Intel says non-K-series Alder Lake processors overclock cause damage
Recently, many overclockers have begun to use some non-K-series Alder Lake processors to overclock on some motherboards, inspiring the potential of the new Alder Lake architecture, and even breaking some overclocking world records. Many new-generation Celeron, Pentium and Core i3 processors have achieved outstanding results after overclocking, and the improvement is quite large.
Intel Core i3-12100F, i5-12400F, i7-12700F; Source: VideoCardz
Most of these overclocking enthusiasts choose motherboards that seem to unlock some overclocking capabilities, including the ASRock B660 Steel Legend, Asus B660F, and Strix B660G. These models are relatively high-end models in B660 motherboards, but they are relatively easy to buy. Der8auer, a well-known overclocking enthusiast from Germany, also mentioned recently that one of the major motherboard makers is developing an overclockable B660 DDR4 motherboard, which has the potential to further lower the overclocking threshold for non-K-series Alder Lake processors.
Regarding the overclocking issue of non-K-series Alder Lake processors, Intel officially sent a statement to TomsHardware:
“Intel’s 12th Gen non-K processors were not designed for overclocking. Intel does not warranty the operation of processors beyond their specifications. Altering clock frequency or voltage may damage or reduce the useful life of the processor and other system components, and may reduce system stability and performance.”
Although Intel’s statement disapproved of such overclocking and said it was not covered by warranty, it did not disclose that it would take action to stop it. Rumor has it that non-K-series Alder Lake processors can be overclocked, unlocking the limit, due to a bug in Intel’s microcode. Given Intel’s history of fixing bugs in the past, the current joy of overclocking non-K-series Alder Lake processors may disappear in the future with BIOS updates for motherboards that offer related overclocking capabilities.
