Today, Intel has decided to surprise us and give an update to its upcoming CPU lineup for desktop. With the 11th generation, Core CPUs codenamed Rocket Lake-S, Intel is preparing to launch the new lineup in the first quarter of 2021. This means that we are just a few months away from this launch. When it comes to the architecture of these new processors, they are going to be based on a special Cypress Cove design. Gone are the days of Skylake-based designs that were present from the 6th to 10th generation processors. The Cypress Cove, as Intel calls it, is an Ice Lake adaptation. Contrary to the previous rumors, it is not an adaptation of Tiger Lake Willow Cove, but rather Ice Lake Sunny Cove.

The CPU instruction per cycle (IPC) is said to grow in double-digits, meaning that the desktop users are finally going to see an improvement that is not only frequency-based. While we do not know the numbers yet, we can expect them to be better than the current 10th gen parts. For the first time on the Intel platform for desktops, we will see the adoption of PCIe 4.0 chipset, which will allow for much faster SSD speeds and support the latest GPUs, specifically, there will be 20 PCIe 4.0 lanes coming from the CPU only. The CPU will be paired with 12th generation Xe graphics, like the one found in Tiger Lake CPUs. Other technologies such as Deep Learning Boost and VNNI, Quick Sync Video, and better overclocking tuning will be present as well. Interesting thing to note here is that the 10C/20T Core i9-10900K has a PL1 headroom of 125 W, and 250 W in PL2. However, the 8C/16T Rocket Lake-S CPU also features 125 W headroom in PL1, and 250 W in PL2. This indicates that the new Cypress Cove design runs hotter than the previous generation.

EVGA has today published the "XOC" BIOS version for its GeForce RTX 3090 FTW3 graphics cards. The XOC BIOS version is designed for "extreme overclocking" purposes, as it boosts the power limit of the card by very a few additional Watts. This allows the overclockers to use the card to its full potential so the GPU core is not limited by power. To run XOC BIOS on your GeForce RTX 3090 FTW3 GPU card, you need to have an adequate cooling solution and sufficient power supply. For power, EVGA recommends that you use at least 850w+ Gold PSU, at minimum. This is a sign that shows that XOC bios will boost the system power consumption by quite a bit. The XOC BIOS is enabling the GPU to have a power limit of 500 Watts. It is important to note that EVGA does not guarantee any performance increase or overclock while using this BIOS update.

You can download the EVGA XOC BIOS for GeForce RTX 3090 FTW3 graphics card here. To install it, unzip the file, run Update.exe, and after updating restart your PC. That is the complete update process for the BIOS update. EVGA uploads both the normal BIOS (so you can revert) and XOC BIOS there so be careful when choosing the right files. You can use TechPowerUp GPU-Z tool to verify the BIOS install.

G.SKILL International Enterprise Co., Ltd., the world's leading manufacturer of extreme performance memory and gaming peripherals, is releasing new high-performance, low-latency memory kits at DDR4-4000 CL16 32 GB (16 GB x2) and DDR4-4400 CL16 16 GB (8 GB x2), and available across the Trident Z Royal, Trident Z RGB, and Ripjaws V series. Engineered with high quality hand-screened Samsung B-die components, these new memory specifications provide more efficient latency options at extreme frequency speeds.

When id Tech's lead developer announced that id Tech 7 the game engine responsible for Doom Eternal could run at 1000 FPS many assumed current hardware wouldn't be able to hit the mark. Polish hardware retailer X-kom in collaboration with Bethesda has achieved this feat with only consumer hardware and some serious liquid nitrogen overclocking. The challenge was part of the QuakeCon at Home event and saw X-kom push the Intel Core i7 9700K to 6.6 GHz paired with an ASUS RTX 2080Ti Strix overclocked to 2.4 GHz. The motherboard used was the ASUS Maximus XI APEX which was powered by a 1200 W Be Quiet Straight Power supply.

A new HWBot entry has proven what some thought impossible years ago: AMD apparently features the best memory controller in the x86 consumer space. A user going by the alias Bianbao XE achieved a 6,666 MHz frequency on a single stick of Crucial Ballistix Max. The stick's original rating is for a mere 2,666 MHz - doesn't that put things in perspective?

Another thing that puts things into perspective is that the support for such an overclocking feat was a ROG Strix B550-I Gaming motherboard (min-ITX means smaller tracing distance between CPU and memory, and thus higher signal integrity) paired with none other than AMD's Ryzen 7 4700GE 'Renoir'. The APU was underclocked and overvolted - a technique that aimed to increase stability of the memory controller whilst also reducing operating temperatures (balancing the higher voltage and lower frequency). Of course, memory timings were loosened to achieve this feat (timings of 30-27-27-58 aren't what you'd usually like to see), but then again, this wasn't meant to power the utmost memory performance - only the highest frequency. And that was definitely achieved.

EVGA Precision for Game Bar is here. This widget for the Xbox Game Bar on Windows 10 devices gives you instant access to monitoring and overclocking, built right into the Game Bar. Want to overclock without even exiting your game? Simply press Windows logo key + G to open Game Bar over your game, application or even desktop. EVGA Precision for Game Bar includes support for GPU Clock Control, Memory Clock Control, Fan Speed Control, GPU Temperature monitoring, Frequency monitoring, and Framerate Monitoring (Coming Soon).

Download EVGA Precision for Game Bar BETA here.

ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) today announced that overclockers have used the latest ROG Maximus XII Apex powerhouse motherboard to break a slew of world records and secure a raft of global first place scores. Marking a new performance milestone, overclockers took the Intel Core i9-10900K all the way up to 7.7 GHz frequencies on all 10 of its cores.

Because of the ongoing global situation, ASUS was unable to host its traditional overclocking gathering this year, so instead a smaller session took place at the ASUS headquarters in Taiwan - with local overclockers Jon 'Elmor' Sandström and Pieter 'Massman' Plaisier working alongside internal ASUS experts. Using a liquid-helium setup, the group managed to shatter the Intel Core architecture frequency record, the single-core Geekbench 4 record, and took global first-place positions in 10-core categories for Geekbench 3, Cinebench R15, and wPrime 32M.

MSI, the world-leading motherboard manufacturer, proudly announces MEG Z490 GODLIKE and MEG Z490I UNIFY have achieved the brand new overclocking scores on both processor and DDR4 memory frequency with Intel 10th Gen Core processors for socket 1200.

MEG Z490 GODLIKE, a new flagship motherboard which is compatible with recently launched Intel 10th Gen processors, is built to deliver unbelievable performance including impressive overclocking scores. Extreme overclocking is made possibly with an aggressive MSI VRM design built with 16 phases 90 A CPU power, combining dual 8-pin power connectors, exclusive Mirrored Power Arrangement and Core Boost Technology to reach the extreme overclocking record.

Yuri "1usmus" Bubliy over the weekend released the latest version of DRAM Calculator for Ryzen, the definitive tool for overclocking and optimizing memory on your AMD Ryzen-powered PC. The tool lets you calculate the best possible memory-related settings specific to your machine. Version 1.7.1 introduces several new changes. For starters, it now has updated presets for three of the most popular DDR4 DRAM die types obtained from hundreds of hours of re-testing various brands of memory modules on the latest version of AMD AGESA. These affect everything from procODT to VDDG settings, and the introduction of CL15t, which stabilizes problems encounted in finding timings with CL14t.

The R-XMP button (which attempts to translate your DIMM's XMP to AMD-compatible settings), and "Calculate EXTREME" buttons have been removed, and in their place, the "Calculate FAST" button has been optimized for the best possible stable settings; and "Calculate SAFE" for reasonably fast yet safe settings. DRAM Calculator for Ryzen now has DIMM PCB revision awareness. Several popular memory vendors have multiplie revisions of PCBs for the same DIMMs (and same DRAM chips, which can affect tuning headroom). This provides an additional layer of accuracy in calculating timings. In addition, there are several UI changes, such as a "compare timings" button with added functionality. Preliminary support is also added for future "Zen 3" based processors. Grab the tool from the link below.

DOWNLOAD: DRAM Calculator for Ryzen v1.7.2 by 1usmusThe change-log follows.

Update 09:07 UTC: The DRAM Calculator for Ryzen has just been updated to v1.7.2. Detailed below.

The Ryzen 3 3100 is turning out to be a fun little toy for enthusiasts. PC enthusiast TSAIK succeeded in overclocking it to 5923 MHz under extreme cooling. The chip was fed 1.45 Volts, and put under liquid nitrogen cooling, to achieve the feat. An MSI MAG X570 Tomahawk motherboard and a single stick of 8 GB memory underclocked to DDR4-1600 made the rest of the critical hardware. The feat is the second highest OC record for a "Zen 2" powered processor, next only to TSAIK's own speed record with the flagship Ryzen 9 3950X, which was pushed to 6041 MHz. Find the HWBot submission for the Ryzen 3 3100 speed record here.

MSI in its weekly "MSI Insider" livestream shared fascinating insights into the way Intel appears to be sorting out its "Comet Lake" silicon across the various brand extensions of its 10th generation Core desktop processors. Its tech leads Eric Van Beurden and Michiel Berkhout spoke at length about MSI's own evaluation of the trays of Core i5-10600K/KF, i7-10700K/KF, and i9-10900K/KF chips it received (the only unlocked chips across the lineup), which they used as empirical evidence to suggest a model for Intel's binning.

MSI segregated the chips it received into three categories. Level A consists of chips that overclock higher than Intel's specifications (overclocking headroom higher than expected). Level B consists of those that overclock within Intel's specifications. Level C, on the other hand, have their overclocking headroom fall below Intel's specifications. It's important to note here that "Intel specification" doesn't mean "stock frequencies," it refers to the overclocking headroom Intel communicates to motherboard manufacturers, to give them an idea of the minimum board design requirements needed to guarantee overclocking within these specifications, for their Z490 motherboards. These are more of a guideline in nature, all three levels will overclock above stock frequencies.

Even as review embargoes remain on Intel's latest 10th Gen CPUs, benchmark scores that show what these 14 nm CPUS are capable of are already flooding the web. Case in point: a Cinebench 15 benchmark of Intel's unlocked Core i9-10900K running at an overclocked 5.4 GHz on all cores @ 1.35 V core. The 10-core CPU features a base clockspeed set at 3.7 GHz, so we're looking at a frequency increase of around 46%.

At those speeds, tested on an ASRock Phantom Gaming 4/AX motherboard and 16 GB of G.Skill DDR4-3200 MHz CL14 memory, the Intel Core i9-10900K managed to post a 3002 multi-core score. When at stock, it achieved a relatively paltry 2347 points. An AMD Ryzen 7 3800X CPU (8-core, 16-thread) typically scores around 2200 points, and an AMD Ryzen 9 3900X CPU (12-core, 24-thread) achieves a 3200 score. They do so at stock frequencies, though; and the Intel Core i9-10900K is sandwiched in-between those when it comes to core-count, but not on price: 10 Intel cores will set you back $488.00, while AMD's 8-core launched at $399 (and is now cheaper) and AMD's 12-core CPU launched for $499. Adding to the benchmarking caveat, the operating temperatures for this particular Core i9-10900K show 0º min and 69º max, so assuming the temperature report is correct, it's fair to say an air cooler wasn't used for this overclocking feat.

Historically, Intel has separated its processors and chipsets that accompany them to overclockable and non-overclockable ones. That means that only the "K" CPUs can be overclocked. With the latest generation, only some parts of the lineup are K CPUs, like the Core i9-10900K, i7-10700K, i5-10600K, etc. Those processors could only be overclocked one put in motherboards based on "Z" chipset, like Z390 and Z490. However, it seems like ASRock has developed a new technology that will overclock non-K CPUs on non-Z motherboards, which is quite impressive.

Called the Base Frequency Boost (BFB) technology, it will allow for overclocking the non-K processors on chipsets like B460 and H470. How will that work you might wonder? Well, ASRock will take the TDP of the CPUs and make it run in the PL1 mode, which increases the processor TDP form 65 W and turns it into a 125 W TDP beast. This will, of course, be user selective and case dependent, meaning that if your cooling system can not handle that much heat coming out from the overclocked processors, it is unlikely that they will reach the peak clocks ASRock can target. You can check out the slide below:

ASRock, proudly announces its latest range of motherboards featuring Intel 400-series chipsets and supporting the latest Intel 10th Generation processors with up to 10-cores using the LGA1200 socket.

Whatever the build requirements, with over 30 models available, ASRock has the right motherboard to meet your needs. This includes the flagship Z490 Taichi and Z490 PG Velocita for performance and overclocking enthusiasts, and extreme gamers; popular Z490 Steel Legend, Pro and Phantom Gaming series'; comprehensive mini-ITX options for SFF builds; plus H470, B460 mainstream and H410 entry options.

PowerColor today issued a press release where they present the world their new Red Devil and Red Dragon models of AMD's RX 5600 XT graphics cards. This comes after reports on AMD's move towards increasing TDP, memory and core clockspeeds on their new graphics card so as to better compete with NVIDIA's recently price-cut RTX 2060, which would make it a much better performer than AMD's RX 5600 XT at a slightly higher price ($279 vs $299).

Hence a reported strike back from AMD in increasing performance for their RX 5600 XT with increased power envelope (160 W over 150 W), faster memory (at 14 Gbps instead of the original 12 Gbps) and increased core clocks (1615 MHz gaming and 1750 MHz boost, versus 1375 MHz gaming and 1560 MHz on AMD's CES press-event slides). The change in configuration brought about changes in the card design, with the higher-powered Red Devil coming in with 1x 8-pin and 1x 6-pin power delivery inputs, instead of the firstly developed 8-pin only. The changes have been brought about by a BIOS change, and not all cards will ship with the new specifications. However, PowerColor said that a BIOS update will be made available for customers to get their RX 5600 XT on steroids. Of course, whether or not it should be the onus of users to do such an update (which may risk in bricking their graphics card) is another matter entirely. The press release follows.

Overclocking the memory clock of a GeForce RTX 2080 Ti to 2000 MHz (16 Gbps) isn't difficult, but most custom-design RTX 2080 Ti cards cap out at that, and so the enthusiasts over at TecLab took matters into their own hands by pulling off a daring memory chip replacement mod, by installing 16 Gbps-rated memory chips onto a Galax RTX 2080 Ti HOF graphics card. In a 16-minute video presentation, they detail the process of soldering a component as delicate and sensitive as GDDR6 memory chips, and 45 times over. The team had to sacrifice not one, but two Galax GeForce RTX 2080 Super graphics cards, which feature 16 Gbps-rated memory chips to support the SKU's 15.5 Gbps memory clock. A total of 33 manual solder operations had to be performed (removing the 15 stock chips from the RTX 2080 Ti, removing 11 chips from the two RTX 2080 Super cards, and soldering them onto the RTX 2080 Ti).

The group detailed the process of removing the memory chips under hot air, giving the extracted chips fresh ball-grids, and placing the chips onto the RTX 2080 Ti PCB. No BIOS modding was required, as the RTX 2080 Ti card's video BIOS was able to auto-detect the chips and run them at 14 Gbps. From here on, manual overclocking easily runs the card at 2000 MHz (16 Gbps) memory, with overclocking headroom to spare. The memory clock could now be dialed all the way up to 2150 MHz (17.2 Gbps), something that's close to impossible with 14 Gbps chips. TecLab is calling their creation the world's first RTX 2080 Ti Super, which could very well be true. Last we heard, the RTX 2080 Ti Super could get more CUDA cores, and not just faster memory. Nevertheless, this mod blew our minds, and provides valuable pointers on how to solder dense BGA components without a multi million-dollar placer. We tip our hats to TecLab.Watch the TechLab video presentation here.

If you're one to pay more bucks for the same silicon in a bid to decrease risk of having a lower-performing overclocker than is possible with the latest AMD and Intel chips, this post is for you. Silicon Lottery has announced (absolutely expected) plans to bin AMD and Intel's latest high-performance processors starting this November.

AMD's Ryzen 9 3950X and Intel's Core i9 9900KS will be up for grabs in the website with guaranteed maximum clocks for you to peruse and then seat in your motherboard of choice. Just wait a little while longer for them to become available, since AMD's own Ryzen 9 3950X isn't yet available in the retail channel. Intel's own Core i9 9900KS has just been announced though, with availability just two days from now, on October 30th. So if you want to skip the hassle (or fun, as you see it) of finding just the right settings for your CPU of choice, keep refreshing Silicon Lottery's page. Availability is expected to be extremely limited on either part.

We've known for some time that AMD's mainstream-segment B550 chipset wouldn't bring all the bangs and whistles of its bigger, enthusiast-class cousin X570. For one, it wouldn't make sense to increase development and implementation costs of both the chipset and motherboards built for mainstream enthusiasts by adding PCIe 4.0 support and the more stringent signaling and power requirements the new standard entails. As such, B550 reportedly cuts down fully on PCIe 4.0 support, as well as on the latest USB standards, to offer a product that's sufficiently rounded up on I/O while offering overclocking support for users that demand it.

Reportedly, AMD's B550 will only support up to 2x USB 3.2 Gen2 devices, 6x USB 2.0, 4 + 4 SATA3 connections, and the interlink between the chipset and the CPU occurs via a 4x PCIe 3.0 interface, which means there's less bandwidth for communication between the CPU and the chipset than on X570 - not that that was a real problem on AMD's previous-gen Ryzen products, though, so that's more of a technicality at this point. Ryzen 3000 CPUs still offer 4x PCIe 4.0 ports, though, so these could be used for speeding up a PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD, for instance. The launch of B550-bound products is expected towards October.

World famous overclocker Der8auer published his survey of boost clocks found on 3rd generation Ryzen CPUs. Collecting data from almost 3,000 entries from people around the world, he has found out that a majority of the 3000 series Ryzen CPUs are not hitting their advertised boost speeds. Perhaps one of the worst results from the entire survey are for the 12-core Ryzen 9 3900X, for which only 5.6% of entries reported have managed to reach the boost speeds AMD advertises. However, the situation is better for lower-end SKUs, with about half of the Ryzen 5 3600 results showing that their CPU is boosting correctly and within advertised numbers.

Der8auer carefully selected the results that went into the survey, where he discarded any numbers that used either specialized cooling like water chillers, Precision Boost Overdrive - PBO or the results which were submitted by "fanboys" who wanted to game the result. Testing was purely scientific using Cinebench R15 and clock speeds were recorded using HWinfo (which got recommendation from AMD), so he could get as precise data as possible.

Users that don't want to play the silicon lottery game have been using services that offer pre-binned and pre-overclocked chips for a while now. Silicon Lottery is one of the most well known players in this game, but German retailer Caseking is now offering the same for AMD's latest Ryzen 3000 processors. AMD's work on automatic overclocking and boost clocks for their Ryzen chips has rendered manual overclocking almost (read: almost) obsolete, and in some cases it may even be detrimental to the CPU's performance to set a manual overclock that overrides AMD's boost clock algorithm. This is because AMD's boost increases speed on a single core, with subsequent cores being clocked slightly lower according to their capabilities. In effect, this means that manually overclocking all cores to, say, 4.0 GHz can sometimes render lower performance in particular tasks, since the all-core overclock is, by necessity, handicapped by the least-overclockable core.

Caseking's offerings have been pre-overclocked, and are guaranteed to hit stable overclocks at the claimed frequency, thus saving users from getting a "bad" overclocker CPU from AMD. Caseking's offerings have been tested by their own King Mod team and overclocking superstar Roman "der8auer" Hartung, with Prime95 26.6 software being used to test the overclocked chips' stability with a FFT length of 1344 for at least one hour. This practice is backed by a two-year limited warranty on the CPU. Sadly, most CPUs are out of stock at the moment, so keep on checking availability, unless one of the offerings is exactly up your alley.

GIGABYTE has prepared its Gaming OC variant of AMD's Radeon RX 5700 XT graphics card. The card features a PCB that is very similar to the reference model with 8+6 pin power connectors. However, it features an updated triple-fan cooler design in a 2.5 slot thick body and standard set of I/O, meaning that three DisplayPorts and one HDMI port are present. The card also has applied factory overclock, but exact details of frequency and card's availability are unknown so far. The AORUS model is yet to be released, nonetheless, we can hope to see it soon as well.

Silicon Lottery, a company specializing in the process called binning which involves testing of CPUs for particular features (overclocking potential in this case), has released its portfolio of 3rd generation of Ryzen CPUs. As of now, they are offering only Ryzen 7 and Ryzen 9 models, covering Ryzen 7 3700X, 3800X and Ryzen 9 3900X. Ryzen 9 3950X is said to be introduced in September and that is the date Silicon Lottery will reveal the information about overclocking potential of that model and frequencies they have achieved. Mid range Ryzen 5 models should be added at later date as well.

GIGABYTE today officially launched its latest addition to the Aorus series of motherboards, made for the new generation of Ryzen 3000 series processors. The "Master" as it is called, is an impressive feat of engineering designed to handle even the most power-hungry Ryzen CPUs like the 16 core Ryzen 9 AMD recently showcased.

For starters, the board is featuring twice the amount of copper wires usually needed to implement a PCIe connection, which means less information loss on PCB. It has a 14 direct phases of Infineon digital IR 3556 PowIRstage MOSFETs VRMs that are capable of delivering 50A each, which means that the VRM is capable of delivering up to 700A of current, providing additional headroom for CPU overclock. To handle the large amount of VRMs effectively, the board is equipped with beefy heatsinks and a heat pipe that has direct contact with VRMs. Sandwiches between the heatsink and the board is a new generation of thermal pads designed by LAIRD, with 1.5 mm thickness and 5 W/mK thermal conductivity.

Intel has launched a software overclocking utility tool for their latest 9th Gen, unlocked CPUs that promises to take the guesswork and BIOS delving out of the overclocking equation. The Intel Performance Maximizer tries to do exactly what the name implies by automagically overclocking your unlocked (read, K-suffix CPU for unlocked multipliers) with no further user intervention needed. Intel describe this tool as the one that "(...) makes it easier than ever to dynamically custom-tune an unlocked Intel processor based upon its individual performance potential."

Intel says they will offer you a one-time, free CPU replacement in addition to your usual 3-year warranty on a company CPU, should anything wrong arise during this method of overclocking. Intel say's this is a way to maximize your CPU performance on a per-sample basis, so results may vary according to your CPU's thermal properties (as we know, some CPUs perform and overclock better than others due to slight variations in the manufacturing process). But if you don't want to get inside your BIOS for a dirty, hands-on approach, you can always use Intel's software, which has been released at a very conspicuous time indeed, considering AMD's Ryzen 3000 series release.

Eliovp, who describes himself on GitHub as a Belgian [crypto] mining enthusiast, created what could go down as the best thing that happened to AMD Radeon users all decade. The AMD Memory Tweak Tool is a Windows and Linux based GUI utility that lets you not just overclock AMD Radeon graphics card memory on the fly, but also lets you tweak its memory timings. Most timings apply live, while your machine is running within Windows/Linux GUI, some require memory retraining via a reboot, which means they can't be changed at this time, because rebooting reverts the timings to default. The author is trying to figure out a way to run memory training at runtime, which would let you change those timings, too, in the future. While you're at it, the tool also lets you play with GPU core frequency and fan-control.

The AMD Memory Tweak tool supports both Windows and Linux (GUI), and works with all recent AMD Radeon GPUs with GDDR5 and HBM2 memory types. It requires Radeon Software Adrenalin 19.4.1 or later in case of Windows, or amdgpu-pro ROCM to be actively handling the GPU in case of Linux. The Linux version further has some dependencies, such as pciutils-dev, libpci-dev, build-essential, and git. The source-code for the utility is up on GitHub for you to inspect and test.

DOWNLOAD: AMD Memory Tweak Tool by Eliovp