Something to look forward to: According to the infamous leader, MSI plans to release B760 motherboards that will allow overclocking BCLK Intel Core processors other than K. With this feature and a little effort, users can get a significant performance boost without spending money on an unlocked processor and a Z-series board. The same source also revealed the manufacturer’s recommended retail price (MSRP) of the future line of mid-range MSI motherboards.
The leader provided a couple of images of an unreleased MSI B760M Mortar Max motherboard equipped with a Renesas RC26008 clock generator. There’s also a screenshot showing that the Intel Core i5-12400 reaches 5 GHz on the board, which is 14 percent more than its standard 4.4GHz boost frequency. It is reported that this board will be available in DDR4 and DDR5 variants.
The chip manufacturer does not shy away from disabling features to encourage consumers to choose more expensive SKUs, so hopefully this overclocking method will still work on locked 13th generation processors.
i5-12400 OC 5.0GHz (125MHz x40) on MAG B760M Mortar Max WiFi featuring Renesas RC26008 clock generator. pic.twitter.com/6f5Hgb28jh
— chi11eddog (@g01d3nm4ng0) December 28, 2022
Let me remind you that overclocking Intel Core processors is usually carried out by increasing the core multiplier, and this is only available on unlocked processors and flagship Z-series chipsets. However, about a year ago, the der8auer overclocker discovered that motherboards equipped with external clock generators can significantly raise the bus clock frequency without failures. This turned out to be an unofficial way of overclocking processors other than K and avoiding Intel’s “unlocking” tax.
Information about the manufacturer’s recommended retail prices of MSI B760 motherboards was also leaked. They range from $169 to $229, which in the end is about $10-40 more expensive than their B660 variants. According to Expreview, the only thing the B760 chipset offers is additional PCIe bandwidth (10 PCIe 4.0 lines + four PCIe 3.0 lines versus six PCIe 4.0 lines + eight PCIe 3.0 lines for the B660).
MSI B760 price👀👀👀👀
MAX is in list🧐🧐🧐 pic.twitter.com/rDs0kSxoxH— chi11eddog (@g01d3nm4ng0) December 27, 2022
Fortunately, Raptor Lake processors will work just as well with older 600 series motherboards, which means you can get a more functional Z690 board for the same price as the new B760 board.
Intel will officially announce its non-K Raptor Lake line and related mid-range motherboards at CES next week, and they will be on sale shortly thereafter. Judging by recent rumors, Team Blue may also release an update to its Raptor Lake lineup at the end of next year, potentially giving the LGA 1700 platform a three-year lifecycle.
