Apparently, Intel has brought overclockability back to high-end “S” processors with the arrival of the 12th generation Alder Lake-S. At least that’s what findings by the renowned German overclocker suggest Der8auer, which has managed to make some of Intel’s most entry-level CPUs reach extraordinary speeds, delivering performance leaps that put them up against some of AMD’s enthusiast models and the blue team itself.
Core i5 12400 exceeds 5 GHz in “overclock”
Intel processors belonging to the S-end families, also known by the nickname “non-K”, in reference to the K line, have so-called “clock multipliers” locked. These multipliers are responsible for allowing the user to freely modify the speed of the CPU cores to perform overclocking, and can only be accessed by the aforementioned K-ending chips.
Users of the final S models are still able to increase traditional speeds by permanently activating the components’ turbo, but the clocks are still limited to the specifications defined by Intel. However, the situation seems to have changed in an unusual way with the arrival of the 12th generation Alder Lake-S, as it turned out. Der8auer.
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The process is slightly complex for users who are not used to overclocking and brings some points that require attention, but provides massive performance gains. Also, it’s only available on some premium ASUS Z690 board models with BIOS version 0811, although the overclocker has found more affordable B660 models that might be compatible with the method — tests will be out in the next few days.
Der8auer believes that the feature is the result of using an external clock generator, responsible for synchronizing the communication speeds of PC components, along with the greater granularity that Intel provided with the Alder Lake family, by enabling different clocks, such as the cache and PCIe bus, to be modified without affecting each other.
Enthusiasts interested in trying this type of overclocking should apply the following steps, better detailed in the professional’s video: the first thing to do is access the BIOS, enter the “Tweaker’s Paradise” submenu and configure an XMP II profile, RAM memory, for stable speeds, sync all cores to the Performance Core Ratio option and then increase the All-Core Ratio Limit to the maximum allowed value.
Basically, this means that the CPU will synchronize the speed of all cores, and increase the operating speed together, something similar to a traditional overclock. Another important point is to reduce the CPU cache operation multiplier, which starts higher than ideal, which can cause instabilities.
In case of Der8auer, the default of 38 had to be reduced to 33 for the machine to operate as desired, but there is no set value — this will depend on processor to processor.
The secret behind the “overclock” is to activate the option of BCLCK OC, or “Bus Clock Overclock”, which makes it possible to change the communication frequencies between the CPU and the North Bridge, which in turn establishes the communication between the processor and components such as RAM memory. The option appears only for Alder Lake-S processors, and if it is not activated, it will not be possible to turn on the machine.
Similar to a traditional overclock, it is necessary to adjust the voltage of the cores, which will now require more power as they will be operating at significantly higher speeds. The value will also vary from chip to chip, but the expert recommends something between 1.3 V and 1.4 V. Finally, it is recommended to make adjustments to the “CPU Load-line Calibration” option, which will ensure that the VRM will maintain optimal voltage delivery even under stress.
Putting these modifications together, the overclocker-tested Core i5 12400 managed to reach 5,240 MHz, or 5.2 GHz, almost 1 GHz higher than the factory boost clock set by Intel. The consumption reaches 138 W in workloads like Cinebench R20, and the temperature of some cores at maximum stress can reach 96 °C, but the performance can go up by an impressive 33% in certain scenarios, including games.
Tests show that the overclocked mid-range processor often outperforms the Ryzen 7 5800X in the most varied titles and occasionally even manages to beat its more powerful brother, the Core i9 12900K, especially in the 1% registers, which represent the lower values of game frame rates and heavily dependent on CPU performance.
Overclocked Core i3 12100 Ties with Ryzen 5 5600X
In another video, Der8auer decided to try overclocking via BCLCK unlocked on the most basic models of the Alder Lake family, the Core i3 12100 and the Celeron G6900, which has already proved to be naturally impressive in presenting single-core performance equivalent to a Core i9 10900K.
With the Core i3, the professional achieved amazing speeds of 5.3 GHz, and results that practically matched the entry-level CPU with the Ryzen 5 5600X, a mid-range model twice as expensive, in tests such as Cinebench R20 and Geekbench 5. After adjustments, the overclocker managed to reach 5.4 GHz, increasing the blue team’s lead.
On the other hand, the Celeron G6900 proved to be more challenging, as it had the lowest Performance Core Ratio due to the presence of only two cores. Despite this, with more aggressive adjustments to the BCLCK, the component managed to deliver an overclock rate of 60%, an impressive and rare increase these days, delivering a performance jump of a similar percentage. All the numbers make the Alder Lake chips take the records in the tests carried out.
It is worth noting that there are several points influencing the final results, such as the chosen memories, but even so the huge leaps observed change the scenario in which Intel found itself, making Alder Lake processors extremely attractive options for overclockers, enthusiasts and advanced users willing to apply a little effort in exchange for getting a lot more performance from reasonably affordable models.
