Overclocking non-K Alder Lake CPUs is possible with the right motherboard

In a nutshell: Renowned overclocker der8auer has managed to squeeze a 57 percent overclock out of an Intel Celeron G6900 Alder Lake CPU. This is a non-K CPU, so how is this even possible, you ask? As it turns out, if you have the right motherboard, it’s very doable.

der8auer in a recently published video discovered a setting in the BIOS of his Asus motherboard under the Tweaker’s Paradise section that allows users to unlock BCLK (base clock) frequency manipulation. You’ll also need to adjust other settings accordingly, like the CPU core voltage, to accommodate your target OC.

Why hasn’t anyone else found out about this yet? der8auer believes the reasons is rather simple. He is using an Asus Maximus Z690 Apex, a high-end motherboard. Most people that opt for such an expensive board are likely going to be using a K series CPU, and when you install a K series chip in the board, the BCLK unlock option disappears from the BIOS.

In short, nobody has noticed yet because it’s rare to use a low-end CPU with a high-end motherboard.

In testing, der8auer was able to push the Celeron G6900 CPU from its base clock of 3,400 MHz up to 5,337 MHz. That’s a healthy 57 percent overclock without too much effort and is rather impressive, but at the end of the day, it’s still just an entry-level, dual-core Celeron without HyperThreading. It’s not going to set any performance records, although it might break some overclocking records with more extreme cooling.

der8auer also tested an Intel Core i3-12100 with a much stouter 4C/8T configuration and was able to surpass 5,400 MHz on all cores.