Intel Core i5-6600K Stock versus 4.5GHz Overclocked
Category : 2016
Published by Marc Büchel on 15.02.16
In this article we're going to have a closer look at what difference overclocking your CPU makes regarding performance in several different recent games. For that purpose we're going to test our Intel Core i5-6600K CPU at stock clocks as well as overclocked to 4.5 GHz.
We're finally back with our "CPU Gaming Performance" articles. Compared to the old articles we've reworked our template and you might have noticed that the navigation is not structured by games anymore but by resolutions. We're testing the three most important resolutions 1080p, 1440p and UHD all at high-details. Like in the past, we'll also have a look at power consumption temperatures of the particular cards. Last but not least you'll find our conclusion and our thoughts, where we sum everything up. We've decided to keep that part pretty short, since the test results on the previous pages are speaking for themselves.
[pagebreak]
Test Setup
|
Motherboard |
- Gigabyte GA-Z170X-Gaming G1
|
| CPU |
- Intel Core i5-6600K @ Stock (Turbo On) with 1.312v
- Intel Core i5-6600K @ 4.5 GHz with 1.408v
|
| Thermal compound |
|
| Cooler |
|
|
Memory |
- Dual Channel 2 x 8GB @ CL15-15-15-35-2T-Auto DDR4-2133 MHz
|
|
Graphics Cards |
- Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980 Ti Gaming G1
|
| Drivers |
|
| Games |
|
|
Games and OS |
|
|
System Drive |
|
|
PSU |
- Seasonic Platinum SS-1000XP / 1000 Watts
|
[pagebreak]
3DMark - Fire Strike
GPU Score - Performance
| |
Score |
FPS |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ Stock |
19'659 |
100.00 % |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ 4.5GHz |
19'722 |
100.32 % |
GPU Score - Extreme
| |
Score |
FPS |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ Stock |
9'237 |
100.00 % |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ 4.5GHz |
9'287 |
100.54 % |
GPU Score - Ultra
| |
Score |
FPS |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ Stock |
4'643 |
100.00 % |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ 4.5GHz |
4'649 |
100.13 % |
Unigine Heaven 4.0 Extreme Preset
Score - 1080p
| |
Score |
FPS |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ Stock |
2'408 |
100.00 % |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ 4.5GHz |
2'432 |
101.54 % |
Score - 1440p
| |
Score |
FPS |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ Stock |
1'499 |
100.00 % |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ 4.5GHz |
1'503 |
100.27 % |
Score - 2160p
| |
Score |
FPS |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ Stock |
632 |
100.00 % |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ 4.5GHz |
635 |
100.47 % |
FPS - 1080p
| |
FPS |
FPS |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ Stock |
95.10 |
100.00 % |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ 4.5GHz |
96.50 |
101.47 % |
FPS - 1440p
| |
FPS |
FPS |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ Stock |
59.50 |
100.00 % |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ 4.5GHz |
59.70 |
100.34 % |
FPS - 2160p
| |
FPS |
FPS |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ Stock |
25.10 |
100.00 % |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ 4.5GHz |
25.20 |
100.40 % |
Unigine Heaven Settings |
|
1080p |
1440p |
2160p |
- Preset: Custom
- Quality: Ultra
- Tesselation: Extreme
- Stereo 3D: Disabled
- Multi Monitor: Disabled
- Anti Aliasing: 8x
- Full Screen: On
- Resolution: Custom
|
- Preset: Custom
- Quality: Ultra
- Tesselation: Extreme
- Stereo 3D: Disabled
- Multi Monitor: Disabled
- Anti Aliasing: 8x
- Full Screen: On
- Resolution: Custom
|
- Preset: Custom
- Quality: Ultra
- Tesselation: Extreme
- Stereo 3D: Disabled
- Multi Monitor: Disabled
- Anti Aliasing: 8x
- Full Screen: On
- Resolution: Custom
|
[pagebreak]
1080P Games
Battlefield 4
| |
Score |
FPS |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ Stock |
137.10 |
100.00 % |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ 4.5GHz |
139.18 |
101.52 % |
Watch Dogs
| |
Score |
FPS |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ Stock |
102.49 |
100.00 % |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ 4.5GHz |
105.81 |
103.24 % |
Tomb Raider
| |
Score |
FPS |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ Stock |
85.00 |
100.00 % |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ 4.5GHz |
85.30 |
100.35 % |
Crysis 3
| |
FPS |
FPS |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ Stock |
53.98 |
100.00 % |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ 4.5GHz |
54.75 |
101.43 % |
Thief
| |
FPS |
FPS |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ Stock |
112.20 |
100.00 % |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ 4.5GHz |
112.50 |
100.27 % |
Sleeping Dogs
| |
FPS |
FPS |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ Stock |
120.80 |
100.00 % |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ 4.5GHz |
122.10 |
101.08 % |
Metro Last Light
| |
Score |
FPS |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ Stock |
82.67 |
100.00 % |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ 4.5GHz |
83.67 |
101.21 % |
Far Cry 4
| |
Score |
FPS |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ Stock |
100.32 |
100.00 % |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ 4.5GHz |
102.46 |
102.13 % |
GRID Autosport
| |
FPS |
FPS |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ Stock |
126.50 |
100.00 % |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ 4.5GHz |
132.08 |
104.41 % |
[pagebreak]
1440P Games
Battlefield 4
| |
Score |
FPS |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ Stock |
91.03 |
100.00 % |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ 4.5GHz |
92.50 |
101.61 % |
Watch Dogs
| |
Score |
FPS |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ Stock |
93.68 |
100.00 % |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ 4.5GHz |
95.56 |
102.01 % |
Tomb Raider
| |
Score |
FPS |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ Stock |
52.70 |
100.00 % |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ 4.5GHz |
52.80 |
100.19 % |
Crysis 3
| |
FPS |
FPS |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ Stock |
33.33 |
100.00 % |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ 4.5GHz |
34.45 |
103.36 % |
Thief
| |
FPS |
FPS |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ Stock |
82.40 |
100.00 % |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ 4.5GHz |
82.80 |
100.49 % |
Sleeping Dogs
| |
FPS |
FPS |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ Stock |
73.60 |
100.00 % |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ 4.5GHz |
73.70 |
100.14 % |
Metro Last Light
| |
Score |
FPS |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ Stock |
53.40 |
100.00 % |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ 4.5GHz |
54.08 |
101.27 % |
Far Cry 4
| |
Score |
FPS |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ Stock |
65.47 |
100.00 % |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ 4.5GHz |
67.27 |
102.75 % |
GRID Autosport
| |
FPS |
FPS |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ Stock |
112.19 |
100.00 % |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ 4.5GHz |
115.01 |
102.51 % |
[pagebreak]
2160P Games
Battlefield 4
| |
Score |
FPS |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ Stock |
48.24 |
100.00 % |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ 4.5GHz |
48.44 |
100.41 % |
Watch Dogs
| |
Score |
FPS |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ Stock |
52.11 |
100.00 % |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ 4.5GHz |
53.24 |
102.17 % |
Tomb Raider
| |
Score |
FPS |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ Stock |
24.80 |
100.00 % |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ 4.5GHz |
24.80 |
100.00 % |
Crysis 3
| |
FPS |
FPS |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ Stock |
14.22 |
100.00 % |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ 4.5GHz |
16.42 |
115.47 % |
Thief
| |
FPS |
FPS |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ Stock |
45.00 |
100.00 % |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ 4.5GHz |
45.20 |
100.44 % |
Sleeping Dogs
| |
FPS |
FPS |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ Stock |
32.10 |
100.00 % |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ 4.5GHz |
32.20 |
100.31 % |
Metro Last Light
| |
Score |
FPS |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ Stock |
26.18 |
100.00 % |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ 4.5GHz |
26.52 |
101.30 % |
Far Cry 4
| |
Score |
FPS |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ Stock |
28.85 |
100.00 % |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ 4.5GHz |
29.93 |
103.74 % |
GRID Autosport
| |
FPS |
FPS |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ Stock |
69.88 |
100.00 % |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ 4.5GHz |
70.99 |
101.59 % |
[pagebreak]
Power Consumption
|
Idle Watt |
% |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ Stock |
46 |
100.00 % |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ 4.5GHz |
50 |
108.70 % |
|
Load Watt |
% |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ Stock |
124 |
100.00 % |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ 4.5GHz |
127 |
102.42 % |
[pagebreak]
Temperatures / Noise Levels
Temperature
|
Idle °C |
Load °C |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ Stock |
26 |
53 |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ 4.5GHz |
27 |
65 |
[pagebreak]
Performance Index &
Price
Performance Index 1080p
|
% |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ Stock |
100.00 % |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ 4.5GHz |
101.74 % |
Performance Index 1440p
|
% |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ Stock |
100.00 % |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ 4.5GHz |
101.59 % |
Performance Index 2160p
|
% |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ Stock |
100.00 % |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ 4.5GHz |
102.83 % |
Performance Index Average 1080p, 1440p & 2160p
|
% |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ Stock |
100.00 % |
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ 4.5GHz |
102.05 % |
Price
| Intel Core i5-6600K @ Stock |
|
[pagebreak]
Conclusion
In this article we've had a closer look at what effect overclocking an Intel Core i5-6600K to 4.5 GHz has regarding gaming performance. Default this CPU clocks at 3.9GHz and therefore bumping the frequencies to 4.5 GHz makes for an overclocking of 15.4%. On average - over all different resolutions - this accounts for a 2.05% performance bump. This means that the difference is actually measurable but since the scaling is not linear (15.4% clock boost doesn't equal 15.4% performance boost) you really don't have to expect miracles from overclocking your CPU.
What's been pretty interesting to observe is tha fact, that Crysis 3 responds best to overclocking our test CPU. Using our 2160p preset we see a 15% jump in performance. In all other games, there is virtually no performance gain measurable. The Crysis 3 result actually puts a bit of a bias in our overall results since it's basically a statistical outlier.
Apart from the performance benefits overclocking your CPU means your system will burn more power. If you keep things like Intels Turbo active, then the CPU will downclock, when there is no load and the CPU will also change the voltage to a lower value. This results in good energy efficiency. For these test we simply bumped the multiplier to 45 and we didn't change any other parameter, leaving the motherboard and CPU in control of changing voltages. In idle are 46W (stock) and 50W (4.5 GHz), which is a rather small difference. When the CPU is running under load at 4.5 GHz we measure 127W from the wall, whereas the system in idle need 124W. This difference is surprisingly small and therefore it doesn't really matter whether you run an i5-6600K at stock clocks or overclocked to 4.5GHz in terms of power consumption.
Apparently overclocking is fun, but when it comes to the plain facts regarding gaming performance, we
see that there is almost no gain.
