Solved 11600k using MSI B560 Tomahawk
Solved 11600k using MSI B560 Tomahawk
I reside in Turkey.
The 12th generation was too expensive relative to the currency, and we were approaching an economic crisis, so I aimed to minimize expenses.
In our local currency, the Mobo (MSI B560 Tomahawk) and 11600KF equaled 7k TRY.
If I had chosen 12600KF, the price would have risen to 10K TRY because I also needed to purchase a new cooler, which cost about 1.400 TRY.
Thus, the 3K difference I would incur didn’t seem worth the performance boost I expected. Looking back, I wonder if it was a mistake, but I also considered the economic factors influencing my choice.
I ultimately chose to go with it because the 11600KF reached 4.9ghz on turbo, which was my maximum speed setting for the 7700K. I’m satisfied with that. Although a better CPU would be more advantageous, upgrading to the next generation always requires replacing the motherboard, which can go up to 5000mhz on RAM speeds. My upcoming upgrade will likely involve a new RAM package, around 3600-4000mhz. My current setup uses Corsair Vengeance at 3000mhz (running it in XMP mode).
The 12400 series isn’t available here yet.
4.9 short burst is likely the maximum turbo boost, though I’m not sure if it’s single or multi. All core boost should be around 4.6. However, with a K CPU, go for Z490 or 590 and set them to 5 all-core.
Running at 4000MHz might need VCCSA and VCCIO above 1.25 to stay on gear 1 (which XMP will handle automatically). Try to keep below 1.3 if possible; otherwise you might face issues.
On Alderlake, only certain K SKUs can manually adjust VCCSA and VDDQ, which is necessary for gear 1 operation. Non-K SKUs can’t tweak both voltages whether on a B or Z board. So performance in gear 2 at 3600+ would be limited unless you’re lucky.
If you don’t want to focus on memory overclocking, a 12th gen CPU should perform better than any 11th gen CPU with the same specs (except for E cores, due to Alderlake considerations).
It's reasonable, the processor remains quite powerful and the selected board is excellent.
I might be mistaken but I believed the Turbo Enhancement setting raises all cores to 4.9ghz, which I have turned on.
The terms aren't familiar to me, can you clarify in simpler language?
If I get around 4000mhz RAM, pick the XMP profile and see how it performs with my current configuration.
Gear 1: The Memory Controller/IMC is configured as a "1:1" setup or synchronized with the RAM.
Gear 2: The IMC is set to half of the actual clock speed of the RAM.
For instance, if you have a 4000MHz processor, the RAM runs at 2000MHz under Gear 1, which helps reduce latency because both components operate at the same frequency, allowing data to flow efficiently between them.
However, imagine missing the lottery and only having Gear 2 available; your IMC will run at half the RAM speed (1000), creating a 2:1 ratio (1000:2000). This introduces delays since the RAM data gets temporarily stored in the IMC before reaching the RAM.
Think of it like using just two hands instead of four, where you must complete each task one after another.
Regarding timing, this refers to how quickly the RAM can be read from, written to, copied, and handled internally by the CPU.
VCCSA or CPU SA Voltage is the system voltage provided by the System Agent, which manages the IMC, DMI, PCIe, and other components. The safe limit for regular use is 1.3V.
VCCIO or CPU IO Voltage powers all input/output pins of the CPU except memory-related ones. The safe daily limit here is also 1.3V.
If you aim for Gear 1 at full synchronization, you’d need to boost both VCCSA and VCCIO to maintain stability.
On AMD Ryzen systems, these values are combined into a single SOC Voltage, with the maximum safe daily value being 1.25V. Other voltages include VDDG CCD for the Core Complex Die and VDDG IOD for the I/O Die, both capped at 1.1V.
If you're interested in memory overclocking and tuning, you can find more details here.
Good luck! 😀
Thanks for the clear details. I wasn't aware of Gear 2 before. The XMP profile for my Corsair Vengeance 3000 at 3000MHz by default displayed 1466, assuming it's using Gear 1. I used 2666MHz (1333) with memory and adjusted the timings to 13 13 15 30, which worked well. Here is how HWM and CPUZ appear.
yes, the controller frequency matches the dram frequency exactly.
perhaps adjusting the BCLK to 100.05 would help, aiming for 1500.75 if possible.
Does BCLK influence core speed as well? Could adjusting it affect system stability? Also, does it influence voltage and temperature readings? The idle and medium load temperatures are noticeably lower than my previous 7700K (which was boosted to 4.9) using a Corsair H110i with the fan set to "quite." I believe the idle temps stay below 30°C, around 26-28, though I haven’t measured them under load for an extended period. I plan to test this tomorrow and share the results. The RAM is running XMP with turbo enabled, so temperatures should be higher than they would be out of the box. Benchmark videos suggest the latest 12 gen and 12400 models perform comparably or slightly better than the stock 11600K during gaming and other tasks. At 12600K it shines especially for rendering or photo editing, but for pure gaming the gap isn’t huge. If you can save a lot of money, an 11th-gen chip might be worth considering. However, if the performance difference isn’t significant, sticking with a 12600 without an unlocked chip could be sufficient.