How To Overclock Your CPU

You may be able to overclock your CPU to unlock more performance with ease. Here is a simple guide on how to overclock your CPU.

The problem with (almost) all PC hardware is that it can quickly get obsolete only after a couple of years. This is especially true for CPUs or GPUs, as newer generations can be substantially better than the previous. This leads to more demanding video games/software.

And, considering the intense battle between Intel and AMD, every year we get advanced CPUs with a higher core count at a lower price point, leaving your old CPU in the dust.

Fortunately, you don’t have to throw your CPU in the trash yet, as overclocking can provide you with that additional performance you need.

But, overclocking is never a simple task, so if you aren’t familiar with this process, we will try to explain what it is, how to do it, and everything else related to it.

Related:The Best CPU Benchmarking Software For 2023

Table of ContentsShow

What Is Overclocking?

Overclock CPU

Overclocking at its base is pretty straightforward to comprehend. Every processor comes out of the factory with a default clock speed. For example, AMD’s Ryzen 5600X processor has a maximum boost clock of 4.6 GHz. In other words, it won’t exceed that clock rate, no matter which video game or assignment you throw at it.

However, you could push that boost clock to a substantially higher value with overclocking.

How much the CPU can be overclocked depends on a lot of elements. One of the biggest factors is the CPU’s quality of silicon.

This is why the term “silicon lottery” is thrown out so commonly in the CPU/GPU/RAM overclocking communities.

Winning the silicon lottery essentially means that you’ve bought a product made out of the finest possible silicon, leaving a lot of room for more power which equals greater clock speeds.

For example, user u/flayer99 on Reddit managed to boost their 5600X to 5.0 GHz on all cores, which is extraordinary. This person certainly did win the silicon lottery.

Other things that can influence the overclock are power and temperatures. The more power you throw at the CPU, the better it overclocks, which also means higher temperatures. To handle increased temperatures, you will need a powerful cooler.

Warning

AMD Ryzen CPU

A quick word of caution. Overclocking may cause some form of lasting damage, and it could even void your warranty.

By increasing a CPU’s power, you may reduce its durability, efficiency, or even completely destroy it.

Although these days, overclocking is a much safer process as both processors and their motherboards are equipped with several protective measures to prevent the CPU from frying itself. Still, it is better to be prudent.

To ensure the safety of your CPU, it is suggested to have a sturdy cooler against that extra heat you’ll get from a custom OC.

Baseline

If you’ve accepted the risks of overclocking, it’s time to start getting into it.

The first thing that be done is to set a baseline. This baseline will help us later determine how far your CPU can be pushed and how much it is going to boost performance-wise. Plus, we have to see whether the CPU is overclockable at all.

Finding Your CPU

To set such a baseline, we’ll first need to find precisely which CPU model you have. The quickest method to do so on Windows 10 is by opening Start Menu and heading into Settings. From there, hit System and scroll down to the bottom to pick the About tab.

Device specifications on Windows 10
Device specifications on Windows 10.

In our case, it is an AMD Ryzen 7 3700X processor. This is an adjustable CPU. In fact, all Ryzen processors can be overclocked.

Intel CPUs, on the other hand, are a distinct story. Only the SKUs ending with the letter K, KF, X, or XE at the end of their names have their multipliers unlocked i.e., are overclockable.

I apologize, but there is no text to edit in your message. You’ve only provided instructions and mentioned “Here are a few examples:” without actually providing any examples or text to modify. If you’d like me to change adjectives in a specific text, please provide the text you want me to work with, and I’ll be happy to assist you.

  • Intel i7-10700K – unlocked
  • Intel i7-10700 – locked
  • Intel i7-10700T – locked
  • Intel i7-10700KF – unlocked
  • Intel i7-10980XE – unlocked

And so on.

If you do not have such a CPU, your overclocking adventure ends here.

If you do, let’s proceed!

Setting The Baseline

To set that baseline we previously mentioned, we’ll need to do some type of benchmark. It is best to use a game with an built-in benchmark or benchmarking software such as Cinebench, Unigine Heaven, Geekbench 5, and others.

Games with built-in benchmarks include GTA 5, Red Dead Redemption 2, Watch Dogs: Legion, F1 2020, Dirt 5, Horizon Zero Dawn, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, and many more.

While running the benchmarks, it is also vital that you have monitoring software active. We recommend using HWiNFO as it provides the most beneficial information.

Once the benchmark is complete, take a screenshot or write down the minimum, maximum, and average FPS. Open the monitoring software and do the same for temperatures and power consumption/voltage. If using HWiNFO, specifically focus on CPU (Tctl/Tdie).

With this groundwork laid, we can start working towards overclocking.

Overclocking Software

PC

If you’ve seen YouTubers, reviewers, and other adept PC enthusiasts overclocking, they’ve probably done it all through the motherboard’s BIOS. It certainly is optimal to do it through BIOS, but it may be daunting for first-timers as it isn’t as intuitive.

For Intel processors, we recommend using Intel’s Extreme Tuning Utility (Intel XTU). For AMD CPUs, you can utilize AMD’s Ryzen Master Utility.

There are third-party options too, such as MSI Afterburner, but we believe it’s desirable to go with the initial two options.

Overclocking An Intel Processor

Intel CPU

Now, it’s time to achieve what you came for.

Open Intel XTU, and swiftly head over to Advanced Tuning, as we will be doing most of the work there.

There’s also a choice for comparing and testing under pressure. If preferred, you can utilize them as a starting point and for evaluating after OC.

Multipliers

Back to Refined Tuning!

Here, we’ll primarily be focusing on the multipliers and the core voltage. The multipliers multiply (evidently) the base clock (BCLK) of your processor. Usually, the BCLK is around 100 MHz. Adding a 30x multiplier to a 100 MHz BCLK pushes the CPU’s overall frequency speed to 3.0 GHz.

By default, all contemporary CPUs already have a multiplier in place, but we want to push those multipliers even higher.

So, if your multipliers are by default on 30x, you’ll want to raise the multipliers for all cores by 1. This is called an all-core overclock, and it is much easier to do than fine-tuning every core individually.

Adjusting multipliers on Intel XTU
Adjusting multipliers on Intel XTU.

Apply and then run your benchmark or use XTU’s built-in stress test. Make sure to run it for at least ten to fifteen minutes to ensure system reliability. If your PC didn’t crash, you can continue raising the multipliers.

Again, increase those values by 1 and do another examination while recording down the results and keeping an eye on temperatures. The maximum temperature for Intel’s 10th Generation is 100 °C, so keep that in mind.

Sooner or later, you will encounter a collision while progressively increasing multipliers by 1. Once it does, bring back the multipliers to their former value.

And you’re done!

You’ve successfully found a dependable OC for your CPU. Simple, right?

Well, it is straightforward because we’ve been doing the most elementary type of tuning. Going further requires a lot more fine-tuning.

Power/Core Voltage

It can be a bit complex and somewhat perilous when it comes to this. In order to make the most of your CPU, you must give it additional energy to cope with the higher clock rate.

But increasing the voltage too much will certainly crash your computer and may even damage it. So, be careful. The general rule of thumb is to never go above 1.4 V. Although every CPU is different, so it is possible to go above that value, but it’s best not to.

So, back to the Advanced Tuning tab and look for Core Voltage.

Again, we’ll need to gradually increase this value by a small amount. Let’s start with an offset of 0.20V+.

For example, if your core voltage is 1.3V, you’ll need to bring it to 1.320V.

With that supplementary power, we can now do another increment to the multipliers and hope that it won’t crash this time. If it still crashes, do another 0.20V+ increase.

Go through a ten-minute stress test and keep an eye on the temperatures. If everything seems normal, you’ve successfully pushed the CPU’s clock speeds even higher.

With a lot of trial and error, it’s possible to get an excellent overclock. Keep in mind this process can take up several hours as every change requires a stress test/benchmark of at least 10 minutes.

Remember, for even more complex overclocking, play around with the multipliers, pushing one core to higher frequencies while keeping others on lower.

Overclocking An AMD Processor

AMD Ryzen 6000 Series Release Date

Overclocking an AMD CPU is quite similar, but a different software is necessary, so we’ll explain that also.

The difference here is that we’ll be using Ryzen Master Utility which allows you to directly modify the frequency of every core instead of increasing multipliers.

To do that, download and install the software. You should also download and install Cinebench; we’ll require it later.

Open Ryzen Master and then click on Advanced View located on the bottom left of the Ryzen Master window. Toggling Advanced View will open up tons of options.

Now, open up Profile 1 or Profile 2 on the left side of the window and then select Manual under Control Mode. Manual provides us with total control over every core clock speed.

Expand CCD 0, and you’ll see a number of cores. How many of them will be on your screen depends on which CPU you have.

For example, the 6-core Ryzen 3600X has one CCD (core chiplet die), and all cores fit into it. Ryzen 3700X, on the other hand, has 8 cores split into two chiplet dies. Four on CCD0 and four on CCD1.

So, if you have an 8-core Ryzen or higher core-count CPU, expand all significant CCDs.

Now, start increasing the frequency of all cores to the same value and then hit Apply. You could also go with Apply & Test, but it’s advisable to do your testing with Cinebench. So run that software and do a multi-core test.

If Cinebench crashes, either reduce the frequency by 50 MHz and do another test or boost the core voltage. For greater frequencies, you will have to increase the core voltage.

For optimal results, just set the core voltage to 1.3V or 1.35V, increase the frequency and then slowly drop down the voltage until you start crashing again. This way, you’ll get the highest possible clock speed while reducing the power, which results in lower temperatures.

With a steady overclock, you can continue with further testing.

Testing

Once you have found that sweet spot of power, temperature, and clock speeds, it’s time to do some extensive testing.

Those 10-minute stress tests are insufficient to determine a system’s stability. To be sure that your computer won’t crash the next time you are working on an important project or while in a competitive match, you’ll need to do some lengthier benchmarks.

We recommend running several examinations on Unigine Haven with settings on medium to allow the CPU to clock to its maximum frequency. An hour of testing should provide you with a clear picture of the system’s performance and thermals.

You could also try Prime95 since it is excellent for stress testing and determining system reliability.

Do a few gaming sessions of the most demanding games in your library to check off any possibilities.

Closing Thoughts

The Best CPU Benchmarking Software

Overclocking by following this type of guide can be much simpler than it truly is.

But, keep in mind, even when it’s easy, overclocking might not always be such a wise idea. Sometimes, performance improvements are minuscule while temperatures significantly rise, which could hinder the performance of other components in your computer.

However, this also doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t try. Having the confidence to tinker with your PC components is a trait every tech enthusiast should possess. Overclocking CPUs, GPUs, RAM, and doing custom PC mods can teach you a lot about computers.

You Might Like These Too

CPU Not Detected
Fix: CPU Not Detected
Branko Gapo

Keeping up with the incredibly fast evolution of computer technology is almost impossible. That's why Branko will be using his knowledge on this matter to share news and information on all the latest essential technological innovations and advancements related to CPUs.