Problems with Overclocking on non Z170 Chipsets.

[kameshss]

This helpful article that I read on Tom's Hardware.

 

Not a long ago, AsRock released BIOS update for their Z170 lineups to Overclock a non K SKUs of Intel Processors.

 

For eg, You can overclock a 6100, 6500, 6700 on a Z170.

 

Then some beta updates were released by Asus, MSI and Gigabyte motherboards for their Z170 lineups as well to OC non K SKUs of Intel CPUs.

 

Super Micro has had an H170 motherboard on the market for several weeks now that is capable of performing base clock overclocks, and ASRock announced at CES that it will have four motherboards capable of this feat, as well.

 

 

 

With the exception of the Z170 PCH, chipsets created by Intel for the LGA1151 socket often don’t give users voltage control of several key pieces of hardware, such as the CPU, and lack several other overclocking-related features such as multiplier control, base clock control, Vdroop, load-line calibration and others. This is partially because these features are not supported on non-overclocking chipsets by design, but it’s mostly because many of these features aren’t particularly useful if you can’t overclock, so motherboard OEMs don't waste their resources implementing them.

 

 

Because motherboards using these modified chipsets are focused on overclocking, losing the ability to use C-states isn't a major issue, as overclockers often disable power saving features in order to obtain higher overclocks. Losing Hyper-Threading support, however, is a huge problem, as Core i3, Core i7 and Hyper-Threaded Xeon CPUs will lose a significant amount of performance in multi-threaded workloads, which defeats the purpose of overclocking in the first place.

 

 

First, the H170, H110, B150, Q170, Q150, C232 and C236 chipsets have Hyper-Threading and C-state support, but the hardware alterations required to give them overclocking features permanently disable Hyper-Threading and C-states regardless if you are actually overclocking or not, and it doesn’t matter which CPU you use. So, if you aren't going to overclock, you will want to choose a different motherboard with a non-modified chipset. Second, although modified chipsets capable of overclocking will lose these features, it is an issue with the motherboard and not the CPU. Non-K CPUs overclocked with a Z170 chipset motherboard will still have full support for C-states and Hyper-Threading.

 

 

ASRock took the opposite approach by already announing two H170 motherboards, one B150 motherboard and one C232 chipset motherboard with overclocking features. ASRock said that these systems would lose support only for Hyper-Threading and C-states, and although it was unable to resolve these issues, ASRock felt that it should release these motherboards because customers want them.

 

Without Hyper-Threading, it would be unadvisable for customers to use Core i3, Core i7 or Hyper-Threaded Xeon CPUs on these motherboards, but using Skylake Celeron, Pentium, Core i5 and non-Hyper-Threaded Xeon CPUs should work well and allow users to achieve significant increases in performance.

 

 

Unlike the other motherboard OEMs we spoke to, Super Micro discovered a way to enable overclocking on an H170 chipset without losing Hyper-Threading support. Super Micro said it was actually the first motherboard OEM to develop a motherboard with a non-Z170 chipset capable of overclocking Skylake CPUs. Its C7H170-M H170 motherboard has been available on the market for roughly three weeks now. 

 

The C7H170-M is priced comparably to Z170 motherboards, but it proves that overclocking Hyper-Threaded CPUs on an H170 motherboard is possible without losing the extra CPU threads, and we will likely see more of these boards from Super Micro in the future. The system still loses support for C-states, but as we stated above, many enthusiasts will consider this an an acceptable loss, as they would disable power saving features anyway.

 

 

 

Because hardware modifications are required to enable overclocking on non-Z170 chipsets, unless a motherboard OEM explicitly states that the system has this feature, you should not expect overclocking capabilities on non-Z170 chipsets. If you are set on overclocking and don't want a Z170 chipset, make sure that you choose your next motherboard carefully, as pairing the wrong motherboard and CPU together may turn your $300 Core i7 into a $200 Core i5 and significantly reduce your overall system performance.  

 

 

People should be really aware of selecting a non Z170 chipset, like a H170 and use it for OCing. Currently only Super Micro has this ability to OC non K CPUs without losing HT and C-State.

 

AsRock also announced 4 non Z170 motherboards, 2xH170, B150 and 1 C 232 chipset motherboard with overclocking features. Although these would lose HT and C-State.

 

tl;DR You would lose Hyper Threading and C-State if you choose a non Z170 chipset to overclock. But not on Super Micro boards.

 

Update:

 

Asrock's Non-Z170 Boards Don't Disable Hyper-Threading

 

Source: Tom's Hardware

 

Source: Tom's Hardware.

[JebKerman]

I feel this whole thing is starting to blur the lines between chipsets and chips a bit tooo much.

 

I feel it should be:

Z series: only ones capable of OCing at all, just make cheaper versions to fill the role this SM H170 is

H series: No overclocking, cheaper, somewhat lacking in extended features.

B series: Similar to H, but with extra features making it more suitable for purposes commonly encountered by businesses.

 

the chips are another matter entirely, it seems to be a lot more like FX 8000/9000 now i.e. you will hit "x" GHz but how much further can you go?

[kameshss]

Update:

 

Asrock's Non-Z170 Boards Don't Disable Hyper-Threading

 

Source: Tom's Hardware

[Dabombinable]

Ok...and here I sit with an Asus H87M Pro that can easily push my 4790K over 4.8GHz (it could even overvolt-as in past safe levels-if need be), and an i5 4440 that I can have running at 3.3GHz through BCLK overclocking (Z97 Sabertooth MKII).

[Guest]

I feel this whole thing is starting to blur the lines between chipsets and chips a bit tooo much.

 

I feel it should be:

Z series: only ones capable of OCing at all, just make cheaper versions to fill the role this SM H170 is

H series: No overclocking, cheaper, somewhat lacking in extended features.

B series: Similar to H, but with extra features making it more suitable for purposes commonly encountered by businesses.

 

the chips are another matter entirely, it seems to be a lot more like FX 8000/9000 now i.e. you will hit "x" GHz but how much further can you go?

Gigabyte just came up with X during CES... 

 

lolol