# What dose the K do? Intel processors.



## Wrekx

I'm having trouble understanding what intel K series processors do exactly to benefit overclocking.

Why should I buy a K series instead of a standard series?


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## gcavan

This review from Anandtech has the best explanation I've read.

In short: The clock multiplier on the 'K' processors is fully unlocked, allowing for very high overclocks (up to 5 GHz and above). On the 'non-K' versions, you may only change the turbo-mode multiplier which will allow for slightly higher clock rates when less than all 4 cores are active.

In addition, the 'K' versions have improved on-chip graphics.


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## Wrekx

Thanks for the article. That really helped. I'm starting to understand the difference between overclocking and turbo boost.



"Core i5-2500 Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) "


So that means the chip operates at 3.3GHz and 3.7GHz with the turbo boost you mentioned? It can not be overclocked.

"Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) "

Can be overclocked, turbo boosted.


A few more short questions.


If I buy a video card do the on-chip graphics matter?

What if my motherboard has easy OC features and I don't get an unlocked version of a chip? Will the OC features from the motherboard still work?

If my motherboard dosn't have easy OC features how would I go about activating the turbo boost? I'd actually be pretty happy with intels cheapest i5 quad core at turbo boost. 

^^^^^That would be about as fast as the i7 2600k on this computer unclocked/unboosted and this computer is pleasantly fast already. Almost half the price too.


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## Luk07

*If I buy a video card do the on-chip graphics matter?*

Putting a separate video card in will override the on-board, so no it won't matter.

*What if my motherboard has easy OC features and I don't get an unlocked version of a chip? Will the OC features from the motherboard still work?*

I'm not sure what you mean exacty by "easy" OC features. I have a fairly modest board and overclocking is quite easy. If the multiplier is locked you can still change the base clock to increase it, you will not be able to achieve higher speeds so easy but a good overclock is still possible with good cooling.

*If my motherboard dosn't have easy OC features how would I go about activating the turbo boost? I'd actually be pretty happy with intels cheapest i5 quad core at turbo boost.*

Turbo boost doesn't use all 4 core at once to achieve the speed, its fairly useless if you want to OC properly.


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