Previously we talked about Intel Performance Maximizer , the tool for Intel processors that allows the processor to overclock without risk (at least that is what the manufacturer says) in a fully automatic way, increasing its operating speed without the user having to worry no reason. Now, how much does it improve gaming performance? Will we gain more FPS in games ? This and more is what we are going to tell you next.
Overclocking is a technique that consists of raising the operating frequency, in this case of the processor, to obtain better performance. As a general rule, overclocking also implies having to touch the voltage, causing the CPU to consume more and heat up more and, in addition, generating instability in the system on many occasions. Intel Performance Maximizer promises to perform this process automatically and completely safely, so that users can squeeze the maximum performance from the processor but always safely and without having to worry about anything.
How does Intel Performance Maximizer work?
What this tool does is create a small partition on your 16 GB storage unit, which will house a mini autonomous operating system so that the system can do all the tests it needs (stability, speed, etc.) to when to overclock automatically; therefore, once the process starts, the PC will reboot several times and boot into this Intel operating system and reboot many times in a process that can take several hours to achieve the most optimal speed settings for the processor .
The result is that, generally, we will gain a few integers in terms of the maximum operating speed of the processor, generally on the order of between 100 and 300 MHz since the system will not push the CPU to the limit (remember that Intel promises that it is a way safe to overclock, so as a general rule it will not change the operating voltage). Obviously, with Intel Performance Maximizer we can improve the operating speed of the processor somewhat, but it will certainly be much less than what we could achieve by manual overclocking .
You must remember, first of all, that there are a series of requirements and recommendations before you start using this tool:
- It only supports 9th, 10th or 11th generation Intel “K” processors . Also keep in mind that when you go to download the tool from the Intel website, you will be asked to download a specific one for your processor.
- It is necessary to have a Windows 10 operating system and at least 8 GB of RAM.
- You should be able to partition your 16GB storage drive .
- You must bear in mind that it will be necessary to do without the PC for several hours: once the process has started it should not be interrupted.
- Also, Intel recommends backing up your system just in case something goes wrong. It is not common but it can happen.
How do you improve the FPS in games with this tool?
Before starting to talk about figures, you should know that the overclocking results are always different for each processor , and this is true for both manual overclocking and the use of automatic overclocking with Intel Performance Maximizer. For example, that I manage to raise the operating frequency of my Intel Core i9-9900K by 300 MHz does not necessarily mean that you will achieve the same figure even though you have the same processor (it may also be, but there are no guarantees ).
Therefore, it is not that by using Intel Performance Maximizer you are going to gain a certain guaranteed performance, since the overclock and performance values will vary depending on the processor, the rest of the system, and a long etcetera. Rest assured that “some” performance you will always gain by overclocking, but the amount of this depends on so many factors (starting with the processor itself) that it is impossible to give figures that are valid for everyone.
That said, let’s go there with the tests; for them and given that we do not have our own compatible processor, we have relied on WCCFTech tests, who managed to boost the operating speed of an Intel Core i9-9900K processor up to 5.1 GHz, which represents an increase in frequency. of nothing more and nothing less than 400 MHz, and automatically using this application.
This boost in operating speed makes the processor obviously perform better, something that can be easily seen reflected in synthetic benchmarks where scores go up several integers, but how will this affect FPS when it comes to PC gaming?
As always, it depends. The influence of the processor in modern games today is much less than a few years ago, because today almost everything depends on the graphics card. With this we want to tell ourselves that even increasing the processor frequency by 400 MHz as in the example that we have given you above, it is possible that the FPS gain in games is not too high, since it will depend on the level of “blocking” or bottleneck that the CPU was doing.
For CPUs that are not very powerful and that are limiting performance in games, we can expect a notable growth in FPS that could reach two figures, with improvements of 8-10 FPS in the most serious cases. Now, if your processor was already powerful enough to not bottleneck in games, it is likely that you will not notice much improvement in FPS, although we can expect an increase of 1-3 FPS on average .
In any case, and taking into account that we have achieved this FPS improvement for free and also automatically thanks to Intel Performance Maximizer, it will certainly be welcome. In any case, if you decide to do so, we recommend that you always monitor the operating temperatures of the processor, since after all, making it work above the frequency at which it has been designed almost always has a direct impact on the operating temperature. .
