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He's covered everything from Apple to apps and crowdfunding and loves getting to the bottom of complicated topics. In that time, he's also written for [SlashGear](https://www.slashgear.com/author/joericejones/) and numerous corporate clients before finding his home at XDA in the spring of 2023. He was the kid who took apart every toy to see how it worked, even if it didn't exactly go back together afterward. That's given him a solid background for explaining how complex systems work together, and he promises he's gotten better at the putting things back together stage since then. [Sign in to your XDA account]() Summary Generate a summary of this story follow Follow followed Followed Like Like [Thread 1](https://www.xda-developers.com/cpu-overclocking-is-mostly-dead/#threads "Threads") Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap I've been a PC hardware enthusiast most of my life, and part of the fun for me was putting the [best CPUs](https://www.xda-developers.com/best-cpus/) into high-end motherboards and overclocking the snot out of them. Sometimes it was to eke a little more performance out of a [laptop CPU](https://www.xda-developers.com/how-overclock-laptop-cpu/) when that was all I had to game with, other times it was to compete against my friends circle to see who was the best, and others it was simply for the thrill of seeing numbers go up and the PC boot and pass [benchmark tests](https://www.xda-developers.com/best-cpu-benchmarks/) without issue. But over the years, the thrill of overclocking has waned for me. It's a combination of things that made me realize that I don't need to push the boundaries as much anymore. I wouldn't exactly say I'm happier because of it, but I'm content with the performance that modern hardware is providing straight from the factory, and in some cases, overclocking was actively hurting that performance baseline. ## I don't have anything to prove anymore ### Architectural changes have reduced headroom unless you have exotic cooling When CPUs ran at slower core frequencies, it was fairly common to get double (or more) performance by increasing the core frequency, voltages, and a few of the associated voltages to the chipset and parts of the motherboard. If you wanted to chase numbers, you'd even downclock your RAM and only use one stick, so the memory controller wasn't being strained and you could be sure that the thermals of the CPU were solely from the cores. Those days are almost over, and have been really for some time now, ever since AMD released Ryzen in 2016. Since then, a few things have happened. Architectural improvements have increased factory boost clocks to the "magic" 5GHz or even close to 6GHz. That's the region where you're hitting fundamental physical limits for the silicon and the transistors that make up the CPU, making it necessary for sub-zero cooling with liquid nitrogen and other exotic means to increase past that barrier. Then the die shrinks from 14nm to 7nm and to 4nm improved things in the factory, where everything is built to increasingly lower tolerances, leaving very little unused headroom for overclockers to play with. And those smaller, tightly-packed transistors mean increased thermal density, which makes cooling CPUs even harder when pushed to their limits. ### Plus, automatic boost clocks have changed the equation A decade ago, I would have had to work hard to get a flagship CPU to run above 5GHz for daily use. Some CPUs couldn't maintain that at all. Compared to modern Intel CPUs that could boost to 6GHz without changing any settings, I started to wonder why I should bother. The challenge with modern CPUs isn't to get to stratospheric core frequencies; it's to find unused room to break past the factory parameters. ## That doesn't mean I run my CPUs stock ### There's still some performance gains to be had, just not by manually cranking frequencies and voltage While I like the relative fire-and-forget nature of modern boost clock algorithms, that doesn't mean I'll leave my CPUs at stock settings. Both Intel and AMD respond well to [undervolting the core](https://www.xda-developers.com/is-undervolting-still-worth-it-for-performance-and-efficiency), reducing the power being fed to improve thermals, so those boost clocks can do their job. For Ryzen builds, [I use PBO and ECO](https://www.xda-developers.com/pbo-and-eco-can-improve-cpu-performance/) to optimize the boost curve and reduce the TDP of the chips, giving cooler running while sustaining boost clocks. Intel is in a weird place right now, and my [Core Ultra 9 285K](https://www.xda-developers.com/intel-core-ultra-9-285k-review/) is rarely used. Successive BIOS updates have fixed the memory issues I saw, without dialing up the DDR5 voltage to get the rated XMP settings. But boost performance is inconsistent no matter what I try, and it's seemingly inconsistent between the efficient and performance cores. I do have another board on the way to check this again, but even then, I don't have high hopes for any meaningful overclocking boost. ### The huge gains of earlier generations are gone  I've been overclocking CPUs for a long time, although not so long that I had to change the motherboard's crystal oscillator to increase the clock speed. Early CPUs were interesting, but I cut my chops on the AMD Duron and Athlon CPUs of the early 2000s, back when you could [unlock the clock frequency](https://computer-communication.blogspot.com/2007/06/unlocking-duron-and-athlon-using-pencil_08.html) [using a thin pencil](https://computer-communication.blogspot.com/2007/06/unlocking-duron-and-athlon-using-pencil_08.html). You could reattach L1 bridges that were lasered off in the factory with a 0.5mm mechanical pencil, and then you could set any clock frequency you wanted, as long as it would boot reliably afterward. You could get a reliable 25% or more out of the CPU like this, and nobody who hasn't seen it done will ever believe you. The last CPU I've owned that could overclock reliably was a 4th-gen Intel Core i7-4790K. With a base frequency of 4GHz and a boost clock of 4.4GHz, it was no slouch at factory settings, but cranking the core voltage up to 1.4V managed a stable all-core of 5.2GHz that I ran daily for almost two years. Since then, I've owned a couple of dozen CPUs from both AMD and Intel, and the overhead for huge gains has gone. AMD routinely cranks Ryzen to as high as the silicon can handle in terms of boost clocks, and increasing the core frequency manually often works against you for performance gains. The boost clocks are better when only one or two cores are needed, and I've found time and time again that an all-core overclock hurts overall performance. And Intel hasn't had a good overclocking CPU since the company got stuck on the 14nm node for years and had to find performance gains by optimizing the silicon and cranking voltages and clocks, essentially factory overclocking everything. The only CPUs that didn't get this treatment were non-K models, and you can't overclock those anyway. ### Modern overclocking of CPUs has hit diminishing returns  Before you get the pitchforks out, I'm not saying *don't overclock your CPU*. Overclocking is a fantastic hobby, and one that I have enjoyed for many, many years. In some ways, I'm sad that modern hardware is already juiced from the factory because the thrill of seeing measurable gains never gets old. That's why I'd say if you want to overclock a CPU, find an older platform and use that. AMD's Bulldozer and Vishera CPUs are good candidates; they might not have measured up to performance claims, but the single-core overclocking potential exists. Same with early Intel Core CPUs, going as far back as the Sandy Bridge i7-2600K. Those can be a lot of fun, and don't require exotic sub-zero cooling to get impressive overclocks. - [CPU](https://www.xda-developers.com/processor/ "CPU") - [CPU](https://www.xda-developers.com/tag/cpu/ "CPU") Follow Followed Like Share [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.xda-developers.com%2Fcpu-overclocking-is-mostly-dead%2F%2F&src=sdkpreparse) [X](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=After%20years%20of%20habit%2C%20I%20stopped%20overclocking%20my%20CPU%2C%20and%20I%20don%27t%20miss%20it%20at%20all&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.xda-developers.com%2Fcpu-overclocking-is-mostly-dead%2F) [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.xda-developers.com%2Fcpu-overclocking-is-mostly-dead%2F&title=After%20years%20of%20habit%2C%20I%20stopped%20overclocking%20my%20CPU%2C%20and%20I%20don%27t%20miss%20it%20at%20all&source=www.xda-developers.com&summary=I%27m%20finally%20over%20my%20pathological%20need%20to%20overclock%20my%20CPU) [Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/submit?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.xda-developers.com%2Fcpu-overclocking-is-mostly-dead%2F) [Flipboard](http://share.flipboard.com/bookmarklet/popout?v=2&title=After%20years%20of%20habit%2C%20I%20stopped%20overclocking%20my%20CPU%2C%20and%20I%20don%27t%20miss%20it%20at%20all&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.xda-developers.com%2Fcpu-overclocking-is-mostly-dead%2F&utm_campaign=tools&utm_medium=article-share&utm_source=www.xda-developers.com) [Copy link]() [Email](<mailto:?Subject=After years of habit, I stopped overclocking my CPU, and I don't miss it at all&Body=Check%20this%20out%21%0Ahttps://www.xda-developers.com/cpu-overclocking-is-mostly-dead/>) Close Thread 1 [Sign in to your XDA account]() We want to hear from you! Share your opinions in the thread below and remember to keep it respectful. Reply / Post Images Attachment(s) Please respect our [community guidelines](https://www.valnetinc.com/en/terms-of-use#community-guidelines). No links, inappropriate language, or spam. Your comment has not been saved [Send confirmation email]() Sort by: - Tommy [](https://www.xda-developers.com/profile/IB807314/) [Tommy](https://www.xda-developers.com/profile/IB807314/ "Posted by Tommy") [](https://www.xda-developers.com/profile/IB807314/) [Tommy](https://www.xda-developers.com/profile/IB807314/) \#IB807314 Member since 2024-07-09 0 Threads 11 Posts Following 0 Stories 0 Topics 0 Authors 0 Users Follow Followed 0 Followers [View](https://www.xda-developers.com/profile/IB807314/) I've stopped overclocking long time ago after the introduction of the overclocking "taxes" (K CPU and Z Chipset). Overclocking in the past always been separated into two camps: the ones who chases records and the ones who wanted extra performance and the best bang for their money. This "tax" broke my camp. (Although living in my first apartment where I pay my electricity and become a sauna in the summer helped as well) Now that I'm on Ryzen which are unlocked by default, I still prefer the normal (non X) CPU and chase the efficiency perfect spot. 2025-09-10 11:03:18 Upvote Downvote Reply Copy - [Terms](https://www.valnetinc.com/en/terms-of-use) - [Privacy](https://www.xda-developers.com/page/our-privacy-policy/) - [Feedback](https://www.xda-developers.com/contact) Recommended [](https://www.xda-developers.com/how-vlans-separate-smart-home-devices-why-you-should/) Sep 9, 2025 ### [How I used VLANs to separate my smart home devices — and why you should too](https://www.xda-developers.com/how-vlans-separate-smart-home-devices-why-you-should/ "How I used VLANs to separate my smart home devices — and why you should too") [](https://www.xda-developers.com/windows-registry-doesnt-need-cleaning-do-these-instead/) Sep 9, 2025 ### [Your Windows registry doesn't need "cleaning", but you can do these 5 things instead](https://www.xda-developers.com/windows-registry-doesnt-need-cleaning-do-these-instead/ "Your Windows registry doesn't need \"cleaning\", but you can do these 5 things instead") [](https://www.xda-developers.com/the-most-immersive-open-world-maps-ever-created/) Sep 9, 2025 ### [The most alive and immersive open-world maps ever created](https://www.xda-developers.com/the-most-immersive-open-world-maps-ever-created/ "The most alive and immersive open-world maps ever created") [](https://www.xda-developers.com/intels-crown-slipping-pros-complain-performance-vs-amd/) Sep 9, 2025 ### [Intel's crown as the best choice for gamers may be slipping as pros complain about its performance vs. AMD](https://www.xda-developers.com/intels-crown-slipping-pros-complain-performance-vs-amd/ "Intel's crown as the best choice for gamers may be slipping as pros complain about its performance vs. AMD") - ### Today's best deals [](https://www.xda-developers.com/the-lenovo-legion-go-drops-to-550/) ##### [A steep price drop makes the Lenovo Legion Go a compelling option](https://www.xda-developers.com/the-lenovo-legion-go-drops-to-550/ "A steep price drop makes the Lenovo Legion Go a compelling option") 1 day ago [](https://www.xda-developers.com/flash-deal-knocks-320-off-this-laptop-with-an-amd-ryzen-7-8840hs/) ##### [Beneath its modest appearance lies a powerhouse, get it now for \$320 off](https://www.xda-developers.com/flash-deal-knocks-320-off-this-laptop-with-an-amd-ryzen-7-8840hs/ "Beneath its modest appearance lies a powerhouse, get it now for $320 off") 1 day ago [](https://www.xda-developers.com/brand-new-balatro-like-game-94-positive-reviews-10-off/) ##### [This brand new Balatro-like game with 94% positive reviews is 10% off on Steam](https://www.xda-developers.com/brand-new-balatro-like-game-94-positive-reviews-10-off/ "This brand new Balatro-like game with 94% positive reviews is 10% off on Steam") 1 day ago [See More](https://www.xda-developers.com/deals/) Trending Now [](https://www.xda-developers.com/microsoft-finally-fixes-long-standing-windows-11-update-bug/) ##### [Microsoft finally fixes long-standing Windows 11 update bug](https://www.xda-developers.com/microsoft-finally-fixes-long-standing-windows-11-update-bug/ "Microsoft finally fixes long-standing Windows 11 update bug") [](https://www.xda-developers.com/paired-ai-note-taking-with-pen-and-paper/) ##### [I paired AI note-taking with pen and paper, and it helped overcome my digital burnout](https://www.xda-developers.com/paired-ai-note-taking-with-pen-and-paper/ "I paired AI note-taking with pen and paper, and it helped overcome my digital burnout") [](https://www.xda-developers.com/docker-containers-i-moved-to-a-dedicated-vlan/) ##### [4 Docker containers I instantly move to a dedicated VLAN](https://www.xda-developers.com/docker-containers-i-moved-to-a-dedicated-vlan/ "4 Docker containers I instantly move to a dedicated VLAN") [](https://www.xda-developers.com/) - [Join Our Team](https://www.xda-developers.com/work-with-us/) - [Our Audience](https://www.xda-developers.com/page/advertise/) - [About Us](https://www.xda-developers.com/page/about/) - [Press & Events](https://www.xda-developers.com/page/press-events/) - [Contact Us](https://www.xda-developers.com/contact/) - Follow Us [](https://www.valnetinc.com/en/) - [Advertising](https://www.valnetinc.com/en/advertising) - [Careers](https://www.valnetinc.com/en/careers) - [Terms](https://www.valnetinc.com/en/terms-of-use) - [Privacy](https://www.xda-developers.com/page/our-privacy-policy/) - [Policies](https://www.xda-developers.com/page/our-editorial-guidelines/) [XDA](https://www.xda-developers.com/) is part of the [Valnet Publishing Group](https://www.valnetinc.com/en/) Copyright © 2025 Valnet Inc.