Intel Core i5-7600K Kaby Lake Processor Review

Overclocking

Overclocking

Overclocking the i5-7600K shouldn’t be a difficult task providing you employ a patient approach and gently find your chip’s maximum potential. Given the 5.1GHz figure I achieved on the i7-7700K, it wasn’t too bold to expect something similar or even greater. Please note, the overclocking was conducted on two samples to accurately gauge performance and find an indicator of the headroom you can expect. Initially, I managed to achieve 4.9GHz with a modest voltage setting of 1.335V before increasing the multiplier to x50. The 5.0GHz figure does need some extra voltage but it’s not a monumental amount and the average I experienced was 1.345v. After this was tested as completely stable, 5.1GHz became the next target but this does require a much larger voltage increase than the previous steps. Eventually, I settled on a 1.395V which deviates slightly due to load-line calibration.

Interestingly, the i5-7600K in both cases could reach 5.1GHz without surpassing the 1.4V mark. This is much better than the i7-7700K and ensured the temperatures were well within safe limits. In addition to multiplier overclock, I tried to enhance the 5.1GHz score with BCLK adjustments but this wouldn’t remain stable even though Kaby Lake isn’t restricted by pre-defined straps.