ASRock Reveals SKY OC Technology

We all know that Intel’s Skylake K-series CPUs have great overclocking potential, but what about chips that don’t come with an unlocked multiplier? Usually, these processors can’t be overclocked much or even at all, but thanks to ASRock’s new SKY OC Technology, there’s actually hope on the horizon. The company has recently unveiled this incredible technology, which allows users to overclock any Intel Skylake i7/i5/i3 and even Pentium non-K CPUs on ASRock Z170 motherboards. ASRock’s engineers have figured out a way to overclock these products without modifying their multipliers but by focusing on their BCLKs instead. Actual lab tests are definitely promising, as they have shown that an Intel Core i5-6400 CPU can actually achieve up to a 60% higher frequency using ASRock’s Z170 Pro4 and the SKY OC technology.

There are a couple of drawbacks to using this tech, though, but I think that the gains far outweigh the costs. One limitation is related to Intel’s onboard graphics, which is disabled when SKY OC is applied. The second drawback involves CPU Turbo Ratio and C-State, both of which are also disabled. Considering the fact that the technology will mostly appeal to gamers who aren’t using integrated GPUs anyway, it’s probably safe to say that SKY OC will be received with open arms by numerous Intel users. This isn’t the first time that ASRock has introduced an impressive overclocking tool, as it has previously enabled memory overclocking for Non-Z Skylake motherboards. Below you will find a list of BIOS versions that are known to support SKY OC.