If you're a computer hardware enthusiast, you probably know that if you want to overclock your CPU,
meaning run it at a higher speed, then it would be best to buy an unlocked processor.
Now, as we explained in this video, an unlocked processor means that it has an unlocked multiplier.
That is an adjustable number that the base clock of your processor gets multiplied by
to determine the actual frequency it runs at. Now, all of AMD's modern desktop CPU offerings
are unlocked, and so is Intel's K and X series.
But Team Blue actually sells many CPUs
that have locked multipliers, meaning that the user cannot adjust them.
And the only way to overclock manually is to adjust the base clock, which can be quite tricky.
You see, there isn't really any way to hack
an Intel chip to unlock it. Unlocking a chip is a physical process
that occurs at the factory on the die itself. So there's no code to try to break through
on a non-K series chip. You can't unlock the multiplier, end of story.
But it turns out that there are still other ways that motherboard manufacturers have used
to boost performance unlocked chips. To find out more, we reached out to Nick Shee at ASRock,
and we'd like to thank him for his contributions. Intel chips contain something called microcode,
which you can think of as being similar to firmware.
The microcode is what is fundamentally responsible for controlling the CPU's behavior,
including what clock speeds it'll run at. Previously, there was a loophole in the microcode
where it wouldn't check the processor's base clock against a hardware clock governor,
allowing ASRock to come out with a feature called SkyOC
that would allow users to crank up the base clocks really high for significant performance boosts,
talking 30% in some cases. Now SkyOC worked with original non-K SkyLake CPUs,
and users seemed to enjoy the feature. But Intel more aggressively locked down the ability
for a user to make base clock adjustments shortly thereafter, meaning the feature basically died
before it had much of a chance to see widespread adoption.
However, a newer method has since appeared on the scene.
ASRock calls it Base Frequency Boost, or BFB,
while ASUS calls it ASUS Performance Enhancement.
Even though Intel has placed restrictions on base clock overclocking on locked CPUs,
what they didn't lock down is the chip's power limits.
This means that your system will simply raise the power limit to 125 watts from 65.
The CPU will detect this, understand that it has more thermal
and power headroom to work with, and raise its own clock speeds accordingly.
Now ASRock claims this method can bump your frequencies up by a gigahertz or even more,
depending on what chip you're using. However, there are some important caveats.
One is that since you're raising the power limit, you'll generate significantly more heat.
So as with overclocking an unlocked CPU, you'll wanna make sure that you have a good cooler on hand.
Another is that overall, you shouldn't expect to get the same caliber of results
as you would with a CPU that has an unlocked multiplier from the factory.
Although raising the power level will obviously make your chip faster
than it would otherwise be, unlocked CPUs typically are the top of the range ones
and are a better option for those who are chasing the ultimate in performance.
The thing is Intel typically uses better quality silicon
in these unlocked chips so that overclockers will have an easier time
raising their speeds and setting records. So even though some of the cores in a lock chip
might be amenable to having their rates adjusted, there might be others that simply aren't able to do it.
So at the end of the day, solutions like BFB are more for people who want to get more performance
out of a locked chip that they already own or they got for a super great deal
as opposed to people who are looking to make a decision about what to buy.
Besides, who knows when Intel's gonna pull the rug out from under us yet again.
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