btarunrIntel Skylake K series CPUs are on every hardcore overclocker's wish list, due to the fact that they are the only ones with an unlocked multiplier that allows users to overclock the CPU frequency effortlessly. However, there seems to be a shortage of these ultra high performing processors lately. Thankfully ASRock has prepared a nice Christmas present for the overclocking community named SKY OC, an alternative for users to overclock any Intel Skylake i7/i5/i3 or even Pentium non K CPUs on their ASRock Z170 motherboard.

Engineers at ASRock picked up from where they left off last time, and decided that besides DDR4 memory modules, there might be a way to overclock Intel non-K CPUs without tinkering the multiplier. So here you have the game changing SKY OC which is obtainable simply by a BIOS upgrade from ASRock's official website. It's not the same as overclocking an Intel K series CPU, because it's mainly changing the BCLK, but it will be an interesting alternative while people are still waiting for their K series CPUs to come down the chimney. Lab tests show that the once not overclockable Intel Core i5-6400 CPU can now be overclocked up to a 60% frequency boost with SKY OC on ASRock's Z170 Pro4!

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One might wonder, "this is too good to be true, what's the catch?" Well, if you had to ask, there are two almost unnoticeable limitations. The first one is the onboard Intel graphics will be disabled while SKY OC is applied, meaning that users are required to install a graphics card. The second limitation is that CPU Turbo Ratio and C-State will also be disabled.

While ASRock SKY OC breathes life into Intel non K series CPUs, currently it is still exclusive to motherboards with Intel's Z170 chipset. But have faith in ASRock's skillful engineers, sooner or later more Christmas gifts from ASRock are going to be delivered.

List of BIOS versions that support SKY OC.

DEcobra11Will there be BIOS updates for H170/B150 mbs or intel won't let do that to that level?
It'd be nice to see another budget OC build with an OCed Pentium G4500 running its mighty HD530

EDIT: I don't see any real reason of the GPU being disabled unless is to prevent people forgetting to tweak iGPU multi... still, I don't think locking the iGPU is a great thing

RejZoRAsRock is kinda known for doing this...

DEcobra11Will there be BIOS updates for H170/B150 mbs or intel won't let do that to that level?
It'd be nice to see another budget OC build with an OCed Pentium G4500 running its mighty HD530

EDIT: I don't see any real reason of the GPU being disabled unless is to prevent people forgetting to tweak iGPU multi... still, I don't think locking the iGPU is a great thing

newconroerIsn't using a non standard BCLK still frowned upon except in the most extreme of over clocking scenarios or attempts?

H82LUZ73IS Dave going to do a review on this ?

cadavecaWhat are you looking for in a review? Confirmation it works, or a performance increase comparison?

I do have a non-K 6600 and I do have the Fatal1ty Z170 GAMING K6+. I do have benchmarks from said chip running @ 140 BCLK and a bit over 4.6 GHz (with nearly 3200 MHz DDR4). I posted a screenshot in the other thread about this subject (pre-release).

But I am not currently TPU's CPU reviewer, and I do have other stuff to review. So I could write up a review, for sure, but I need a clear idea of what you want before undertaking such (I'll have to talk to W1zz about it first, of course).

H82LUZ73Yeah ,was wondering also if the FSB from this increases the temps of an non k chip.

Will it also effect performance over time too,I see it as a good thing for non k intel users ,but will they get burned from it over time.

MGF DerpYou probably wont see H170/B170 boards with an unlocked bios as AsRock, Asus, and MSI (Asus and MSI have experimental bios for there Z170 boards) are able to unlock this feature only on boards that have an external clock gen. Any board that does not have one Z170 or otherwise will not be able to overclock a non K chip.