Overclockers rejoice: 12th Gen Intel® Core™ processors ...

Intel Extreme Tuning Utility (XTU) software even has a one-click overclocking feature called Intel Speed Optimizer that does this for you ... GetunlimitedaccessOpeninappHomeNotificationsListsStoriesWritePublishedinIntelTechOverclockersrejoice:12thGenIntel®Core™processorsintroducenewoptionsfortuningperformanceAuthor:DanRagland,PrincipalEngineer,PerformanceTuning&OverclockingArchitectureWhetheryouoverclocktosqueezemorevaluefromyourCPU,completetime-consumingtasksquicker,orpursuetheglorythatcomesfrombreakingbenchmarkrecords,youneedaflexiblesystembuiltfortuning.That’swhyunlockedversionsofour12thGenIntel®Core™processorssupportalltheknobsanddialsoverclockersusetooptimizetheirdesktopPCs,plussomenewfeaturesuniquetothisnewgeneration.OtherwiseknownasAlderLake,the12thGenCorearchitectureintroducessignificantenhancementsengineeredtopullmoreinformationontotheSoCandprocessitfasterthanever.PCIExpress5.0connectivityisoneexample.DDR5memorysupportisanother.Largercacheskeepadditionaldataclosertothecomputeresources,whilewider,deeper,andsmartercorescancompletemoreworkperclockcycle.TasksarealsosplitbetweentwoentirelydifferenttypesofcoresmanagedbytheinnovativeIntel®ThreadDirector.Rightoutofthebox,12thGenerationCoreCPUsareabigstepupfromthepreviousgeneration.Theiradvantagegrowsasyoustarttweaking,thankstoacombinationofcapabilitiesandtoolsthatcontinueourcommitmenttodeliveringthebestoverclockingexperience¹.AnewarchitecturecreatesfreshoverclockingopportunitiesMostoverclockersbegintheirjourneybypursuinghighercorefrequencies.Fundamentally,theprocessissimple:useabaseclock(BCLK)andratiomultipliercombinationthatyieldsmoreperformancethantheCPU’sstocksettings.IntelExtremeTuningUtility(XTU)softwareevenhasaone-clickoverclockingfeaturecalledIntelSpeedOptimizerthatdoesthisforyouautomatically.AlderLake’shybridarchitectureintegratestwotypesofcores,givingoverclockersacoupleofdifferenttargetsforextractingheadroom.ThebigPerformance-coresareoptimizedforhighthroughputandlowlatency.Theycanbecontrolledindependently,allowingyoutoapplyoneratiotoalltheP-coresthroughXTU’sPackagetuningmodeorswitchtothePer-Corepaneformoregranularadjustments.TheEfficient-coresserveadifferentpurpose.OccupyingamuchsmallerfootprintontheSoC,theydeftlyoffloadbackgroundtasksfromtheP-coresatmuchlowerpowerlevels.UsingdieareaefficientlyallowsE-corestoscalewithmultithreadedworkloads.They’redeployedinclustersoffourcores,soyoucanapplyonemultipliertoalltheE-coresonapackageoroverclockeachfoursomeseparately.P-coreandE-coreoverclockingareenhancedbyseveraladvancedsettingsaccessiblethroughIntelXTUsoftwareandcertainmotherboardBIOSinterfaces.Forexample,thevoltageappliedtoeachP-coreandclusterofE-corescaneitherbesetataconstantvalueorconfiguredasadaptive,whichadjustsautomaticallyinresponsetoworkloadintensity.Forfurtherfine-tuning,voltageoverridesarealsoavailableinPer-Coremode,thoughthehighestvoltagesettingtakesprecedencewhenmorethanonecoreisactive.Thetuningoptionsgetevenmorefocusedfromthere,allowingenthusiaststotweaktheplatform’sbehaviorforspecificscenarios,suchasoverclockingunderliquidnitrogencooling.SlidersestablishthepowerlevelsandtimewindowsofTurboBoostTechnology.SpecialoffsetskickinwhenthermallyintensiveAVXinstructionsaredetected.TheHyper-ThreadingTechnologyavailableonP-corescanbeturnedonoroffonaper-corebasis.Andadditionalcontrolsexposemultipliersforindependentlyalteringthering/cacheandon-diegraphicsfrequencies.Inall,therearemorethan20differentknobsfordialinginoverclocksonunlocked12thGenCoreCPUswithKandKFsuffixes.(Theformerincludeon-dieIntelUHDGraphics770,whilethelatterrequireadiscretegraphicscard.)K-seriesprocessorsareunlockedtounleashoverclockingpotentialAtthetopofthestack,theCorei9–12900KandCorei9–12900KFfeatureeightHyper-ThreadedP-coresandeightE-coresthatcombinetoworkon24softwarethreadsconcurrently.TheP-coresoperateata3.2GHzbasefrequencythatTurboBoostTechnologyrampsupto5.1GHzwhenonecoreisactive.TurboBoostMaxTechnology3.0addsanother100MHz,bumpingtheceilingto5.2GHzonthefastestcores.TheE-coresstartat2.4GHztooptimizepowerconsumptionandaccelerateupto3.9GHzwithasinglecoreactive.UnlockedCorei7–12700KandCorei7–12700KFmodelscomewitheightHyper-ThreadedP-coresandfourE-cores.TheP-coresgetaslightlyhigher3.6GHzbaseclockrateanda4.9GHzpeakTurboBoostfrequencythatjumpsto5GHzwithTurboBoostMaxTechnology3.0enabled.TheE-coresstartat2.7GHzandreachashighas3.8GHzwithoneactivecore.TheseCorei7shavea125Wthermaldesignpowerand190WmaximumTurboBoost,bothadjustableinXTU.TheCorei5–12600KandCorei5–12600KFcombineatotalof10unlockedcoresintoapackageabletooperateon16threadssimultaneously.SixHyper-ThreadedP-coreshavea3.7GHzbasefrequencythatTurboBoostspinsallthewayupto4.9GHz.ThefourE-coresoffera2.8GHzbaseand3.6GHzpeaksingle-corefrequency.Liketheotherunlocked12th-GenerationCoreCPUs,theseCorei5sareratedfor125Wattheirbaseclockrates.TurboBoostcanpushthemupto150Wunlessyouoverridethoselimits.MotherboardswiththeIntelZ690chipsetcompletethepictureTakingfulladvantageofAlderLake’soverclockingfeaturesrequiresaplatformbasedontheIntelZ690chipset.ThatincludessupportforBCLKadjustments,whichmotherboardmakerscanimplementintwoways.TheCPUhasaninternalbaseclocksourcethatsimplifiesintegrationformainstreamdesigns.ThatsourcecanbetweakedthroughthemotherboardBIOS,butit’ssetandlockedduringboot-up,whichpreventson-the-flyadjustmentsfromtheOS.Inanodtotheoverclockingcommunity,12thGenCoreprocessorspreserveanexternalclockgeneratorpathtoenablealternativestotheinternalsource.ThisspecialsignalpathisusedtocreateaBCLKthatthird-partysoftwaretoolscanchangefromWindowswithoutrebooting.Evenifyouultimatelywishtocommitanoverclocktofirmware,beingabletoquicklyadjustandtestnewsettingsonthedesktopsavestonsoftime.FasterRAMhelpskeeptheoverclockedcoresandbusesfedwithdata,soit’snosurprisethatZ690motherboardscanalsoofferextensivecontrolsfordialingineveryaspectofmemoryperformance.Likewiththepreviousgeneration,memoryoverclockingwon’tbelimitedtothisplatform.ThememoryoverclockingoptionsareextensiveNewmemorystandardsdon’tcomealongveryoften.Whentheydo,itusuallytakessometimeforoverclockerstofigureouthowtojugglefrequencies,timings,andvoltagesforoptimalperformance.AlderLaketakestheguessworkoutofbalancingDDR5bandwidthandlatencywithExtremeMemoryProfile(XMP)3.0support.WhenyoupairanXMP-certifiedmodulewithacompatiblemotherboardandCPU,it’seasytoaccessprofilesstoredonthatmoduletosetmemoryoverclockingparametersthatarealreadyvalidated.Thenewstandardbuildsonthepreviousgenerationwithmoreprofiles,plusanoptionforrewritableones.TheoldXMP2.0specificationforDDR4givesmodulemanufacturersenoughstorageoneachDIMMforonlytwoprofiles.XMP3.0hasathirdread-onlyslot,carvingoutroomforawiderrangeofpre-bakedconfigurations.Italsoaddstworewritableprofilesthatallowfullcustomization.Youcanpopulatethosefromscratchorloaduponeofthepre-programmedprofiles,makeyourownmodifications,andthensavetheresulttoarewritableslot.Tofurtherimproveusability,XMP3.0introducessupportforcustomprofilenamesupto16characterslong.Assigningdescriptivenamesmakesiteasiertoidentifyprofilesmeantforgaming,lowlatency,orotherscenarios.EnthusiastsaresuretoappreciatetheaddedflexibilityoncetheystartexperimentingwithDDR5’stuningoptions.Beyondlayersoftimingstoadjust,thestandardmovespowermanagementfromthemotherboardtothememorymoduleforstandardizedlocalcontrol.Threevoltagerails—VDD,VDDQ,andVPP—arederivedfromtheDIMMitself.YoucanrollupyoursleevesandadjustthemmanuallyorlettheoptimizedXMP3.0profilessetthosevoltagesautomatically.AlderLakeissmarteraboutoverclockingmemory,too.Ratherthanrunningaggressivesettingsallthetime,itsnewDynamicMemoryBoostTechnologyintelligentlyswitchesbetweenthebaseline(default)speedandXMPprofileofyourchoicewheneveritdetectsaperformance-boundworkload.Maximummemorybandwidthisavailablewhenit’sneeded.Intelligentmemory-boostingisn’texclusiveto12thGensystemsrunningXMP3.0-certifiedDDR5.Theprocessor’sdual-channelmemorycontrolleralsosupportsDDR4,andDynamicMemoryBoostTechnologyknowshowtodynamicallycontrolmoduleswithXMP2.0profilesaswell.SimplyenableitinthemotherboardBIOSandchoosetheXMPprofiletousewhenyouneedturbochargedperformance.AthinnerdieandthermalinterfacecompletethepackageOverclockinginvariablyproducesmoreheatforyoursystemtodissipate.Transferringthisthermalenergyawayfromtheprocessordieiskeytomaintaininghighfrequencies,soAlderLakedesktopCPUsfeatureanenhancedpackagedesignedtoimprovecoolingperformance.Likepreviousgenerations,thedieiscoveredbyalayerofsolderthermalinterfacematerialthatensuresefficienttransferbetweentheCPUanditsintegratedheatspreader.Butthedieis25%thinnerforthe12thGen,andtheaccompanyingthermalinterfaceis15%thinner.Athickerintegratedheatspreadermakesupthedifferencetocompletethestack,resultinginathermallyoptimizeddesignwithincreasedcoolingcapacity.OverclockersaregoingtolovegettingtheirhandsonAlderLakeIntelhasanentireteamdedicatedtoenhancinghardwareandsoftwarewithfeaturesthatbenefitenthusiasts.AsAlderLake’sperformancehybridarchitecturetookshape,theymadesureitsP-coresandE-corescouldbothbeoverclockedviaunlockedratiomultipliers.TheycreatedtheXMP3.0specificationtosimplifyDDR5overclocking.ThentheyimplementedDynamicMemoryBoosttointelligentlyswitchbetweenoverclockedXMPprofilesandlower-powerJEDECconfigs.Theypreservedtheexternalclockgeneratorpathtoenablereal-timeBCLKadjustmentsfromWindows.AndtheyrolledoutanewversionoftheExtremeTuningUtilitysoenthusiastscanstartexperimentingondayone.There’snothinglikeaninnovativearchitecturetoresetthebaronbenchmarkingworldrecords.AlderLaketakesabigleapforwardthankstosignificantlyimprovedP-coresplustheadditionofE-cores,andextremeoverclockershavealreadysetanewXTU2.0GlobalFirstPlaceat12623MarksandaWorldRecordonGeekbenchSingleCore4withaScoreof11,511usinga12thGenprocessorwithliquidnitrogencooling².The12thGenCoreissonewthatit’sgoingtotakesometimeforenthusiaststoexperimentwiththehardwareandestablishoverclockingbestpractices.Themosthardcoreamongthemhasaccesstomorethan20knobsanddialscontrollingtheprocessoritself,plusadditionalsettingsformemory.NovicescangetinontheactionaswellthroughtheIntelSpeedOptimizerandXMP3.0profiles.Regardlessofyourexperiencelevel,AlderLakeoffersexcitingoptionsforunlockingextraperformance.Notices&DisclaimersPerformancevariesbyuse,configurationandotherfactors.Learnmoreatwww.Intel.com/PerformanceIndex1.BasedonenhancedoverclockingabilityenabledbyIntel’scomprehensivetoolsanduniquearchitecturaltuningcapabilities.Overclockingmayvoidwarrantyoraffectsystemhealth.Learnmoreatintel.com/overclocking.Resultsmayvary.2.Tolearnmoreabouttheoverclockingworldrecords,visithttps://hwbot.org/benchmarks/world_records.Inteltechnologiesmayrequireenabledhardware,softwareorserviceactivation.Yourresultsmayvary.Noproductorcomponentcanbeabsolutelysecure.CodenamesareusedbyInteltoidentifyproducts,technologies,orservicesthatareindevelopmentandnotpubliclyavailable.Thesea​​renot“commercial”namesandnotintendedtofunctionastrademarks.​​©IntelCorporation.Intel,theIntellogo,andotherIntelmarksaretrademarksofIntelCorporationoritssubsidiaries.MorefromIntelTechTheIntelTechblogisdesignedtosharethelatestinformationonIntel’stechnologyinnovations,performance,andtechnicalleadershipaccomplishments.ReadmorefromIntelTechRecommendedfromMediumSamGarfieldIAmanIdiotandInstalledMalwareFromtheAppleAppStore.But…ItWasFromtheAppleAppStore.AdBlockinAdBlock’sBlogHowtoStopPop-UpsonAndroidyellowlinesAudiA3MmiSoftwareUpdateAngelJaimeelproducto#10👉aweeklyround-upofTechandProductgoodnessWillieWittenGodandTechErinSchumakerinOneZeroPost-Theranos,StartupsAreStillOutforBloodZoneFridayFive:MeatgianthackedbyRussia-linkedgroupJenniferL.SchenkerinTheInnovatornewsEVsAreEvolvingIntoEntertainmentCentersOnWheelsAboutHelpTermsPrivacyGettheMediumappGetstartedIntel83KFollowersIntelnews,views&eventsaboutglobaltechinnovation.FollowHelpStatusWritersBlogCareersPrivacyTermsAboutKnowable