Intel Core i9-11900K Rocket Lake-S breaks overclocking world record at 7.3 GHz

Hicookie, a well-known overclocker, has achieved the highest frequency overclock so far on Intel’s latest flagship Core i9-11900K processor. With 5 of the processor’s 8 cores deactivated, he was able to use the extra headroom to reach 7.314-GHz on the first core with the aid of liquid nitrogen cooling and a high-end Aorus motherboard.

Hicookie is funded by Gigabyte, which released a press release a few hours after the record was posted to HWBot confirming that he achieved this clock speed using the Z590 Aorus Tachyon motherboard. The Tachyon, designed to compete with the best motherboards, was released last month, with B&H Photo listing it as a pre-order for $529.

Since it is built for intense overclocking, Gigabyte’s motherboard commands a premium price. The Tachyon has a 12+1 step power transmission system and Vishay Sic840 power stages rated for 100 amps, allowing for a total of 1,300 amps of juice. The Core i9-11900K is Intel’s latest flagship CPU, with 8 Cores, 16 Threads, and a top boost frequency of 5.3GHz.

It didn’t take long for anyone on Rocket Lake to crack the 7-GHz barrier. Previously two overclockers obtained some amazing results with the 11900K, with one hitting 6.5 GHz and the other hitting a constant 7 GHz. What makes Hicookie’s overclock even more special is the setup he used to reach 7.3 GHz. First, five cores were disabled, allowing the remaining cores to consume the system’s extra power and cooling capability. Because of the disabled cores, the core voltage of the 11900K was limited to only 1.305v, a voltage that is very safe to operate on Intel’s 14nm parts.

Hicookie also used a combination of CPU multiplier and BCLK overclocking to reach the 7.3 GHz core speed. This is unusual, but depending on the CPU architecture, increasing the BCLK (base clock) will result in higher core frequencies in certain situations.

However, when it comes to world record overclocks, Intel’s older Comet Lake architecture also outperforms Rocket Lake on the CPU-Z validation list. Perhaps soon, we’ll see a Rocket Lake chip break the 7.5 GHz barrier, as many of Intel’s older CPUs do.