New leak reveals details on Core i7-7740X overclocking potential

It looks like Intel's upcoming Core i7 7740X could be quite the overclocker according to reports this week. Intel's Kaby Lake-X Core i7 is heading our way fairly soon and while it may not be the most exciting chip in the lineup, a leaked reviewer's guide points towards 5.0GHz overclocks becoming less rare.

The folks over at Videocardz managed to get their hands on the guide and leaked parts of the overclocking section. According to the leak, Intel took 100 Core i7 7740X samples and tested their overclocking capabilities, with many hitting 5.0GHz at 1.205V. Some samples needed a little more convincing, with 1.341V being the worst case scenario voltage wise.

The best chips in the pile (23%) could go as high as 5.3GHz, though it required a lot of voltage. Meanwhile a good 53 percent of the test samples were able to hit 5.2GHz at 1.346V. These ‘middle-good' chips hit 5.0GHz with 1.215 volts. The worst overclocking chips in the bunch (24%) managed to hit a high of 5.1GHz but required 1.411V. A 5.0Ghz overclock on a poor OC chip took 1.341V.

Now these results were only based on a sample size of 100 chips, so we will get a broader range of results once the Core i7-7740X is officially available. At first glance though, overclocking potential seems fairly good, though the silicon lottery will play an important role. Keeping temperatures down will also be a concern, given that the Core-X series will continue to use TIM under the heatspreader.

KitGuru Says: Stay tuned for our review to get a look at our results with the Core i7-7740X. Are many of you planning on making the jump to X299? How important is overclocking potential to you when building a new rig?

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