Xmp and AI overclocking

[MGWT1981]

I know what xmp is, but I would like to know if it is safe and if it makes a difference in gaming. Also, does the AI overclocking feature on ASUS mobo worth it?

I have never overclocked but am tempted for my next build I am making tomorrow. But I am also nervous about it and don't want to do something wrong and fry my system, or decrease the lifespan of the cpu alot, which happens when you overclock, from what I have been told. 

 

I have a 12700k, rtx 3080, 32gb of ddr5 ram, nvme m.2 ssd, with a 4k monitor.

 

Thanks for all comments.  

[DoctorNick]

3 minutes ago, MGWT1981 said:

I know what xmp is, but I would like to know if it is safe and if it makes a difference in gaming. Also, does the AI overclocking feature on ASUS mobo worth it?

I have never overclocked but am tempted for my next build I am making tomorrow. But I am also nervous about it and don't want to do something wrong and fry my system, or decrease the lifespan of the cpu alot, which happens when you overclock, from what I have been told. 

 

I have a 12700k, rtx 3080, 32gb of ddr5 ram, name m.2 ssd, with a 4k monitor.

 

Thanks for all comments.  

XMP is just for setting timings, frequency and dram voltage manually. You should enable this. AI overclocking on the other hand dosen't really work for 24/7 stability and is more of a testing tool. You should only use AI overclocking if you plan to manually tweak the overclock after. 

[jones177]

XMP is safe and it makes a difference in gaming.

 

ASUS  AI overclocking can get a bit hot still. It is one of the reason I use AORUS boards.

With 6th,8th and 9th gen Intel I overclocked. Now I use TVB on 10th and 11th gen. It does better in some games.

 

Also at 4k there is zero reason to overclock a CPU since you are GPU bound.

 

[Dedayog]

35 minutes ago, MGWT1981 said:

I know what xmp is, but I would like to know if it is safe and if it makes a difference in gaming. Also, does the AI overclocking feature on ASUS mobo worth it?

I have never overclocked but am tempted for my next build I am making tomorrow. But I am also nervous about it and don't want to do something wrong and fry my system, or decrease the lifespan of the cpu alot, which happens when you overclock, from what I have been told. 

 

I have a 12700k, rtx 3080, 32gb of ddr5 ram, name m.2 ssd, with a 4k monitor.

 

Thanks for all comments.  

May want to refresh your understanding of XMP, because if you knew what it was you would know it's safe, good for performance in all areas, and a standard for RAM and PC's for decades.

 

"decrease the lifespan of the cpu alot, which happens when you overclock, from what I have been told. "

 

Who told you this?   Did they clarify it with "it can decrease it from decades to a decades less a couple years?"

[Vishera]

40 minutes ago, MGWT1981 said:

I know what xmp is, but I would like to know if it is safe and if it makes a difference in gaming.

If the memory controller on the CPU can handle it then you should have no issues.

40 minutes ago, MGWT1981 said:

does the AI overclocking feature on ASUS mobo worth it?

No,It's bad - I recommend to stay away from it.

[MGWT1981]

1 hour ago, Vishera said:

If the memory controller on the CPU can handle it then you should have no issues.

No,It's bad - I recommend to stay away from it.

Would it be a correct presumption that the memory controller on the 12700k can handle 32gb of ddr5?

[Dedayog]

4 minutes ago, MGWT1981 said:

Would it be a correct presumption that the memory controller on the 12700k can handle 32gb of ddr5?

Quick searching says it can handle 6000MHz RAM...

 

 

or a more realistic 5200MHz...

 

 

[MGWT1981]

2 hours ago, Dedayog said:

Quick searching says it can handle 6000MHz RAM...

 

 

or a more realistic 5200MHz...

 

 

Awesome thank you. So my ddr5 specs say it can go to 5600 mhz (oc). Is that the base specs or the overclock specs. I am presuming it's the oc specs considering it has the (oc).  But I don't know for sure. Still learning. 

[MGWT1981]

Also, what happens if I push beyond what the 12700k can handle. Does it shut down the system or freeze it or something?

[Vishera]

2 hours ago, MGWT1981 said:

Would it be a correct presumption that the memory controller on the 12700k can handle 32gb of ddr5?

Some 12700K memory controllers may not handle that if all DIMM slots are populated on the motherboard.

9 minutes ago, MGWT1981 said:

Also, what happens if I push beyond what the 12700k can handle. Does it shut down the system or freeze it or something?

Instability,weird behavior,BSODs or boot failure.

[Dedayog]

8 minutes ago, MGWT1981 said:

Also, what happens if I push beyond what the 12700k can handle. Does it shut down the system or freeze it or something?

If you push beyond, the PC won't be stable and it'll crash.  You'll have to scale back the settings, try again.  

 

The 5600MHz should be an XMP profile in your motherboard BIOS.  For example, my 3200MHz DDR4 is a drop down in my BIOS. I select, and go.  Most RAM has this I think, where the main manufacture specs like that are detected and optioned.  It's when you want to OC further or tweak that you get into manually selecting settings.

[MGWT1981]

30 minutes ago, Dedayog said:

If you push beyond, the PC won't be stable and it'll crash.  You'll have to scale back the settings, try again.  

 

The 5600MHz should be an XMP profile in your motherboard BIOS.  For example, my 3200MHz DDR4 is a drop down in my BIOS. I select, and go.  Most RAM has this I think, where the main manufacture specs like that are detected and optioned.  It's when you want to OC further or tweak that you get into manually selecting settings.

So....XMP is safe "overclocking," whereas if I tweak it manually, that is where I might run into problems. Does this then mean that when I turn on XMP, the profile factors in RAM, CPU memory, and motherboard settings to create an "overclocked" profile that is stable based on all the factors present?

Thanks for answering all these questions, btw. 

[Dedayog]

42 minutes ago, MGWT1981 said:

So....XMP is safe "overclocking," whereas if I tweak it manually, that is where I might run into problems. Does this then mean that when I turn on XMP, the profile factors in RAM, CPU memory, and motherboard settings to create an "overclocked" profile that is stable based on all the factors present?

Thanks for answering all these questions, btw. 

Short answer:  Yes, but the motherboard isn't the know all.  For example, the motherboard may have the proper profile but if you're using an AMD 1600 vs a 3600 (which the same board supports) it may run on the Ryzen 3600 but not the Ryzen 1600.

 

The 12700k is on the high end side for Intel so I doubt you'll have any issues with a default profile.