so there is little to none going on in the background.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated ?

System specs if it helps:

10980xe

x299 dark

Gskill trident Z 3800mhz 12-12-12-26 1T

2080ti kp

1600w PSU

Chilled water

how easy is overclocking?

Sat, 16 Oct 2021 15:07:37 +0000

I would love to overclock the new i9 10900k since it's basically meant for it, but really don't know the way to go about it... is overclocking as simple as watching a few youtube tutorials or is it much more complex with intricate tweaks? if I don't know what I'm doing, should I just avoid overclocking completely? Thanks all.

For intel cpus, is the CPU overclock more effective than RAM overclocks?

Fri, 08 Oct 2021 17:54:30 +0000

I have a i7 9700k that is currently running 5 Ghz. I have a Patriot Viper Steel 4133 kit (32 GB) that I havent overclocked at all. Its still running at stock speed. When I use the XMP profile, it just messes up the boot and my computer goes into an endless cycle of starting and restarting.

I was wondering, for Intel CPUs, is the CPU clock more important than RAM overcl VidMate ock (in terms of performance)? Mobdro

If not, how does one decide what timings and speed combos to use?

Xeon E55XX RAM divider unlocked

Sat, 13 Jul 2019 15:11:36 +0000

It seems like i managed to accidentally unlock the RAM and NB dividers on a Xeon E5504, so far i only managed to reproduce this with a very specific OS and once you completetly shut down the system it's locked again (hotswapping ssds is possible though to get extra mem speed on diffrent OS)...

Here's some 32m runs with 2:10, 2:8 and 2:6 to prove that it is not only display bug of CPU-Z

Will upload video of how i did it later, maybe even immage of the speciffic OS i used, if i can't find what exactly causes it...

How I did it:

1: take windows 7 (so far only one of my copys worked)

2: reset during boot, so you get the option to boot in safe mode

3: set memory settings that should work but are locked in bios and apply

4: when windows asks you coose boot normaly and hope it locks up

5: press reset button on board (do NOT press powerbutton)

6: POST screen should show the ram/nb settings you applied

7: boot into OS, if you wan't to bench on XP or simmilar disconnect SSD while in OS and press reset button and it should boot into whatever OS you connected with the propper settings

Hope someone will be able to reproduce this

EDIT:

Youtube video:

I have now tried this on X58A-OC and X58A-UD7 without any success, so probbably only works on ASUS Boards, unfortunately i only have the one Rampage III Extreme, allso i managed to get it to work on all windows 7 installs i have, key element was to get the recovery screen where the cursor is on start "automatic repair", not on "start normaly"

Unlocking Multi on Athlon (XP) for hwbot benchmarking?

Sat, 18 Sep 2021 00:50:00 +0000

Hello!

I've a couple of socket A (socket 462) Athlons, Durons here. As we all know it is easily possible to unlock the multiplier. But is it allowed for hwbot benchmarks? I've some Athlon Thunderbirds which are "factory unlocked" (no lasercut on L1 bridges).

https://100001.link/ https://192168101.dev/ https://1921681254.link/

Is it allowed to use non-standard multipliers on "factory unlocked" CPUs?

Is it allowed to use non-standard multipliers on "factory locked" CPUs?

Rampage III Extreme Boardview/PCB files

Wed, 04 Aug 2021 14:22:09 +0000

I know someone mentioned having problems with this board (R3E) so here are the .FZ files I have
Hope they can help

RAMPAGE_III_EXTREME_1.04GA.fz RAMPAGE_III_EXTREME_1.04GC.fz

R3E OC Panel, still useful today?

Mon, 22 Feb 2021 01:19:35 +0000

I was going through some old stuff, and found what I believe are a pair of old OC Panels for ASUS Rampage III Extreme. Are these still useful for anyone benchmarking old CPUs? I don't think I ever became friends with the X58 platform and didn't use them even once myself.

In case someone knows something about them, what boards do they work with other than the R3E? Maybe R3BE?

If it's unclear, it's the one on the left here I'm talking about.

Gene VS apex VS extreme (z399) overclocking on water

Thu, 16 Jul 2020 13:06:28 +0000

Gene VS apex VS extreme (z399) overclocking on water. Need advice

Thanks in advance

x58 max bootable/max total PCIe

Fri, 01 Mar 2019 13:46:36 +0000

I have recently (over the past year) been binning boards and CPUs (as well as having others check their CPUs/boards) for maximum BCLK. With Setfsb, most decent Boards are comparable/not gonna be a limiting factor below 300 MHz BCLK, but bootable I ran into some issues on some of my otherwise best boards. Note that >118 PCIe only becomes necessery after ~261 MHz BCLK, so this will be irrelevant for most people.

x58a-oc: max bootable 135-136, max in Setfsb ~138 (3 boards tested, comparable results)

Rampage II Extreme: max bootable 118-120, max in setfsb ~138 (2 boards tested)

Rampage III Extreme: max bootable 118/134, max in setfsb around 135/unknown (2 boards tested)

Rampage III Formula: max bootable 118, max in setfsb currently unknown (2 boards tested)

x58a-UD7 rev 1: max bootable 133, max in setfsb 135 (1 board tested)

EX58-UD3R: max bootable 126, max in setfsb 127 (1 board tested, unmodded)

x58 DK T3eH6: max coldbootable 115, max trainable 118, max in setfsb 119.8 (1 board tested)

Testing procedure is basically upping PCIe until it no longer boots at ~1.4V or less ICH voltage (upping this to >1.5V brings 1-2 MHz, same for the related PCIe voltage) and then upping in setfsb using the highest bootable setting. All devices not needed disabled off course. If anyone has more boards to add to this list I would be glad. If there is a mod to Asus boards to up the max bootable PCIe clock that would be amazing, because for baseline BCLK they have been reliably higher then the Gigabyte Boards (both x58a-ocs were 2-3 MHz worse at ambient. On Dice I suspect that I was limited by the max bootable PCIe clock holding me back (286 Asus, 287 Gigabyte, note that the E5606 doesn't work on Gigabyte but generally seems 2-3 MHz better)

Some boards appear to be able to train max PCIe or scale with ICH/ICH 1.5V Voltages, but those appear to be more of an exception.

Thanks for the current state of the list goes to Jokot, Tagg, quiekmew, coldwove, Tapakah and T.Rex

There is far more to x58 max BCLK, though it appears to mostly involve binning hundreds of CPUs.

Foxconn X58 Flaming Blade GTI

Mon, 06 Apr 2020 15:40:34 +0000

Hello,

does this board need a mod to support xeons like some evga boards do?

i have one that is not booting with westmere xeons of any kind (X,E,W), latest bios i was able to find within a quick search is a spectre / meltdown microcode modded p10 based.

Some google searching tells me that the board is able to run xeons, but are there some different revs? the board is not labled with a rev.

Someone has got a link to a official bios? all links i found are dead, offical site is down.

Thanks.

Binning data request

Sat, 10 Aug 2019 03:54:53 +0000

I am looking to see if people are willing to share their binning data on a few cpu's, the i7 920, e2180, e2200, and any other cpu/gpu binning data people are willing to share.

8700k and 9900k overclocking 5.3ghz

Sat, 07 Sep 2019 18:46:09 +0000

5.3GHZ is impossible in my environment
CPU voltage up to 5.2GHZ is possible with 1.45V level, but beyond that
It becomes impossible even if the voltage is increased to 1.6V.
This is the same for both 8700K and 9900K
Is my setting bad or is it basically lacking power capacity?
Configuration is M / B XI GENE VGA RTX1060 PSU 850W
LLC canceled level 8 C state
CPU temperature stays below 90 degrees in Core Temp
Please advice

Are all mobile ES CPUs unlocked?

Sun, 26 May 2019 09:57:26 +0000

Title.

Multi GPU running at Intel X299

Wed, 17 Apr 2019 20:28:19 +0000

Hi OCers!

I need a bit of tips, not for benchmarks but in fact for maximum stability in a long period of time running under stress.
What I have :

i9-7960x, Sage WS 10G, 128GB RAM G.Skill Trident Z CL16, and 4 RTX 2080 TI.
This config is stable, but system was hanging at 1.9 CPU input voltage - I've changed to 1.95.
Haven't really move VCCIO 1.1 & VCCSA beyond 1.15 - low because this MB has PLX chips.

I'm curious should I increase VCCIO and VCCSA or if it's stable should I leave it alone.
I know that RAM is getting into the picture and 128 is a lot for this platform - without controllers and ECC.

If You had any suggestions please share.

Thanks

Peter

Bloomfield on LN2

Tue, 19 Mar 2019 03:57:46 +0000

Hi,

I have about 20 Bloomfield chips to bin through and have tried one on LN2 but the results were not promising: Windows boot only around -65 or warmer, best stability around -80 and complete CB around -105. Is this typical? Gulftown is easier, there are many more resources online about CB/CBB behaviour and my 980X chip followed those descriptions pretty well. Bloomfield on the other hand has much less stuff online. Is there a CB killer minor voltage or is binning for a chip with the coldest CB most important? I tried on the UD9 but also own a RIIIF and RIIIE.

X48 Ram Advice

Tue, 20 Sep 2016 19:28:29 +0000

I am really not sure what I'm missing here, basically I can get up to 600FSB and use any ram setting I want with full stability, anything after that an I need to turn ram speeds right down to have the slightest bit of stability.

Now I am probably forgetting something basic here but I've seen guys with 700FSB screenshots and over 2K ram clocks.

Just a pointer really at what setting I could possibly be missing or forgetting would be really appreciated.

Aopen i975xa-ydg issue bug CPU probe

Sun, 06 Jan 2019 19:48:30 +0000

Hey guys

I will try to repair a Aopen i975xa-ydg but i've a issue on the cpu probe (locked at 125° / 1F).

Impossible to boot windows or installation (i've tested with other mb for it), i've testing others bios (1.03G/1.10) and the Tcore mod but it's the same...

If you've a solution... (i've research old threads on XS but can find anything for that, just explain the issue). it's so old, my memories is bad

Thank

Bob