It does the work for you with intelligent testing, then finds the maximum stable frequency for an overclock based on the individual characteristics of the CPU.
Intel® Performance Maximizer replaces the manual overclocking process of testing and adjusting.
Intel® Performance Maximizer is overclocking software that uses machine-assisted testing for automatic overclocking on the latest gen Intel® Core™ processors. However, an even easier method of overclocking now exists for the latest gen Intel® Core™ processors: Intel® Performance Maximizer. The Intel® Extreme Tuning Utility (Intel® XTU) simplifies the process of stress-testing and monitoring an Intel® CPU to find a stable overclock by allowing the user to work within the operating system instead of the BIOS.
While this is a great way to learn how to overclock your CPU, it can be time-consuming. The traditional process involves making changes in BIOS or UEFI (the text-based interface seen before the operating system boots up) and manually testing the CPU to see if it remains stable at higher speeds or under heavy load. This can translate to performance gains in programs limited by your CPU speed.īut there are a few hurdles to overcome before you can start overclocking. An overclocked CPU can run faster without the need to buy new hardware. Speeding up the processor, the computer’s “brain,” means faster retrieval and processing of information. Wa_cq_url: "/content/This means increasing the frequency of instruction cycles that a CPU (Central Processing Unit) performs every second, its “clock speed,” and adjusting the voltage sent to the CPU. Wa_audience: "emtaudience:consumer/gamer", Wa_english_title: "A Guide to Overclocking with Intel® Extreme Tuning Utility (Intel® XTU)", Wa_emtsubject: "emtsubject:consumertechnology/gaming", Wa_emtcontenttype: "emtcontenttype:donotuse/webpage/article",
Running a simple benchmark probably isn’t sufficient in determining overall system stability, as most benchmarks don’t adequately simulate a long-term, high-stress CPU usage environment. The final stage of the overclocking process ensures that your system will remain stable when using the overclocked CPU. Step Four: System Stability and Stress Testing Once you have made an adjustment, click the yellow “Apply” button in the Intel® XTU interface. Remember to make any adjustments slowly, and never to change more than one setting at a time. You likely won’t damage your CPU by adjusting other settings due to built-in safety features, but unless you know exactly what these settings do and how they will impact your CPU, sticking with those three fundamentals might be best. The Advanced Tuning section provides many settings you can experiment with, but if you’re new to overclocking, the primary settings to focus on are the Processor Core Ratio, Processor Cache Ratio, and potentially the Core Voltage. This means that if you set the Vcore to 1.1V, and then add an offset of +0.2V, you will be effectively applying a Vcore of 1.3 volts. Both “Core Voltage” and “Core Voltage Offset” sliders are added together when applied.If you want to change the CPU Vcore (core voltage) to a specific value, simply select it with the “Core Voltage” slider.When changing these settings, it’s best not to exceed changes of 0.05V at a time. This will add your current Vcore to the value selected. If you don’t know your default Vcore but still want to increase it, you can use the “Core Voltage Offset” slider. These can be increased in order to keep up with higher core ratios if you are encountering system instability. For a CPU to run at faster speeds, it might require more power in order to remain stable, which is where adjusting the Vcore becomes important. Another section allows you to adjust the Vcore (Core Voltage).