Overclocking

For those familiar with Intel overclocking, overclocking the 12th Gen Intel processor comes with a light learning curve owing to new voltages and the new E-cores. This time around, I used the i9-12900K instead of the i7-12700K as it yielded overall better results after the first round of overclocks. During this early phase, please do not take my applied settings as a standard or copy my voltages—I do not know what is safe for long-term use yet.

Theoretically, the Gigabyte Z690 AORUS Master has everything required to maximize CPU efficiency. Doing so is still a bit overwhelming owing to the lack of information surrounding all the nuances that go into tweaking a CPU and its related settings. Lacking features such as E-core voltage offsets, it would have been a chore to setup inside the BIOS with serious CPU optimizing. Instead, I resorted to Intel Extreme Tuning Utility, which in itself is not laid out in a user-friendly manner. Gigabyte's own software would have worked as well. This of course will come down to personal preference.

At first, I left the E-cores and Ring Cache alone and set out to push the P-cores up until I was uncomfortable with the applied voltage. While Turbo Boost should allow for up to 5 GHz, I only observed between 4.7 and 4.9 GHz during stress testing depending on the amount of cores being used, thus requiring manual intervention. My soft limit is 5.0 GHz with 1.35 V due to the tremendous thermal output in programs like Prime95. If other software is used, like Cinebench R20, this can be raised to 5.2 GHz. Above 5.2 GHz, my selected CPU multiplier was ignored in the BIOS and software.

Next was to play around with the E-cores. This was quick as 1.35 V was limited to 4.0 GHz with the Ring Cache matched at 4.0 GHz. By using Prime95, temperatures quickly reached 100°C before throttling. As unrealistic as it may be for real-world use, it still serves a purpose. Alder Lake CPUs can be overclocked and undervolted based on the desired workloads. Many will opt for the highest-possible single-core overclock to keep the temperatures down. The Gigabyte Z690 AORUS Master certainly has the capacity to draw more current than the EPS connectors can handle, which should translate into one of the best overclocking boards on the market. That said, I caution those who are going to use the BIOS instead of software for overclocking-related activities. It is lacking features that could be added at a later date, but it is a chore to use for now, which can be mitigated somewhat by taking the time and properly setting up the Favorites menu.

Memory Overclock

I had major stability issues in earlier BIOS revisions. I reached out to Gigabyte about these problems, who has since has released a new BIOS (F7a) which resolved all of my concerns. I was able to boot 6600 MT/s, but passing a full set of stability tests at 6600 MT/s wasn't possible. This frequency is above the highest-rated memory kit I have, which could be the primary reason it threw up errors in tests.

With DDR5, there are five different voltages to contend with. Three are directly for the memory modules and integrated into the DIMMs. Now, for DDR5, the motherboard provides 5 V to the PMIC. From there, it is broken into VPP, VDD, and VDDQ, which can be set independently. For the CPU, it is the same as on previous Intel generations with VCCSA for System Agent and VCCIO(2) for the memory controller. Unfortunately, the memory controller naming convention differs between motherboard manufacturers. Overall, the Z690 AORUS Master has the potential to reach such high frequencies, although it is still held back by not allowing users to set the Memory Controller voltage. Depending on the motherboard manufacturer, this setting sometimes is named "VDDQ TX Voltage" as well.