Three-step overclocking
We're overclocking the A8-5600K using a three-step approach, maximising its potential.
The various key voltage lines are increased by 10 per cent and we then 1) increase the CPU speed to a safe level 2) Increase system RAM speed to 2,133MHz, and 3) increase the IGP speed.
Pushing all three parameters in concert provides us, we believe, with the best all-round performance from the chip.
Mode |
CPU speed |
CPU Turbo |
GPU speed |
Memory speed |
Memory timings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Default | 3.6GHz |
3.9GHz |
760MHz |
1,600 |
9-9-9-24-1T |
| Overclocked | 4.3GHz |
NA |
1,000MHz |
2,133 |
11-12-12-30-2T |
Summarising the table for you, all four CPU cores scaled to 4.3GHz (Turbo was switched off), we cranked the onboard graphics speed to 1,000MHz, and memory, per the previous page, was boosted to 2,133MHz.
There's not a whole heap of performance to be gained by pushing the CPU cores higher. The 4.3GHz speed makes the chip barely any faster than last-gen A8-3870.
A combination of faster IGP core and faster memory pushes the DX11-rendered Batman: Arkham City performance up nicely. The full-HD test returns a score of 20fps, which is still too low for it to be playable.
An extra 20 per cent performance is observed in DiRT: Showdown. The same test run at 1,920x1,080 returns an average frame-rate of 36.5fps, making it genuinely more playable than in the non-overclocked state.
It's not all rosy, mind, as gaming power-draw increases from 98W to 135W. That's no huge problem as far as normal chassis and coolers are concerned, but readers interested in HTPCs or small-form-factor boxes may need to take note.
