A German overclocker used an internal software tool from Intel to overclock a mobile processor to 6GHz, almost matching Intel’s desktop flagship.
The tool is called Real-Time Overclocking (ROC) and it allows users to tweak each core individually, in real-time, without rebooting. It is internal software that Intel uses for testing and validating its CPUs.
Invitation from Intel
The overclocker with the pseudonym der8auer was invited by Intel to its Portland, Oregon facilities. He used ROC on a validation board running a Core i9-13900HK mobile chip, which is one of Intel’s latest Raptor Lake CPUs with six efficiency cores and eight performance cores. It has a default maximum frequency of 5.4GHz for one or two cores.
Using ROC, der8auer increased the clocks on all performance cores to 5.8GHz, expecting it to crash. However, the system remained stable until he pushed it further to 6GHz, and then it froze.
This was an impressive feat for a mobile CPU, especially considering that it had sub-optimal cooling and no liquid nitrogen or dry ice involved. der8auer said that he recently couldn’t hit this frequency on a mobile chip using dry ice; the best he could do was 5.6GHz or so.
For comparison, Intel’s desktop flagship CPU, the Core i9-13900KS, also reached 6GHz on all cores using liquid nitrogen cooling.
Overclocking Potential of Intels Mobile CPUs
The experiment shows that Intel’s mobile CPUs have great overclocking potential with Raptor Lake architecture. It also shows that Intel has some secret tools that can unlock more performance from its chips.
However, this does not mean that consumers will be able to replicate these results easily or safely on their laptops or desktops. ROC is not accessible to them; they have to rely on XTU or other third-party software for overclocking. Moreover, overclocking requires adequate cooling and power delivery systems; otherwise, it can damage the hardware or cause instability.
Therefore, while this experiment was impressive and exciting for enthusiasts and fans of high-performance computing; it should not be taken as an indication of what normal users can expect from their devices.
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