There is no doubt, and before the wait for the AMD Ryzen 7000 with Zen 4, that the Intel Core 12 are the CPU of the moment for desktop PCs as they are the ones that give the most performance. However, you will be interested to know how far you can push the powerful Core i9-12900K via overclock. Whether to get more frames in your games or speed up applications.
Intel Core 12s differ from earlier Intel architectures in that they use two sets of cores. On the one hand, the so-called P-Cores or performance cores and on the other the E-Cores or performance cores. Both are x86 cores, but asymmetrical in terms of their organization and each of them can not only reach different speeds in the overclock of the i9-12900K.
How far can the Core i9-12900K go overclocked?
First of all we have to take into account that there are two elements that mark the clock speed of a core, on the one hand, we have what is the base speed, which in both cores is 100MHz, but where they differ is in the multiplier. In the case of the P-Cores this is 52, which allows us to reach the 5.2GHz and in the E-Cores it is 40, which allows us to reach the 4GHz. However, in normal operation these speeds are only achieved under two conditions:
- During PL2 mode, which has a limited duration in time.
- Only on two of the cores at most.
This limitation is done to prevent thermal throttling and the processor from getting too hot. Since there is a direct relationship between the voltage and the clock speed, we have to find the lowest value for the first that allows us to reach the maximum possible speed for the second. The exact point is in the 1.27 volts and, even so, the processor cannot be said to be cool, since it can be placed in the 95°C temperaturea number too close to 100°C limit which gives Intel as dangerous for the CPU.
So you’ll need good AIO cooling on top of the processor, though we recommend looking for much lower speeds when overclocking your i9-12900K.
Why is reaching full speed on a CPU not ideal?
The answer is not only due to the fact that this limits the life of our processor and makes us have to replace it faster, but also due to the fact that this causes certain imbalances in the functioning of the processor. The reason for this is that today everyone has the internal organization of a SoC, even if there is no integrated graphics or peripheral controller under the same chip.
A way to avoid temperature rise in the whole chip? Lowering the clock speed of the neighboring elements within it, so when we keep the speed of a CPU like the i9-12900K high by overclocking other parts of it, they slow down.
If we focus on the overclock of the i9-12900K we will observe that the Intel CPU is designed to have a consumption between 125 W of TDP during its standard operation at a base speed of 3.2 GHz and 241 W of TDP with the speed maximum that is 5.2 GHz. The key, therefore, is based on finding a speed that supports your cooling system for a long time, that does not put the processor in danger and that supposes an increase in performance.
Our recommendation is that you look for a good AIO cooler before considering revving up this powerful Intel processor, as it will allow you to reach higher speeds.
