Related article: (New 2020) Overclocking the Intel Core i9-10900K (Comet Lake) to 5.4GHz on all 10 Cores
In this article, we’ll show you how to overclock the Intel Core i7-8700K (Cofee Lake) from the default speed of 3.7GHz to a whopping 5.0GHz on all 6 cores, by simply changing 3 BIOS options on the Asus ROG Maximus X Hero motherboard. You can check out the review of the Asus ROG Maximus X Hero
The Core i7-8700K
- Compatible only with Motherboards based on Intel 300 Series Chipsets
- 6 Cores/12 Threads
- 3.70 GHz up to 4.70 GHz Max Turbo Frequency/12 MB Cache
- Intel Optane Memory Supported
- Intel UHD Graphics 630
According to Intel’s specifications, the Core i7-8700K has a TDP of 95W, which means it can run quite hot if you don’t have sufficient cooling. We highly recommend using a good all-in-one liquid cooler (AIO). See our test rig below. In this example, we used a Cooler Master MasterLiquid Pro
Before we start, here’s a quick disclaimer:
Disclaimer: Overclocking is never guaranteed, so the results may vary depending on certain conditions and various hardware configurations. I am not recommending overclocking if you do not know what are you doing. High voltages may damage hardware and it will not be covered by warranty.
The BIOS settings
After some tweaking in the BIOS, I was able to overclock the Core i7-8700K from a default of 3.7GHz to a whopping 5.0Ghz. That’s an extra 1.3GHz overclock … excellent!
Here’s a screenshot of the BIOS settings to achieve my overclock in 3 simple steps.
- Set the AI Overclock Tuner to “Manual”
- Set the CPU core Ratio Limit to 50
3. Increase CPU core/cache Voltage to 1.35V
Everything else was left at default or Auto. Save settings and reboot.
Now that we’ve managed to overclock the Core i7-8700K to 5.0GHz, let’s check out the full load temperatures on our next page …
Related articles
- Overclocking the Intel Core i9-10900K (Comet Lake) to 5.4GHz on all 10 Cores
- Overclocking the Core i7-8700K (Coffee Lake) to 5.0GHz (page 2)
- Asus ROG Maximus X Hero Motherboard Review
- Buy the Asus ROG Maximus X Hero motherboard from Amazon
- Buy the Cooler Master MasterLiquid Pro
- Buy the Intel Core i7-8700K
(Coffee Lake) processor from Amazon or Newegg
12 comments
who care about temperature during TORTURE test show temp in gaming
Haha… true, but the torture test is make sure it’s stable at 5.0GHz. Actually I did gaming tests… temps hit a high of around 85-90 degrees.
I have the 8700k and I noticed unbearably high temps even with an AIO. So I did the unthinkable.. Using a Dr. delid tool, careful prying and replacing the thermal compound with liquid metal to reduce the distance between the IHS and chipset and create a better thermal bond. I used gasket sealer and clamped the IHS back down. Lo and behold, I get 60-65 degrees under full load stress test consistently. 10/10 would recommend an thermal replacement.
Nice 👍 I’m always afraid of delidding 😆
CPU torture tests are harder on a CPU then gaming…
You do realize that’s only 700Mhz above stock 4.3Ghz turbo on 6 cores for the 8700K right? Even Bloomfield can outdo that on a single rad AIO in terms of overclock-ability from stock. I don’t even know what I’m doing and my i7 5930K overclocks better than that (4.5Ghz; 900Mhz over stock 3.6Ghz turbo on 6 cores). This isn’t exactly impressive.
Thank you for this excellent guide. i was looking for SIMPLE OC guide and all i could find was endless posts starting about history of intel, blah blah blah, all i needed was someone to say CHANGE THIS, THIS AND THIS.
amen!
Anyone have a quick easy guide like this but for a MSI z370 board??
ei man, i have the msi z370 m5 and the i7 8700k and i am doing some testing, noob here thou, lets share findings..
i am trying to get a stable 4.7 all cores with decent temps before i try to up the game thou. i was getting crazy 100c on prime stress test but reduced it to 88c lowering the voltage from 1.4 to 1.3
Tested with the same motherboard on BIOS 1003:
used the pre-defined 5G overclock BIOS setting (Ratio 50, Voltage auto)
Stable and achieving temp of 78-80C with a phantek PH-TC14PE using Prime95