How to unlock my CPU (i7 8700k)

[zrkraus]

I i just recently upgraded to an i7 8700k , alongside my gtx 1070 and an asrock z370 killer mobo. Been playing some BF1 and it clocks in at around 4.3 GHz, but I know it has the potential of 4.7 when its unlocked, but what exactly is unlocked? I'm vaguely familiar with overclocking but is it the same thing, or is it a built in function of the processor?

 

[winks42]

The processor is already “unlocked”. 4.3 is the turbo boost but it if you want 4.7 you will need to overclock your CPU in the bios

 

[Karadjgne]

And add some cooling, and some research into exactly what OC is and how it's successfully accomplished.

 

[zrkraus]

And add some cooling, and some research into exactly what OC is and how it's successfully accomplished.

I already have an aftermarket cooler, a cooler master hyper 212 evo, but ive had it since I first built this rig about 3 years ago so im unsure if it would get the job done, as the cpu performs now at 4.3 GHz it sits around 53 celcius.

 

[Karadjgne]

That's a 140w budget cooler, sitting on a 95w cpu that'll easily reach 140w under stress loads. So No, that cooler is basically what would be equitable for a stock cooler. You'll need something considerably more to get any real OC beyond locking all the cores at turbo speed.

 

[zrkraus]

That's a 140w budget cooler, sitting on a 95w cpu that'll easily reach 140w under stress loads. So No, that cooler is basically what would be equitable for a stock cooler. You'll need something considerably more to get any real OC beyond locking all the cores at turbo speed.

Do you have any reccomendations outside of liquid cooling, cause thats kind of a hassle.

 

[Karadjgne]

Depends on what case you have as to cpu cooler height, but for OC on an 8700k a Noctua NH-D15S is prolly the most widely recommended, and not terribly expensive for its performance.

 

[RobCrezz]

Thats normal, it will only boost higher if fewer cores are being used.

If you enable MCE in the bios then it will force all 6 cores to boost to 4.7.

 

[winks42]

Or oc genie for MSI

 

[Karadjgne]

No. Software OC is not reliable and not only often leads to instability but unreasonable temps as the software decides what voltages to run the cpu. That's not including the changes to BCLK (buss speeds) which affects everything from ram to hdd/ssd communication speeds. OC Genie and others are nothing more than sales gimmicks and should be avoided.

 

[zrkraus]

Depends on what case you have as to cpu cooler height, but for OC on an 8700k a Noctua NH-D15S is prolly the most widely recommended, and not terribly expensive for its performance.

I have a phanteks enthoo pro full tower so im almost certain it would fit, i might give it a look.

 

[Karadjgne]

It's about the best there is for air coolers, you'd have to move to an aio liquid cooler, a decent 280mm or larger, to get higher wattage ability