Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge multiplier is limited at x38 on Gigabyte P67A-UD4-B3

[Harry-Son]

I was trying to overclock my Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge on Gigabyte P67A-UD4-B3 but while doing so i found that it has locked core. The multiplier itself is limited to x38 and there is no way I can go above that. Also I don’t think without leaving that point the processor will be able to overclock near to 4GHZ.

I thought that it should be unlocked processor since it has “K” letter at the end and the K family processor always comes with unlocked multiplier. I am not sure whether the multiplier is limited on the processor side or the motherboard side.

If it is the limitation of motherboard, can anyone tell me what Gigabyte is doing here?

[Naruto Uzumaki]

Earlier it was easy for Sandy Bridge 'K' Series CPUs to get upto 4.6GHz but now Ivy Bridge seems to be very tricky to play around with. Gigabyte cleared that there is a problem on P67 series motherboard due to the multiplier which is actually limited to 39. It seems like there is no way you can go higher using the Stock BIOS installed on Gigabyte P67A-UD4-B3. Also there is neither news about the latest BIOS Fix for this nor any patch for BIOS to fix this. The only thing left is to wait until they release the bios update.

[Bethany Johson]

I thought that it should be unlocked processor since it has “K” letter at the end and the K family processor always comes with unlocked multiplier. I am not sure whether the multiplier is limited on the processor side or the motherboard side.

Yes, you are right. If there is a K series Ivy Bridge processor then they are fully unlocked models for extreme overclocking. The actual limit of multiplier of K series processor has changed and increased to 63. Other than this, the processor also has a support of real-time multiplier tweak within Windows OS.
And as far as i know Core i5 3570K can easily get upto 3.4Ghz and 3.8GHz due to its fully unlocked and overclock-friendly multiplier but it wont be possible without compatible motherboard and BIOS.

Right now there are just 2 Intel boards completely compatible with Ivy Bridge processors and they are Intel DP67BGB3 (Burrage) and DZ68ZV (Zanesville) (if they are flashed with latest BIOS).

[Nabhanyu]

Gigabyte USA had itself announced that there is limitation with Ivy Bridge K series processors which has locked multiplier at x39. People who are using either Gigabyte P67 or Z68 motherboards will surely get this problem. Other than this even Intel H61 and H67 chipsets have also limited to overclocking but here the cause is not the BIOS, it could be the old chipsets limitations. In order to successfully overclock the processor, you have to use the motherboard which is flashed with latest UEFI BIOS. Gigabyte Z77 motherboards use a new UEFI BIOS and overclocks well on Ivy Bridge and Sandy Bridge processors. You can choose Gigabyte Z77X-UD5H as a replacement.

[Kabilan]

Well it sounds good that Gigabyte is already aware of these overclocking limitations GIGABYTE 6 series motherboards. They should create new BIOS for existing motherboards so that they become compatible with all the Ivy Bridge processors. There are rumors about the Gigabyte has started working on new BIOS and fix for issue. Yet, we don’t know whether the fix will be available as a new BIOS or a patch. But atleast its good to have any kind of fix 