Boosting specific parts on an Intel Core i7-7740X is possible but tricky.
Boosting specific parts on an Intel Core i7-7740X is possible but tricky.
Hey there! I use flight simulators like Prepar3d, and that game uses my computer very hard because it needs lots of power. Usually, only one core (Core #0) hits 100% while the other seven cores stay around 60-70%. Because of this, I want to overclock my i7-7740x Processor to go up to 5 GHz on Core #0. But when it starts, all cores turn down together and run at a lower speed (like 4.6 GHz). This syncs them all together instead of letting some work faster than others. I tried changing settings in the BIOS, but can't find out why they are acting that way. How do I make Core #0 hit 5 GHz while keeping the other cores slow? Thanks so much for any help!
I've tried messing around with single-thread settings before - it's seriously broken for overclocking. For people trying to speed things up (overclock), there are two big problems: First, not all threads work the same way; some can go higher and use more voltage than others. That makes finding just one perfect setting really hard because you'd have to check every single thread individually instead of using all cores at once. Second, if you want something like AVX (a fast math feature), you can't set different speeds for each thread. When that happens, the whole group runs at the same speed no matter what you do about offsets or voltages. If you don't get this part right...
I've been messing around with individual thread settings before, and it's a total mess for overclocking. There are two big problems for people trying to speed things up: 1) No two cores work the same way; how high they can go and what voltage they need changes everything. When you overclock, your goal is usually to find that perfect low-voltage balance for each one so everything runs smoothly. You'd have to check every single core's stability individually, which takes forever compared to just checking all of them at once. 2) This completely ruins the whole thing because you can't set different AVX settings for each thread. Once the AVX stuff kicks in, whether you turned an offset on or off, all threads run at the same speed. If you don't get that math right... Let's say you did individual overclocking and somehow the AVX gets triggered, even if you have no offset. Then your slower cores suddenly slow down to match the fastest one! That causes a crash instantly with a BSOD (Blue Screen of Death). You just have to use auto voltage for each thread instead.
When games use four cores at once, you should aim to get more speed than the standard stock frequency of 4.3 GHz while everything is running hard. Most people on their 7700K chips will hit about 4.6 to 4.7 GHz without any problems, and even the 7740X CPU (which is just a rebranded version of the 7700K but slightly faster under heavy loads) can do that too. So hitting those speeds makes sense if you want to beat the standard benchmark.