The internationally known overclocker Roman “der8auer” Hartung it’s back in the news. The German engineer has posted a video on his YouTube channel showing how a processor can be overclocked Intel non-K carrying a CPU i5 12400 up to a frequency of 5.2 GHz.
Overclocking, processors and ASUS: a good combination
In the video published by the overclocker himself on his YouTube channel, which has more than 400,000 subscribers, Roman explains how it is a hidden option for motherboards. ROG MAXIMUS Z690 APEX offers the possibility of ignoring the BLCK lock, thus being able to OC a processor that has the frequencies blocked by multiplier.
If something is known in the hardware sector, it is the K-processors from Intel. These CPUs have the particularity that their frequencies are unlocked, thus offering the possibility of performing OC on it. They are usually high-end processors, although if you want to save a few euros in your shopping cart you can always opt for non-K ranges, since these ranges effectively have the peculiarity that their frequencies are blocked, thus not allowing upload them manually (at least in theory, that’s why they are released at a lower price)
As the youtuber explains, this feature of the ASUS Z690 chipset motherboard may have gone unnoticed by the media and analysts, since the board detects whether or not the processor is “unlockable” and if it is a non-K CPU displays these options on the BIOS/UEFI. Therefore, as this type of high-end motherboards such as the ROG Z690 with K-class processors are commonly analyzed and tested, the option is hidden and that is why it can be understood why such a great option incorporated by the brand has not transpired.
Overclock results by BLCK in Alder Lake
There is a very fun game, it is called the silicon lottery and although you may not know it, every time you buy a processor or a graphics card you play this game. Basically, it’s about whether you’ve had more or worse luck with the quality of the chip depending on where on the wafer it was, the center or the sides. Having this clear as an important starting point as far as the OC is concerned, let’s see these results taken from the video of the German overclocker.
The truth is that these results are surprising no matter where you look. These Alder Lake no K they have offered more than decent overclocking. With some extra voltage (1,370 V) and with a Clock at 5,240 MHz, its temperatures are not really remarkable, under this situation raised by the overclocker, what is remarkable is undoubtedly the result, since it achieves nothing less than 8 FPS more than the top of the range i9-12900K. But let’s remember this has been possible thanks to the ‘Unlock BCLK OC’ option that ASUS brings on its motherboard, where it allows us to touch frequencies on locked Intel non-K processors.
Unlock BCLK OC on other motherboards
There is another approach in the video, where the possibility of enabling the ‘Unlock BCLK OC’ option on other ASUS motherboards and even on other brands has been tested, giving only a priori the option on ASUS ROG MAXIMUS motherboards Z690 HERO, the aforementioned ROG MAXIMUS Z690 APEX on which the tests are carried out, in addition to the ASUS ROG STRIX Z690-I Gaming WI-Fi and the ASUS TUG GAMING B66M-Plus D4.
With the BIOS function „Unlock BCLK OC” ASUS is allowing a base clock overclocking with non-K Alder Lake SKUs. This is possible due to an external clock generator on some boards and independent multis for memory & cache. Intel will certainly put a stop to this quickly. pic.twitter.com/C3dTgvZXks
— Andreas Schilling (@aschilling) January 16, 2022
Through the comment on the channel, a few hours after the video was published, der8auer himself comments that he has located two other models B660 which should technically support being able to use non-K processors in OC. It will be necessary to be attentive and above all to see what decision Intel makes in the face of this, if it will give free rein to motherboard manufacturers to use this option in blocked processors or as expected -unfortunately- Intel will call on manufacturers to block through new UEFI these overclocked by BCLK at Alder Lake.
