Question Overclocking of Non K Intel CPUs on Z270 Chipset - Success Only Once!
Question Overclocking of Non K Intel CPUs on Z270 Chipset - Success Only Once!
Hi.
I'm looking into how it became possible to achieve a stable overclock for an Intel i5-6500 CPU on an MSI Z270 SLI Plus motherboard at 4.1GHz. The only thing that seemed to work was ignoring the BIOS settings after each reboot and any changes. Have anyone had similar experiences? I'm open to any answers, even if it didn't work initially.
I ran CPU-Z and checked the BCLK value, which was 130MHz, but a benchmark showed better results than an i5-7600K. A stress test lasting 20 minutes also indicated performance beyond what the CPU should normally handle. After a power-off and restart, the system returned to its default 3.2GHz setting. The BIOS still displayed all the adjustments I made—BCLK, voltages, RAM speed—but showed the CPU running at 3.2GHz and memory at the default rate.
I used the latest 2018 BIOS from MSI. I thought reverting to the original BIOS might help, but it didn't resolve the issue. From what I found online, it appears the overclock wasn't feasible. Could it be that the BIOS logged a failed attempt and kept it in memory?
If you have any insights or explanations, I'd appreciate them. Also, would the UEFI system have any influence on this situation?
Thanks, the OC appears fairly typical based on YouTube guides for Z170 boards, and I have a decent watercooler setup. The OC mainly impacts the CPU and memory, which was operating just below its maximum speed. I've also noticed that some Windows 10 updates seem to disable the OC feature. It might be possible since I moved from a B250 motherboard without reinstalling Windows, and possibly not all drivers were set up for the Z270 board when I performed the OC.
It seems unusual for a BCLK to reach such high values, but research indicates this could be feasible for a 6400, possibly extending to a 6500. I recall that around the Skylake release, non-K CPUs were able to be overclocked, though this feature was later removed via a BIOS update and couldn't be reverted—once the board was updated, it stayed that way.
What is occurring is I adjusted the OC parameters, the computer restarts without any OC failure (which appears when I attempt actions outside the guides) and smoothly boots into Windows but all CPU configurations remain standard. Upon returning to the BIOS, the CPU operates at the default 3.2GHz while the OC settings display the BCLK overclock and all modifications. I need to revert to load defaults to reset the OC parameters back to their original state.
It seems possibly that not every hardware modification was applied during the switch from motherboards (from B250 to Z270). This outcome is still unsatisfactory. Now I must search for a Z170 board capable of accepting older BIOS overclocking. There’s an online resource offering downloadable BIOS files for the Z170.
If time permits, I might attempt an older version of Windows 10 to determine if the OC settings remain stable.
This approach is unnecessary and likely damaging to the overall system, because most components rely on BCLK signals like the PCI and USB buses, which are not meant to be overclocked. Still, I would attempt this initially to check if adjustments can be made for future use. A full reset should fix the hardware configuration problems you’re encountering.
Darkbreeze, your feedback is appreciated. The main issue with your message concerns the BCLK effect on PCI-E bus and related components. It doesn't impact those chipsets; it only influences RAM, and the BIOS accounts for this by permitting RAM speed choices at or below its rated speed. I completed the battery removal procedure, but I'm too occupied today to attempt overclocking.
Maybe I was mistaken about how it worked at one point, though I assumed everything was tied together except for the main clock on Z270. Maybe not. Still, improvements from BCLK are usually small and rarely justify the effort in most situations. But everyone's different. I often push my systems to their limits, yet I also choose unlocked models, which shows I'm willing to try anything to get better performance.
Additionally, BCLK influences FCLK and cache speed, along with core clock and RAM.