“Since this is TheOverclocker, our primary
concern with this new generation of
CPUs is the overclocking credentials.”
generation core CPUs are particularly
impressive. Putting together a high
CPU frequency, with a matching
DRAM frequency is where one may
extract the performance. High DRAM
frequencies are not the sole domain
of the Z390, 370, 270, 170 or any
other Intel Chipset. High DRAM
frequencies, have to do with
the DRAM IC’s, the PCB, the
motherboard trace layout
and of course the memory
controller, which for all
intents and purposes
is what I would
consider part of the
CPU (there’s no
need to reference
it separately). All
of these things are
literally built around
the capabilities of the
CPU.
From the introduction
of a DDR4 supporting
platform in 2014 where
DRAM operated at
around 2600 to 3200MT/s
to 2018 where we have
DRAM operating at above
5000MT/s. It’s worth
acknowledging that the
PC DIY space has come
a long way and what was
key to that advancement is
improvements in the IMC or
as stated earlier - in the CPU.
Outside of perusing ever increasing
clock frequencies, what we have
been able to manage in terms of
improved memory latency & memory
throughput has been challenging to
isolate and appreciate because of all
the parts involved. e have to
remember that none of this would have
been possible if the memory controller
in each successive Core generation
was not improved
.
Getting back to Sandy-Bridge
though, sure it was not uncommon
to find a CPU that could do 5.3 to
5.5GHz using an aftermarket high end
heatsink or AIO cooler. However, that
was hampered by relatively low DRAM
frequencies around 2133 (1066MHz) to
roughly 2200MT/s (2,100MHz). Hardly,
anything to get excited about even at
the time.
Consider that today, the current
Memory frequency record is 5,556MT/s
(2783MHz), which is more than
double what the platform of the time
(2011) could achieve at e t. If you are
one of those inclined to read DRAM
transaction rates as DRAM frequency,
that’s DDR 5566MHz, vs 2200MHz. Just
this alone, should highlight to anyone
why, Sandy-Bridge may not be the
greatest overclocking Core CPU
generation. If anything I’d say that
honour actually belongs to this
generation of CPUs.
I’m aware that we’ve gone through
the Celeron Ds, the Pentium 4s and
the competitor FX CPUs, all of which
breached frequencies above 8GHz As
stated earliert
, the difference
here is that the Core i9 9900K in
particular (as it holds the record for the
highest clocked Intel Core CPU ever) is
significantly more performant than any
of those CPUs and of course with that a
lot more complex (transistor density for
example is much higher than on any
other CPU on that list). Getting such a
CPU to 7,6GHz is an incredible
achievement not only for the
overclockers that participated in this,
but the motherboard e i ee and of
course the CPU engineer . Let’s not
forget this was achieved on an eight
core CPU with what looks like all eight
cores active and with hyper-threading
enabled. So once again, that’s eight
cores (something that all other CPU
frequency record holders cannot claim
to have) at a sizzling 7.6GHz.
On the day of the Core i9 ele e, the
focus was of course on general
performance, but the demonstration
that was most impressive was you
guessed it the extreme overclocking
demonstration by Allen “Splave”
Golibersuch and Joe “Steponz”
Issue 45| 2018 The OverClocker 07