The actual frequencies:
As with every new processor test, our first idea is to check if the announced frequencies are actually reached. To do this, we will use the Cinebench R23 benchmark. Two cases will be used: a single core bench and a second one in multi core. The idea is to be able to judge the frequency reached and thus, to compare with what was announced by Intel in its slides.
Remember that the Boost frequency in bench is different depending on the processor. Be careful, as Intel points out, when we talk about Max Turbo frequency, it is the maximum frequency that can be reached by one of the processor’s cores executing a single-core workload(mono-thread). This frequency varies according to several factors: the load, the cooling system and therefore the temperature of your processor. This is a notion to keep in mind. Here are the frequencies we should reach on a single core during our run under Cinebench R23.
First step, we leave everything in AUTO in the BIOS except the XMP profile that we load in order to have a frequency of 6000 MT/s in 30-38-38-96 for our memory kit. We don’t make any other changes in the BIOS.
Test with the i9-13900K:
Here we go with the beefiest of the processors, the i9-13900K. As you can see, we opened several windows to check the frequency and the temperature. The options in our BIOS were left in AUTO by default and only the XMP profile of our memory kit was loaded.
In single core, we can see that core #5 reaches a frequency of 5800 MHz which corresponds to what is announced by Intel. We can notice that the temperature of the two cores that are alternating at 5.8 GHz have a temperature of 65 °C.
When the 24 cores of our i9-13900K are requested, we encounter a small concern. If the E-Core frequency is well respected with 4.3 GHz on all the cores, it is not the case for our P-Core. Indeed, only two cores reach 5.5 GHz while the other six are at 5.4 GHz. So we are not on the frequencies expected from Intel.
I must admit that it took me a while to understand the problem, thanks to Vertex. Being so used to having Asus and Gigabyte BIOSes where all limits are unlocked from the start, I forget that this is not always the case. It is in fact the limits imposed by the BIOS that are the explanation of this problem. So we went to the BIOS to make the following modifications in the “overclocking” section. We had to increase the powerlimit to a maximum of 4096.
We save the parameters and direct Cinebench R23 to ensure that the problem is now solved.
We now have a frequency of 5.5 GHz on all cores with temperatures around 88°C for the hottest core. Let’s not forget that we are equipped with a 480mm custom cooling loop. Suffice to say that if you opt for this processor, it will be at least a very powerful AIO of 280/360 mm.
