F5F Stay Refreshed Power Users Overclocking Can I push my Intel i5-3470 to run at 4GHz?

Can I push my Intel i5-3470 to run at 4GHz?

Can I push my Intel i5-3470 to run at 4GHz?

Pages (2): 1 2 Next
K
KakeoGaming
Junior Member
12
03-07-2026, 05:47 AM
#1
Hey guys! I'm using an Intel Core i5-3470 and I want to know if it's okay to make my CPU run faster at 3.8 or 4.0 GHz. Here are the details of my setup. The CPU is a core, the board is ASRock Z77 Extreme4, the graphics card is an EVGA Geforce GTX 970, and I have 8GB of RAM. I also got a Cooler Master Seidon 120M liquid cooler to keep things cool, so heat isn't really a problem for me.
K
KakeoGaming
03-07-2026, 05:47 AM #1

Hey guys! I'm using an Intel Core i5-3470 and I want to know if it's okay to make my CPU run faster at 3.8 or 4.0 GHz. Here are the details of my setup. The CPU is a core, the board is ASRock Z77 Extreme4, the graphics card is an EVGA Geforce GTX 970, and I have 8GB of RAM. I also got a Cooler Master Seidon 120M liquid cooler to keep things cool, so heat isn't really a problem for me.

J
Jurrry
Junior Member
3
03-07-2026, 12:43 PM
#2
No, that's a frozen CPU.
J
Jurrry
03-07-2026, 12:43 PM #2

No, that's a frozen CPU.

Z
Zhower
Member
51
03-09-2026, 07:55 AM
#3
It depends on how creative you are with your character and if you win that lucky draw for chips. Usually, getting around three point eight gigahertz is possible using only the processor without turbo boost.
Z
Zhower
03-09-2026, 07:55 AM #3

It depends on how creative you are with your character and if you win that lucky draw for chips. Usually, getting around three point eight gigahertz is possible using only the processor without turbo boost.

H
Hagnarock
Senior Member
434
03-18-2026, 12:06 AM
#4
Its actually locked up, man.
H
Hagnarock
03-18-2026, 12:06 AM #4

Its actually locked up, man.

_
_vireche
Member
53
03-18-2026, 05:48 PM
#5
My bad. I think it's time I stop guessing that anyone trying to make up their own character needs a specific type of computer chip called a "K" processor.
_
_vireche
03-18-2026, 05:48 PM #5

My bad. I think it's time I stop guessing that anyone trying to make up their own character needs a specific type of computer chip called a "K" processor.

E
erikramoz
Member
65
03-25-2026, 06:22 PM
#6
Hey, sometimes you can speed up a CPU slightly if it's not marked K by changing its Base Clock, but this usually only adds about 3% and affects things like graphics cards too, so it's better to leave it alone. If you really want to try it in the BIOS, go from 3.6GHz all the way to 3.7GHz Turbo, which is still just a 3%. I don't think that matters much. Other stuff: DX12 games should keep your i5-3470 working fine for a long time. It might be cool to see how things do on the first few games, but I think most of us will still hit a wall with top CPUs like an FX-4100 often grouped together (bottleneck no longer at CPU). We'll just have to wait and see though. Very few games would benefit from clocking that i5-3470 higher right now either.
E
erikramoz
03-25-2026, 06:22 PM #6

Hey, sometimes you can speed up a CPU slightly if it's not marked K by changing its Base Clock, but this usually only adds about 3% and affects things like graphics cards too, so it's better to leave it alone. If you really want to try it in the BIOS, go from 3.6GHz all the way to 3.7GHz Turbo, which is still just a 3%. I don't think that matters much. Other stuff: DX12 games should keep your i5-3470 working fine for a long time. It might be cool to see how things do on the first few games, but I think most of us will still hit a wall with top CPUs like an FX-4100 often grouped together (bottleneck no longer at CPU). We'll just have to wait and see though. Very few games would benefit from clocking that i5-3470 higher right now either.

O
Olthar
Junior Member
4
03-26-2026, 11:45 AM
#7
Open the Intel utility, go to manual tuning, turn off turbo mode, and move those sliders down to 40, 39, 38, then apply. This gives you around 4.1 ghz when using two cores and 3.8 to 3.9 ghz when all four cores are used. You don't need to change voltages; your motherboard will handle that. Leave everything else exactly as it is right now. With my Hyper 212 Evo cooling running Prime95 for half an hour, I got stable temperatures between 50 and 55 degrees. It stays steady when playing heavy games or doing video rendering. I don't suggest messing with the base clock because that changes every frequency in your system and could make things unresponsive or cause a boot failure.
O
Olthar
03-26-2026, 11:45 AM #7

Open the Intel utility, go to manual tuning, turn off turbo mode, and move those sliders down to 40, 39, 38, then apply. This gives you around 4.1 ghz when using two cores and 3.8 to 3.9 ghz when all four cores are used. You don't need to change voltages; your motherboard will handle that. Leave everything else exactly as it is right now. With my Hyper 212 Evo cooling running Prime95 for half an hour, I got stable temperatures between 50 and 55 degrees. It stays steady when playing heavy games or doing video rendering. I don't suggest messing with the base clock because that changes every frequency in your system and could make things unresponsive or cause a boot failure.

D
deadkidrs
Junior Member
31
03-29-2026, 02:14 PM
#8
No, that part is actually locked. You're sure right? I got a Z77 board from a Fatal1ty Pro, and everything says I can go overclock and open up all those settings... but it won't let me touch the CPU lock.
D
deadkidrs
03-29-2026, 02:14 PM #8

No, that part is actually locked. You're sure right? I got a Z77 board from a Fatal1ty Pro, and everything says I can go overclock and open up all those settings... but it won't let me touch the CPU lock.

T
TempLate_YT
Senior Member
424
03-29-2026, 03:50 PM
#9
you can do it, you have a board that lets you change how fast the processor runs. i am using one with a Z68 chip, and before my overclocking went up to 4.1 GHz.
T
TempLate_YT
03-29-2026, 03:50 PM #9

you can do it, you have a board that lets you change how fast the processor runs. i am using one with a Z68 chip, and before my overclocking went up to 4.1 GHz.

B
blondeminion
Senior Member
594
Yesterday, 08:40 PM
#10
I am using an i5 processor with a 3rd Gen Intel CPU. Since I do not have access to the official manual, I cannot overclock my hardware directly. Also, since there is no specific option for overlocking in my settings menu, that might be the reason. I can only use the X.M.P feature and nothing else can be changed from here.
B
blondeminion
Yesterday, 08:40 PM #10

I am using an i5 processor with a 3rd Gen Intel CPU. Since I do not have access to the official manual, I cannot overclock my hardware directly. Also, since there is no specific option for overlocking in my settings menu, that might be the reason. I can only use the X.M.P feature and nothing else can be changed from here.

Pages (2): 1 2 Next