Intel releases an automatic overclocking tool for certain 9th ...

Intel has a new overclocking tool to help owners of certain 9th generation Core CPUs, some of the best CPUs for gaming, gain some added ... Skiptomaincontent PCGamer PCGamerTHEGLOBALAUTHORITYONPCGAMES Search Subscribe (opensinnewtab) (opensinnewtab) (opensinnewtab) (opensinnewtab) (opensinnewtab) (opensinnewtab) UKUSCanadaAustralia PCGamerMagazineSubscription(opensinnewtab)(opensinnewtab)Whysubscribe?Subscribetotheworld's#1PCgamingmagTryasingleissueorsaveonasubscriptionIssuesdeliveredstraighttoyourdoorordeviceFrom$10.99(opensinnewtab)View(opensinnewtab) News Reviews Hardware BestOf Magazine TheTop100 Forum More PCGamingShow Podcasts NewsletterSignup CommunityGuidelines AffiliateLinks Meettheteam AboutPCGamer PopularTop100Overwatch2CallofDutyGTA6RTX4080IntelArc PCGamerissupportedbyitsaudience.Whenyoupurchasethroughlinksonoursite,wemayearnanaffiliatecommission.Here’swhyyoucantrustus. Audioplayerloading… Intelhasanewoverclockingtooltohelpownersofcertain9thgenerationCoreCPUs,someofthebestCPUsforgaming,gainsomeaddedperformance,withouthavingtomuckaroundintheBIOS.It'scalled"IntelPerformanceMaximizer"andit'savailablenow.Beforeyourushofftodownloadit,however,therearesomethingsyoushouldknow.Itonlyworkswithaselectfewprocessors—halfadozeninall.Theyincludethefollowing:Corei9-9900KFCorei9-9900KCorei7-9700KFCorei7-9700KCorei5-9600KFCorei5-9600KThat'sreallythreemainprocessormodels,splitbetweenSKUsthathaveonboardgraphics("K")andSKUswhereIntelhasdisabledonboardgraphics("KF").So,it'sarathershortlist.Still,it'sbetterthannothing,andhopefullyIntelwillexpandthelisttoincludemoreprocessors.Supportforoldergenerationprocessorsmightbeastretch,though.Alsonotethattherearetwodifferentinstallers—onespecificallyfortheCorei9-9900K/9900KF,andoneforthefourotherSKUs.Bothdownloadsareunusuallylarge,checkinginat1.5GB.Overclockingutilitiesarenotexactlyunique—AMD'sRyzenMastertoolisasimilartoolforRyzenprocessors,andNvidia'sOCScannerisfoundinvariousGPUoverclockingutilities.IntelalsostilloffersitsExtremeTuningUtility(XTU),forthosewhoprefermanuallyoverclocking.Thisnewutilityisdifferent,inthatit'ssupposedtoautomaticallyoverclockyourCPU.Inteldescribesitsnewtoolasa"hyper-intelligent"utilitythatsetsparameters"basedupon[aCPU's]individualperformancepotential."Yourmileagewillvary,ofcourse.Wehavenothadachancetotestityet,butJimTanousatPCPerspectivedid.Notsurprisingly,TanousfoundthatbetterresultscanstillbehadbymanuallyoverclockingthroughtheBIOS,thoughthegapinperformancewasnotenormousinhistesting.TanousalsonotedthatIntel'sutilityignoredchangesmadeinhismotherboard'sBIOS(GigabyteZ390AorusMaster).Soatleastforthatboard(andprobablyothers),you'dneedtouninstalltheutilitytotakebackmanualcontrolofvoltages,multipliers,andsoforth.Thetoolitselfisfreeandcanbedownloadedfromhere.Foraddedpeaceofmind,Intelnowsellsperformancetuningprotectionplansforeachofthesupportedprocessors,pricedat$19.99.ThisexpandsthewarrantytocoverdamagecausedtotheCPUbyoverclocking(readmoreintheFAQ). PaulLillyPaulhasbeenplayingPCgamesandrakinghisknucklesoncomputerhardwaresincetheCommodore64.Hedoesnothaveanytattoos,butthinksitwouldbecooltogetonethatreadsLOAD"*",8,1.Inhisofftime,heridesmotorcyclesandwrestlesalligators(onlyoneofthoseistrue). Seecomments PCGamerNewsletter Signuptogetthebestcontentoftheweek,andgreatgamingdeals,aspickedbytheeditors. ContactmewithnewsandoffersfromotherFuturebrands Receiveemailfromusonbehalfofourtrustedpartnersorsponsors ThankyouforsigninguptoPCGamer.Youwillreceiveaverificationemailshortly. Therewasaproblem.Pleaserefreshthepageandtryagain. Recommended Thetop100PCgames Ubisoft'snewshooterlookslikeanimeDestiny HARDWAREBUYINGGUIDESLATESTGAMEREVIEWS1Thebestgamingmonitorsin20222ThebestCPUforgamingin20223BestpowersupplyforPCgaming4ThebestUSBWi-Fiadapterin20225Bestwirelessgamingmouse1HyperDemonreview2Isonzoreview3TheExcavationofHob’sBarrowreview4Prism+PG270Ultramonitorreview5NeatBumblebeeIImicrophone