Question about BIOS-hack overclocking on non-K Skylake CPUs

[Bluescreendeath]

I'm curious about the overclocking process on non-K Skylake CPUs (eg. i3, i5 non-K, Pentiums, etc)

I heard that some main problems include:
1) CPU core temperature monitor has to be disabled...but later BIOS allowed you to read CPU package temperature.
2) C-states are disabled, so your cpu runs at full speed.
3) CPU overheat shutdown protection is disabled

Does anyone know if there was a workaround to allow C-states (so your CPU downclocks during idle)? Why does this have to be disabled?

 

[Shmee]

I am very curious about this as well, as it has a lot of potential for mid range and budget builders to OC on the "cheap." I would check the documentation on the supported motherboards with latest/most optimal bios.

So far I know of ASrock, does Asus support this as well?

 

[VirtualLarry]

I only know firsthand of ASRock (Z170, and "Hyper" series), and have heard that MSI (Z170) can do it too.

ASRock was planning on releasing an H110 Hyper board, which would be the ultimate for budget overclocks, with a Celeron G3900 or Pentium G4400, and some cheap DDR4-2400 RAM.

I would make that my main "Facebook box" offer, if I could source some of those boards.

I recently built an overclocked G3900 rig, with an ASRock B150 K4/Hyper board (the only "Hyper" boards I could find readily available on ebay from a major vendor).

All of those disadvantage are true, and additionally, you can't use the onboard iGPU graphics either.

Compared to G3258 / H81 "non-Z" OCs, the "SKY OC" is really "hacky".

Edit: As long as you plan on using a dGPU anyways, then overall, it's not so bad. Also, as long as you don't mind your CPU running full-speed all the time too.

 

[Shmee]

For a budget gaming desktop though, an i5 6400 oced to 4+GHz (cheapest true quad) with a decent mobo and a nice gaming video card sounds like a killer idea. A great way to save on the CPU while still getting 4GHz+ performance out of 4 cores.

 

[nerp]

I feel it's not worth it. Spend $20 more for a board and a little more for a K CPU and overclock to your heart's content. The reality is the performance increase from ocing this way isn't so huge, really. And the drawbacks are pretty severe, if you ask me. If it's just for normal use, why OC?

 

[Shmee]

Why is the performance not a big increase, could you clarify? Also, I assume gaming, at least in the case I specified.

 

[The Stilt]

Overclocking the non-K CPUs is a extremely bad idea, if you use applications which utilize AVX/AVX2.

 

[hojnikb]

any bios workarounds to get those features working ?

 

[The Stilt]

any bios workarounds to get those features working ?

No.

 

[JoeRambo]

Overclocking the non-K CPUs is a extremely bad idea, if you use applications which utilize AVX/AVX2.

That is only true for i3/I5 stuff. Pentiums and Celerons don't have AVX anyway, so they stand to benefit greatly. And @ $40 G3900 is a beast once on 4+Ghz.
Main problem is beeing forced to use dGPU and burning watts due to not beeing able to lower clock/voltages.


EDIT: but yeah, the problem is that Z boards do cost a pretty penny and G3900 is fast enough without OC. Can't beat G3900 value when combined with some cheapo board.

 

[MadOver]

I just build a H170 machine using a I5 6700 and have it nicely working @ 4Ghz
Got that H170 Hyper from Asrock.

 

[happy medium]

For normal use I boot without overclock.
For gaming I boot to 4.4 with my i3 6100.

2 bios settings saved, its rather simple.
I just don't upgrade my bios.

Just make sure you have a good cpu cooler.

 

[Shmee]

Do any games use AVX/AVX2? I do not know, what programs generally use those instructions?

 

[happy medium]

http://overclocking.guide/download/hwinfo/

This program will monitor cpu temps for non K overclocking.

Quick description for overclocking.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfiGJCUANbA

 

[crashtech]

BCLK OC on Skylake is a joke. Go "K" or go home.

 

[happy medium]

BCLK OC on Skylake is a joke. Go "K" or go home.

25% of free performance is a joke?
don't be jealous .

 

[crashtech]

25% of free performance is a joke?
don't be jealous .

BCLK OC breaks a lot of functionality. If you are happy with that, have at it. But I think it is stupid.

 

[VirtualLarry]

BCLK OC breaks a lot of functionality. If you are happy with that, have at it. But I think it is stupid.

It's really not THAT bad, especially for Celeron / Pentium CPUs that don't have AVX support anyways. You do have to use a dGPU, but if you were going to do that anyways... it's really not so bad. The free speed is nice.

For a serious gaming / workstation machine, though, I would agree, an official "K" CPU would be best.

 

[happy medium]

Do any games use AVX/AVX2? I do not know, what programs generally use those instructions?

I don't think games use it,
https://forums.anandtech.com/threads/avx2-and-fma3-in-games.2460033/page-2

 

[TheELF]

Grid autosport uses AVX ,has a separate exe and everything.

 

[happy medium]

Grid autosport uses AVX ,has a separate exe and everything.

hmm I have grid 2 and it works,ill have to try autosport. Thanks for the input.

 

[EXCellR8]

I was considering picking up the i5 6500 and giving the OC hack a try, but I am not sure if my MSI board still supports it and I couldn't find any conclusive info. Could probably find a custom BIOS but I've been down that road before and...

BAD news.