Does increasing the clock speed of a 12600k processor enhance gaming performance?
Does increasing the clock speed of a 12600k processor enhance gaming performance?
I just upgraded my PC with a 12600k, but I chose the H670 motherboard which doesn’t support overclocking. I’m struggling to understand why there isn’t much gain in gaming after moving from a 4790k. Was it because the 12600k is already running at its default speed? Is it necessary to overclock this model to see better performance? Could I adjust my motherboard settings to improve CPU efficiency without being able to overclock due to the H670 chipset? It would help if I mainly played Rockstar games like GTA V and RDR 2, though my GTA V performance has improved while RDR 2 feels almost identical to my old 4790k.
It's likely the 1080Ti could reach saturation at 4K, though noticeable FPS variations between the two CPUs would probably exist even at 1080P in most games. (Or on a 60FPS screen, you might see almost no difference if your average is already above that, depending on the title.)
Make sure you performed a complete reinstall of games and the operating system before making these comparisons.
(It’s rarely wise to assume you can simply swap CPU, motherboard, RAM, restart, and use the same OS/games as before; I’m not certain what you did.)
Running a CPU test program could help verify the CPU is performing optimally under stress.
It's likely the 1080Ti could reach saturation at 4k resolution, yet significant variations in minimum FPS would probably exist between the two CPUs even when playing at 1080P, especially in most games. (Or on a 60FPS display, you might barely perceive any difference if your average exceeds that, depending on the title.)
In any case, have you performed a complete reinstall of the games and operating system before making these comparisons? (It's generally not wise to assume you can simply swap CPU, motherboard, RAM, restart, and use the same OS/games as last year; no concrete evidence yet.)
To verify the CPU is performing optimally under stress, you could run a CPU-Z benchmark or stress test and record clock speeds at startup and after four minutes using HWMonitor. (Make sure to stop the test in CPU-Z once finished... with typical 125W TDP limits, aim for at least 4.3 GHz on P-Cores, possibly around 3.3 GHz on E-Cores after a short while, and ideally up to 4.6 GHz.)
Here are some comparisons (averaged FPS only), though; these will be smaller with older GPUs.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMX4tLK5m9Y
I performed a fresh Windows 11 setup but the games remained unavailable because they were stored on another SSD. Checking with MSI Afterburner and Rivatuner showed P-cores operating at 4500 MHz across all six cores. Should I keep this configuration or think about replacing the motherboard?
The CPU will keep running as long as it stays within temperature boundaries; your performance will mainly depend on the GPU. You can't discuss RDR2's PC performance accurately—even with a 4790k, it might have been GPU constrained.