# LOCKED OR NOT LOCKED?



## surfacetension (Aug 20, 2021)

Hi I wonder if someone could help me please.
I have an Intel I7 3770K which I should be able to increase the multiplier on.
My motherboard is the standard Dell Optiplex 7010 SSF which has a very limited BIOS with TurboBoost on/off and little else to increase frequency.
I have tried to use ThrottleStop and XTU and I am unable to increase the multiplier.
Am I doing something wrong or is the Dell Optiplex 7010 motherboard preventing me raising the multiplier above x37 which is the max TurboBoost
for all four cores.
I am not using multithreading.
Any solution would be gratefully received or if it's not possible it would be good to know.
Many thanks


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## Cheese_On_tsaot (Aug 20, 2021)

You have a motherboard that you can't OC with and you know it.. silly question.


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## surfacetension (Aug 20, 2021)

Thank you for confirming what I feared. 
I didn't know it or I wouldn't have asked.
"Silly question" is this how people talk to you in your real life?
If anyone else could confirm this from a less judgemental point of view I can then close this thread and get on with my life.


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## Remeca (Aug 20, 2021)

Cheese_On_tsaot said:


> You have a motherboard that you can't OC with and you know it.. silly question.


It isn't a stupid question. It is possible to overclock a CPU on a Dell motherboard (with some locked older CPUs) even though I was also told it was impossible, and I was told here if I had an unlocked CPU I could overclock it with Throttlestop on my Optiplex 9020.

I haven't tried it yet though OP so I can't confirm or deny if it is possible. I have a 4790k now though so I can try soon.


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## Cheese_On_tsaot (Aug 20, 2021)

Remeca said:


> It isn't a stupid question. It is possible to overclock a CPU on a Dell motherboard (with some locked older CPUs) even though I was also told it was impossible, and I was told here if I had an unlocked CPU I could overclock it with Throttlestop on my Optiplex 9020.
> 
> I haven't tried it yet though OP so I can't confirm or deny if it is possible. I have a 4790k now though so I can try soon.


That was not what I was getting at.

The OP knows it was meaning they already understood their issue.

"I have tried to use ThrottleStop and XTU and I am unable to increase the multiplier."

LOCKED OR NOT LOCKED?​

Anyway I would sugest just picking up a cheap case with some airflow and a Z77 motherboard.


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## Remeca (Aug 20, 2021)

Cheese_On_tsaot said:


> That was not what I was getting at.
> 
> The OP knows it was meaning they already understood their issue.
> 
> ...


A beginner has no way of knowing if it is a limitation of the method and their hardware, or their execution of the solution being the reason for it not working. You could have offered your reasonable suggestion first before being a dick.


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## qubit (Aug 20, 2021)

@Remeca Indeed yours was a perfectly reasonable question, especially as you're a beginner and sometimes there are exceptions to these technical situations, too. No one should be belittled for asking a question, no matter how "obvious" it is to other people. Especially so when that person is being polite, as you have.

And yes, unfortunately, the BIOS in that Dell is preventing you from overclocking it.


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## Remeca (Aug 20, 2021)

qubit said:


> @Remeca Indeed yours was a perfectly reasonable question, especially as you're a beginner and sometimes there are exceptions to these technical situations, too. No one should be belittled for asking a question, no matter how "obvious" it is to other people. Especially so when that person is being polite, as you have.
> 
> And yes, unfortunately, the BIOS in that Dell is preventing you from overclocking it.


It isn't my question, but I probably would have come around in a day or two with a similar question.


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## qubit (Aug 20, 2021)

Remeca said:


> It isn't my question, but I probably would have come around in a day or two with a similar question.


Looking at your OP, I'd say it very much is your question. That BIOS locks down all the adjustments, so you're stuck with stock performance. What did you mean to ask, then?


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## P4-630 (Aug 20, 2021)

qubit said:


> Looking at your OP, I'd say it very much is your question. That BIOS locks down all the adjustments, so you're stuck with stock performance. What did you mean to ask, then?



OP is @surfacetension


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## qubit (Aug 20, 2021)

P4-630 said:


> OP is @surfacetension


Oh behave!


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## 95Viper (Aug 20, 2021)

Stay on Topic.
Stop the thread crapping.
Help the OP... People sign up for help and answers... not to be insulted, abused, demeaned, etc.

Thank You and have a good day


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## unclewebb (Aug 20, 2021)

@surfacetension - To overclock you usually need a K series CPU which you have but you also need a motherboard with a Z series chipset. The Dell specs show that your computer has a 7th Gen Express chipset which is probably the H77. The Z77 chipset supports CPU overclocking but the H77 does not. 

Run CPU-Z and it will show you what chipset was used on your motherboard.






Post a picture of the ThrottleStop TRL window. If it shows the Overclock option is grayed out then this feature is not available. It is possible to have a Z series chipset that supports overclocking but a manufacturer might still set a lock bit in the BIOS which can lock out overclocking.


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## Remeca (Aug 20, 2021)

unclewebb said:


> @surfacetension - To overclock you usually need a K series CPU which you have but you also need a motherboard with a Z series chipset. The Dell specs show that your computer has a 7th Gen Express chipset which is probably the H77. The Z77 chipset supports CPU overclocking but the H77 does not.
> 
> Run CPU-Z and it will show you what chipset was used on your motherboard.
> 
> ...


I don't see anything that says TRL. This doesn't look like I'm locked out of modifying stuff, but I don't know if this is the screen you mean.




I am not the OP, I am just in a similar place.

Also, this page shows some locks.



Maybe the main window is what you mean?


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## qubit (Aug 20, 2021)

Remeca said:


> It isn't my question, but I probably would have come around in a day or two with a similar question.





qubit said:


> Looking at your OP, I'd say it very much is your question. That BIOS locks down all the adjustments, so you're stuck with stock performance. What did you mean to ask, then?


Oh duh! Got confused over who I was replying to. Apologies, my bad!

@surfacetension if you have any more questions, please do let us know.


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## unclewebb (Aug 20, 2021)

Remeca said:


> I don't see anything that says TRL.


I was replying to @surfacetension. He has a 3rd Gen CPU. These do not use the FIVR so for him, he needs to click on the TRL button. You have a 4th Gen CPU which uses a FIVR so you need to click on the FIVR button to see this information.

Your FIVR screenshot shows that Turbo Overclocking is Unlimited. That means you have a K series CPU with an unlocked multiplier.

Below that it shows Overclock is not checked and beside that it shows the maximum multiplier is 44. If the BIOS has set the maximum multiplier to 44, you might not be able to overclock your CPU.

Are you using a prebuilt computer like a Dell or HP or some other OEM? They have been known to lock down computers even though they have unlocked components if that makes sense.

If you want to try and get around this limitation, check the Lock box to the far right of where it says MMIO in the TPL window. Press OK and then exit ThrottleStop and restart it.

Open the FIVR window and see if it still reports 44 as the maximum turbo multiplier. Check the Overclock box. See if ThrottleStop lets you adjust the turbo ratios to 45. Set them all to 45 if it lets you, press OK, go back out to the main screen and run something simple like a TS Bench - 1 Thread test and see what CPU speed ThrottleStop reports.

You are probably forever limited to 44 but it never hurts to try to go faster.

To take a screenshot try holding down the Windows key and the Shift key on the keyboard. While those are held down, press the S key. This opens the snipping tool. You get much better quality screenshots compared to the huge cell phone pics that you uploaded.


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## surfacetension (Aug 20, 2021)

qubit said:


> @Remeca Indeed yours was a perfectly reasonable question, especially as you're a beginner and sometimes there are exceptions to these technical situations, too. No one should be belittled for asking a question, no matter how "obvious" it is to other people. Especially so when that person is being polite, as you have.
> 
> And yes, unfortunately, the BIOS in that Dell is preventing you from overclocking it.





Remeca said:


> It isn't a stupid question. It is possible to overclock a CPU on a Dell motherboard (with some locked older CPUs) even though I was also told it was impossible, and I was told here if I had an unlocked CPU I could overclock it with Throttlestop on my Optiplex 9020.
> 
> I haven't tried it yet though OP so I can't confirm or deny if it is possible. I have a 4790k now though so I can try soon.


Let me know if you have success but from reading some of the other replies it looks like I have a Q77 chip set and not a Z77 so, new motherboard or live with the one I have


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## Remeca (Aug 20, 2021)

unclewebb said:


> I was replying to @surfacetension. He has a 3rd Gen CPU. These do not use the FIVR so for him, he needs to click on the TRL button. You have a 4th Gen CPU which uses a FIVR so you need to click on the FIVR button to see this information.


Cool, glad I wasn't missing an obvious button.


unclewebb said:


> Your FIVR screenshot shows that Turbo Overclocking is Unlimited. That means you have a K series CPU with an unlocked multiplier.
> 
> Below that it shows Overclock is not checked and beside that it shows the maximum multiplier is 44. If the BIOS has set the maximum multiplier to 44, you might not be able to overclock your CPU.
> 
> Are you using a prebuilt computer like a Dell or HP or some other OEM? They have been known to lock down computers even though they have unlocked components if that makes sense.


I have an Optiplex, like the OP, but a 9020mt instead of 7010sff. 


unclewebb said:


> If you want to try and get around this limitation, check the Lock box to the far right of where it says MMIO in the TPL window. Press OK and then exit ThrottleStop and restart it.
> 
> Open the FIVR window and see if it still reports 44 as the maximum turbo multiplier. Check the Overclock box. See if ThrottleStop lets you adjust the turbo ratios to 45. Set them all to 45 if it lets you, press OK, go back out to the main screen and run something simple like a TS Bench - 1 Thread test and see what CPU speed ThrottleStop reports.
> 
> You are probably forever limited to 44 but it never hurts to try to go faster.


I don't have the proper cpu cooler installed yet (it literally just came through the door) so I haven't tried making any changes yet. Once it's installed, I'll give that a try. 


unclewebb said:


> To take a screenshot try holding down the Windows key and the Shift key on the keyboard. While those are held down, press the S key. This opens the snipping tool. You get much better quality screenshots compared to the huge cell phone pics that you uploaded.


I'm sorry about the size, I usually resize them before uploading. I'll try to remember to just take  screenshots in the future instead of being lazy and using my phone. Thanks for your advice to me, and OP.


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## surfacetension (Aug 20, 2021)

unclewebb said:


> @surfacetension - To overclock you usually need a K series CPU which you have but you also need a motherboard with a Z series chipset. The Dell specs show that your computer has a 7th Gen Express chipset which is probably the H77. The Z77 chipset supports CPU overclocking but the H77 does not.
> 
> Run CPU-Z and it will show you what chipset was used on your motherboard.
> 
> ...


Yes the turbolock option is greyed out and I have a Q77 chipset. Overclocking not possible. Thanks for the info.



qubit said:


> Oh duh! Got confused over who I was replying to. Apologies, my bad!
> 
> @surfacetension if you have any more questions, please do let us know.


Hi thanks for the helpful answers I have a Q77 chipset so I cannot overclock


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## unclewebb (Aug 20, 2021)

Remeca said:


> Optiplex, like the OP, but a 9020mt





			https://i.dell.com/sites/doccontent/shared-content/data-sheets/en/Documents/optiplex-9020-micro-technical-spec-sheet.pdf
		


The 9020 series uses the Q87 Express chipset which I do not think is overclockable. I would still try using the method I posted above. Sometimes you get lucky and features are available that are not supposed to be available. You can double check with CPU-Z to see if it reports Q87.


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## Remeca (Aug 20, 2021)

unclewebb said:


> https://i.dell.com/sites/doccontent/shared-content/data-sheets/en/Documents/optiplex-9020-micro-technical-spec-sheet.pdf
> 
> 
> 
> The 9020 series uses the Q87 Express chipset which I do not think is overclockable. I would still try using the method I posted above. Sometimes you get lucky and features are available that are not supposed to be available. You can double check with CPU-Z to see if it reports Q87.


It is a Q87. It would not let me adjust past 44, but I could bring all cores to 44.


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## unclewebb (Aug 20, 2021)

Remeca said:


> I could bring all cores to 44.


Run a quick TS Bench - 4 Thread test. What is your reported CPU speed?

You can adjust all of the turbo ratios in ThrottleStop to 44 but this is only a request. I do not think the Q chipset allows all core overclocking so this request will probably be ignored. The max default speed when 4 cores are active is 4200 MHz.



			https://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/Core_i7/Intel-Core%20i7-4790K.html


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## Remeca (Aug 20, 2021)

Looks like it's not going to work. Thanks for the help.


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## frankr2994 (Aug 21, 2021)

Hey got this recommended in my email. One thing to try with throttle stop. No way of knowing it works because I don't have any optiplexs here with a unlocked cpu but on my precision this works. Boot the computer. Before opening TS put the computer to sleep. Wait for it to fully enter sleep. All the fans will stop. Wake the pc and then open throttle stop. See if you can now overclock. Just note that unless you upgraded your psu and not sure what your doing with the pc even the bigger psus in those optiplex pcs are pretty small so be mindful of what your trying to do with it.


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## Remeca (Aug 21, 2021)

frankr2994 said:


> Hey got this recommended in my email. One thing to try with throttle stop. No way of knowing it works because I don't have any optiplexs here with a unlocked cpu but on my precision this works. Boot the computer. Before opening TS put the computer to sleep. Wait for it to fully enter sleep. All the fans will stop. Wake the pc and then open throttle stop. See if you can now overclock. Just note that unless you upgraded your psu and not sure what your doing with the pc even the bigger psus in those optiplex pcs are pretty small so be mindful of what your trying to do with it.


I have a 500W EVGA PSU. The sleep thing didn't work for me though. Just for kicks I tried it with Intel XTU too. Dell's got this thing locked down tight.


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## frankr2994 (Aug 21, 2021)

Remeca said:


> I have a 500W EVGA PSU. The sleep thing didn't work for me though. Just for kicks I tried it with Intel XTU too. Dell's got this thing locked down tight.


Well sorry then. I've tried modding the bios in my dell...didn't work so well. They do a pretty damn good job making sure they can't be used for more than what sold for......


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## Remeca (Aug 21, 2021)

frankr2994 said:


> Well sorry then. I've tried modding the bios in my dell...didn't work so well. *They do a pretty damn good job making sure they can't be used for more than what sold for......*


I did my best.






It was worth a shot, I learned about the 775 tape mod here and that worked great.


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