Intel has removed the “K” suffix from the 13th generation Core processors. This is because it was not possible to manually overclock via the BCLK bus. This ability is also available on the 12th-generation Core processors (Alder Lake). Tom’s Hardware portal confirmed the fact that there is no manual overclocking option for Raptor Lake processors.
Manual overclocking is not supported by Intel Core processors that do not have the suffix “K”. The manufacturer stated even once that trying to overclock these chips could cause them to be damaged. Although they are officially not overclockable, there are some motherboard models that can allow them to be overclocked. The board must include an external clock generator, which allows you to adjust the frequency of BCLK bus via the BIOS settings.
This loophole was created by Intel, which is quite curious. It was used to provide early versions of microcode to motherboard OEMs during the development of Alder Lake processors. It had settings that could be used to change the frequency of the BCLK bus through the BIOS on motherboards. This feature was removed in the final microcode. However, enterprising OEMs developed their own BIOS versions that could load the new microcode as well as the older one. They also had the option to manually alter the BCLK bus frequency. This feature was initially limited to Z690 motherboards equipped with DDR5 support. Soon, however, it was made available in cheaper motherboards with DDR4 support and based on the junior-B660 chipset.
Tom’s Hardware wanted to see if it was possible to change the BCLK frequency on the 13th-generation Intel Core processor without using the “K” suffix. This is MSI B660M mortar Max, ASUS ROG Strix b660-G Gaming, and ROG Strix b660-F Gaming. You can overclock the Core Intel Core i7-12700 Alder Lake series on these boards. Below is an image of the BIOS settings for the MSI B660M Mortar Maxboard with the old microcode selection function. This makes it possible to clock the processor via BCLK bus.
This will not work with the Core i7-13700 of the Raptor Lake series, however. As can be seen in this photo, the BIOS doesn’t need to specify the microcode version.
Tom’s Hardware wrote the following: Intel “this time I just didn’t make the same mistake and didn’t release pre-release microcode with this feature unlocked”. For this reason, motherboard manufacturers do not have a BIOS version in their hands that would allow changing the BLCK bus frequency on Raptor Lake chips without the “K” suffix.