Intel Skylake CPU Overclocking: A Post-Update Reality

Intel supposedly locked out non-K Intel Skylake CPU overclocking thanks to numerous Windows and BIOS updates, much of that however never manifested. I still have builds with non-K overclocking UEFI's that are on the latest Windows updates. The microcode rumor was just that only a rumor so what does this mean? Can we still overclock non-K Intel Skylake CPUs? Four months ago, the answer was still yes; I verified it right here and today the answer is still yes.

So, the Overkill I3 PC build that Destin and I worked on a few videos ago will be our guinea pig today. Last time it was the Pentium G4400 if you're interested in the specs of this one click here otherwise let's get to some base clock overclocking. All you need is a Z170 motherboard and any consumer-grade Skylight processor. So, any Pentium I3 I5 or I7 non-K skew two other things to note are one CPU temperatures will be nearly impossible to monitor after the new BIOS is flash there are a few programs that work around this linked in the description.

Your IGPU or your Integrated Graphics will be disabled as long as this 9K overclocking BIOS is flashed but don't worry if at any point you aren't willing to make these trade-offs any longer you can always flash a newer BIOS there's nothing stopping you from doing that just make sure it's the correct BIOS. So, here we go first navigate to the motherboard BIOS link in this video's description select the motherboard brand you're currently sporting and then click on the exact motherboard name refer to your box if you're not 100 sure mine was the Gigabyte Z170X Gaming 3 motherboard select download and save the zip folder to a USB drive from there simply extract the folder that's it with the drive still inserted into your PC reset the computer and press delete or the corresponding key to push you into your BIOS from here find either a tab that says Q flash or bios update after clicking this option select the drive you wish to boot from navigate to your newly extracted BIOS file and execute at this point do not turn off your PC let the bar reach 100 at which point your computer will reset itself if your PC's power is cut off at any point during the update process it's very likely that you end up with a massive motherboard paperweight.

You'll either need a replacement board or a replacement UEFI chip either way this is a painstaking process so be sure to allow this process to finish unhindered next restart your computer and enter your BIOS once again it may look different or it may look exactly the same either way if it was flashed successfully we should now be able to raise our base clock frequency freely navigate over to CPU configuration and at this point begin raising your base clock value in increments that correspond to CPU voltage appropriate CPU voltage until you end up with a satisfied frequency do keep in mind that raising the base clock frequency will also increase RAM frequency so reconfigure this after the fact or your PC will likely not boot for a more detailed CPU overclocking guide in general click here otherwise let's restart our PC and verify that the overclock did in fact stick and boom there it is 4.4 GHz at 1.35 volts and I'm fairly confident that I could do better with the voltage but this is just a quick demonstration.

Our jump in Cinebench from 3.7 GHz to 4.4 GHz is nearly 100 CB and almost 25 CPU performance increase thanks to the now possible base clock overclock just make sure you've got a beefy enough cooler to back up the overclock I do not recommend doing this with the stock Intel cooler it's just not going to dissipate enough heat you'll end up with a really hot system or a really loud system or even worse both my core temperatures and Cinebench alone jumped from 44 degrees Celsius to 76 and I'm sporting a 280mm Kraken X61 so just some perspective there. If you like this video and/or are thoroughly intrigued by the fact that you can still overclock non-K Intel Skylake CPUs be sure to give this video a thumbs up give it a thumbs down if you feel the complete opposite or if you're Intel because I'm sure Intel hates me at this point be sure to click the subscribe button if you haven't already and stay tuned for interesting drama tests this time around I'm going to start testing 4 gigs of RAM tomorrow then 8 gigs then 12 gigs and 16 gigabytes of uh system RAM see how that affects in-game performance.

This is Science Studio thanks for learning with us.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enintel supposedly locked out non-k intel skylake cpu overclocking thanks to numerous windows and bios updates much of that however never manifested i still have builds with non-k overclocking uefi's that are on the latest windows updates the micro code rumor was just that only a rumor so what does this mean can we still overclock non k intel skylake cpus four months ago the answer was still yes i verified it right here and today the answer is still yes so the overkill i3 pc build that destin and i worked on a few videos ago will be our guinea pig today last time it was the pentium g4400 if you're interested in the specs of this one click right here otherwise let's get to some base clock overclocking all you need is a z170 motherboard and any consumer grade skylight processor so any pentium i3 i5 or i7 non-case skew two other things to note are one cpu temperatures will be nearly impossible to monitor after the new bios is flash there are a few programs that work around this linked in the description and two your igpu or your integrated graphics will be disabled as long as this 9k overclocking bios is flashed but don't worry if at any point you aren't willing to make these trade-offs any longer you can always flash a newer bios there's nothing stopping you from doing that just make sure it's the correct bios so here we go first navigate to the motherboard bios link in this video's description select the motherboard brand you're currently sporting and then click on the exact motherboard name refer to your box if you're not 100 sure mine was the gigabyte z170x gaming 3 motherboard select download and save the zip folder to a usb drive from there simply extract the folder that's it with the drive still inserted into your pc reset the computer and press delete or the corresponding key to push you into your bios from here find either a tab that says q flash or bios update after clicking this option select the drive you wish to boot from navigate to your newly extracted bios file and execute at this point do not turn off your pc let the bar reach 100 at which point your computer will reset itself if your pc's power is cut off at any point during the update process it's very likely that you end up with a massive motherboard paperweight you'll either need a replacement board or a replacement uefi chip either way this is a painstaking process so be sure to allow this process to finish unhindered next restart your computer and enter your bios once again it may look different or it may look exactly the same either way if it was flashed successfully we should now be able to raise our base clock frequency freely navigate over to cpu configuration and at this point begin raising your base clock value in increments that correspond to cpu voltage appropriate cpu voltage until you end up with a satisfied frequency do keep in mind that raising the base clock frequency will also increase ram frequency so reconfigure this after the fact or your pc will likely not boot for a more detailed cpu overclocking guide in general click right here otherwise let's restart our pc and verify that the overclock did in fact stick and boom there it is 4.4 gigahertz at 1.35 volts and i'm fairly confident that i could do better with the voltage but this is just a quick demonstration our jump in cinebench from 3.7 gigahertz to 4.4 gigahertz is nearly 100 cb and almost 25 cpu performance increase thanks to the now possible base clock overclock just make sure you've got a beefy enough cooler to back up the overclock i do not recommend doing this with the stock intel cooler it's just not going to dissipate enough heat you'll end up with a really hot system or a really loud system or even worse both my core temps and cinebench alone jumped from 44 degrees celsius to 76 and i'm sporting a 280 millimeter kraken x61 so just some perspective there if you like this video and or are thoroughly intrigued by the fact that you can still overclock non k intel skylake skis be sure to give this video a thumbs up give it a thumbs down if you feel the complete opposite or if you're intel because i'm sure intel hates me at this point be sure to click the subscribe button if you haven't already and stay tuned for interesting dram tests this time around i'm going to start testing 4 gigs of ram tomorrow then 8 gigs then 12 geeks and 16 gigabytes of uh system ram see how that affects in-game performance this is science studio thanks for learning with us youintel supposedly locked out non-k intel skylake cpu overclocking thanks to numerous windows and bios updates much of that however never manifested i still have builds with non-k overclocking uefi's that are on the latest windows updates the micro code rumor was just that only a rumor so what does this mean can we still overclock non k intel skylake cpus four months ago the answer was still yes i verified it right here and today the answer is still yes so the overkill i3 pc build that destin and i worked on a few videos ago will be our guinea pig today last time it was the pentium g4400 if you're interested in the specs of this one click right here otherwise let's get to some base clock overclocking all you need is a z170 motherboard and any consumer grade skylight processor so any pentium i3 i5 or i7 non-case skew two other things to note are one cpu temperatures will be nearly impossible to monitor after the new bios is flash there are a few programs that work around this linked in the description and two your igpu or your integrated graphics will be disabled as long as this 9k overclocking bios is flashed but don't worry if at any point you aren't willing to make these trade-offs any longer you can always flash a newer bios there's nothing stopping you from doing that just make sure it's the correct bios so here we go first navigate to the motherboard bios link in this video's description select the motherboard brand you're currently sporting and then click on the exact motherboard name refer to your box if you're not 100 sure mine was the gigabyte z170x gaming 3 motherboard select download and save the zip folder to a usb drive from there simply extract the folder that's it with the drive still inserted into your pc reset the computer and press delete or the corresponding key to push you into your bios from here find either a tab that says q flash or bios update after clicking this option select the drive you wish to boot from navigate to your newly extracted bios file and execute at this point do not turn off your pc let the bar reach 100 at which point your computer will reset itself if your pc's power is cut off at any point during the update process it's very likely that you end up with a massive motherboard paperweight you'll either need a replacement board or a replacement uefi chip either way this is a painstaking process so be sure to allow this process to finish unhindered next restart your computer and enter your bios once again it may look different or it may look exactly the same either way if it was flashed successfully we should now be able to raise our base clock frequency freely navigate over to cpu configuration and at this point begin raising your base clock value in increments that correspond to cpu voltage appropriate cpu voltage until you end up with a satisfied frequency do keep in mind that raising the base clock frequency will also increase ram frequency so reconfigure this after the fact or your pc will likely not boot for a more detailed cpu overclocking guide in general click right here otherwise let's restart our pc and verify that the overclock did in fact stick and boom there it is 4.4 gigahertz at 1.35 volts and i'm fairly confident that i could do better with the voltage but this is just a quick demonstration our jump in cinebench from 3.7 gigahertz to 4.4 gigahertz is nearly 100 cb and almost 25 cpu performance increase thanks to the now possible base clock overclock just make sure you've got a beefy enough cooler to back up the overclock i do not recommend doing this with the stock intel cooler it's just not going to dissipate enough heat you'll end up with a really hot system or a really loud system or even worse both my core temps and cinebench alone jumped from 44 degrees celsius to 76 and i'm sporting a 280 millimeter kraken x61 so just some perspective there if you like this video and or are thoroughly intrigued by the fact that you can still overclock non k intel skylake skis be sure to give this video a thumbs up give it a thumbs down if you feel the complete opposite or if you're intel because i'm sure intel hates me at this point be sure to click the subscribe button if you haven't already and stay tuned for interesting dram tests this time around i'm going to start testing 4 gigs of ram tomorrow then 8 gigs then 12 geeks and 16 gigabytes of uh system ram see how that affects in-game performance this is science studio thanks for learning with us you\n"