Core 200S Boost: Overclocking by Arrow Lake for more performance under warranty

Core 200S Boost: Overclocking by Arrow Lake for more performance under warranty 21 comments

Arrow Lake can now be overclocked under warranty, but the memory guidelines have been softened for this. However, this doesn’t apply across the board: for example, Intel’s B-chipsets are simply excluded. This is primarily a feature for gamers on expensive Z-boards.

Summary :

Arrow Lake likes fast RAM

This is something of an extreme profile, as is well known in the K-CPUs of the 13th and 14th generation cores. But the boost doesn’t just affect the CPU and its power limits, its electrical forces and CO, but especially the memory. Because if it has become clear since the beginning of the Arrow Lake launch in October, it’s that this generation of processors likes fast memory. It didn’t help that Intel initially put memory on the line. C-DIMMs with 6,400 Mb/s only if only two memory slots were installed on the board were already one of the knockout criteria. Otherwise, with over 90% of all boards on the market featuring four memory slots, only 5,600 Mb/s is allowed according to the specification.

Of course, many testers have also noticed that each processor can do much more on all boards, but the classification and segmentation officially remain—also due to smaller chipsets. Because there will be no boost there. The requirements don’t apply even if a complete assembly with two DIMMs per channel is used. In this respect, it’s not a panacea for every Arrow Lake user; the list of boards and suitable RAM is currently quite short.

Core Boost with these boards and RAM at the beginning

Boost Profile for Z and K-CPU Chipsets

With the Boost profile, which core board manufacturers integrate via a BIOS update, the storage clock is now advertised at up to 8,000 MT/s. However, the modules must support XMP, according to the core board manufacturers. At the same time, the Boost profile clearly increases the connection-to-connection clock from 2.1 to 3.2 GHz, and the Uncore Fabric can also go much higher, reaching 3.2 GHz. All these settings are subject to certain voltage limits, such as a maximum voltage of 1.4 volts in the RAM. As soon as one of the settings is changed, the profile is disabled, and manual overclocking is again unwarranted. Intel’s Changes to the Boost Profile

Intel’s Changes to the Boost Profile (Image: Intel)

Ultimately, Intel doesn’t guarantee that it works. Sometimes overclocking also requires a bit of luck; many settings have to be correct. The Boost program is covered by the default settings, but with a full three-year warranty.

Intel Core 200S Boost

Intel Core 200S Boost (Image: Intel)

Following the recent Intel Performance Optimization (IPO) in China, they have already been retained for the new Boost program. However, this was not made clear when asked by computer: the IPO is simply a program for system integrators who have designed certain parameters with Intel so that a complete system can also offer more power under warranty. Similar stories have already occurred in the past due to custom-built processors, in which solutions overclocked by the shop were also approved by Intel.