H81M-ITX with a K-series CPU?

[GeorgeStephanopoulos]

Hello, I recently built a budget HTPC system and noticed that my motherboard (Asrock H81M-ITX) included A-Tuning. As it is now, I can only underclock the CPU because it's not a K-series CPU.

Does that mean that if I ever decide to invest in a K-series CPU, I can overclock it?

I'm asking because I was thinking of changing the cooler, but none of the aftermarket ones fit my cramped case (not my machine, but it's like this), with the exception of watercooler blocks. If I can later on put in (and overclock) a K-series CPU, I'll get a watercooling kit, otherwise I'll just leave in the stock heatsink.

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Re: H81M-ITX with a K-series CPU?

The H81 chipset on your board does not support over clocking at all. Intel has configured things so only the 'Z' chipsets like Z87 can over clock.

You might be able to do a small over clock by changing the BCLK frequency in the BIOS, if it is available.

A-Tuning has other features besides over clocking, which is why it is supplied with your board.

[GeorgeStephanopoulos]

Re: H81M-ITX with a K-series CPU?

That's what I figured, but because of this CPU Overclocking On H87 And B85 Motherboards Made Possible By ASRock's Non-Z OC | techPowerUp I thought I'd ask and be sure. Thanks.

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Re: H81M-ITX with a K-series CPU?

Not a bad point, but the non-Z OC is restricted to the H87 and B85 motherboards, and was not offered on your board.

Also, Intel was not happy about this feature, when most if not all motherboard manufactures started doing it. Intel forced a BIOS update on them to stop this from working, which is why ASRock added the following note about this feature.

Because Non-Z OC is related to Intel's chipset, CPU and firmware, ASRock does not guarantee the availability of Non-Z OC in the future.

[GeorgeStephanopoulos]

Re: H81M-ITX with a K-series CPU?

Just in case anyone finds this thread with the same question:

On some other forum, some guy claimed he called Asrock and the tech told him that with BIOS update 1.9, the H81M-ITX should support non-z overclocking with the recently released unlocked Pentium G3258. So, I bit the bullet and bought a G3258, updated my BIOS, and installed it.

I can now confirm (that at least for this CPU) non-z overclocking works on this motherboard. There's no guarantee that it'll work for i5 or i7 K-series CPU's, but there doesn't seem to be any reason why it shouldn't.

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Re: H81M-ITX with a K-series CPU?

Just in case anyone finds this thread with the same question:

On some other forum, some guy claimed he called Asrock and the tech told him that with BIOS update 1.9, the H81M-ITX should support non-z overclocking with the recently released unlocked Pentium G3258. So, I bit the bullet and bought a G3258, updated my BIOS, and installed it.

I can now confirm (that at least for this CPU) non-z overclocking works on this motherboard. There's no guarantee that it'll work for i5 or i7 K-series CPU's, but there doesn't seem to be any reason why it shouldn't.

Thanks for this information, yes the 1.90 BIOS description includes, "Support Intel Pentium G3258".

As for supporting an OC of other processors, that is not a given with the 1.90 BIOS. True it could work, but there's more to it than simply enabling over clocking in general. For example, my ASRock Z87 Extreme 6 board, which can OC all i5 and i7 'K' series processors, could not OC the G3258 that I put in it. I had to use a beta BIOS just added for that board that then allowed it to OC the G3258.

That BIOS update is described as, "Update C0 microcode to support Pentium Anniversary.". If that was all that was done in the 1.90 BIOS for the H81M-ITX board, then over clocking other processors most likely won't work.

One question for you, does your BIOS now have an option for "Intel Turbo Boost Technology", or a similar name with Turbo in it?

[GeorgeStephanopoulos]

Re: H81M-ITX with a K-series CPU?

Looked through the BIOS, but couldn't find anything similarly named.
There is an "Advanced Turbo" menu with three options ("Disabled", "Advanced Turbo 20", and "Advanced Turbo 30") in the Asrock A-Tuning utility, but it seems to be just some pre-configured overclock settings.

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Re: H81M-ITX with a K-series CPU?

Ok, thanks, you're right about the pre-configured OC settings. Sorry, I should of said that option would be in the "OC Tweaker" screen if your BIOS has it.

The reason I ask is my Z87 EX 6 board does not show the Turbo Boost option when a G3258 CPU is in the board. That makes sense because the G3258 does not support Turbo boost.

But after applying the beta BIOS, version 2.34, to fix the OC capability of a G3258 in my board, the Turbo Boost option was displayed in the BIOS, and must be enabled in order to OC the G3258. That makes sense in some ways, not so in others. I was wondering if boards like yours would have the same option added to allow an OC of the G3258.