Overclocking
For those familiar with Intel overclocking, overclocking the 12th generation Intel processor comes with a light learning curve owing to new voltages and the new E-cores. I am certainly not an expert on the subject, but did some minor overclocking and used the spare i7-12700K, as I did not want to burn out my main CPU due to excess voltage. 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.
The MSI MPG Z690 Carbon WiFi 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. I spent a number of days trying different voltage offsets to learn more about what these 12th generation Intel processors have to offer. Ultimately, I fell back to my standard routine of a basic overclock due to time constraints. I settled for the highest all-core P and E-core overclock. You of course can set a single core to be higher with an offset, and this motherboard certainly can do it if you have the patience.
An important CPU-related item you must follow to avoid failed boots and restarts without disabled E-cores is that the Ring Ratio (Cache) must be coupled with 2x the E-cores. For example, if the E-Cores are at 4 GHz, the lowest you should go is 3.8 GHz on the Ring Cache. While I was able to drop it to 4x, that seemed hit or miss per boot. If you are able to disable the E-cores, the Ring Cache is only limited by itself.
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 4.7 GHz during stress testing. My soft limit is 5.0 GHz with 1.35 V and a Load-Line Calibration of 4 applied.
Next was to play around with the E-cores. This was quick as 1.35 V only yielded 3.8 GHz with the Ring Cache matched at 3.8 GHz. A few things have been solved since my last review. Prime95 now works as intended. As unrealistic as it may be for real-world use, 96°C on the cores was observed during overclocking. Overall, I consider what I achieved basic. Not because of the motherboard's limits, but heat-related constraints and the lack of time to lock in the highest-possible single-core overclock. The MSI MPG Z690 Carbon WiFi has all the settings needed for a decent overclock, but the ability of its VRM to handle such an overclock is a different matter altogether.
Memory Overclock
When it comes to memory, I was disappointed by the discrepancy of what MSI marketing presents and actual limits. The product specifications on the website cite DDR5-6666 (OC), but the box states DDR5-6400, and I was limited to DDR5-6200. Overall, I didn't not have to adjust any voltages as the BIOS automatically set those. Once I was stuck at 6200 MT/s, I manually entered the voltages, but it had no affect on the final outcome.
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. MSI does not list a "Memory Controller Voltage" setting in the BIOS, or at least it isn't named that. From my findings, "RV Transmitter VDDQ Voltage" should be worth a closer look for those having issues reaching higher speeds.