ASRock Silently removes BIOS SKY OC patch for non-K model Skylake CPUs

by Hilbert Hagedoorn on: 02/08/2016 10:22 AM | source: | 34 comment(s)

A while ago Asrock announced it was possible to overclock non-K model processors with the help of a BIOS upgrade. In a short time they released such BIOSes for a multitude of motherboards and then send out all kinds of marketing materials and press-releases.

As it seems, ASRock silently removed these BIOSes and that functionality. They even called and marketed this as SKY OC. SKY OC was is obtainable simply by a BIOS upgrade from ASRock’s official website. Even the press-releases have been removed from their website.

The BIOS disables the on-board Intel graphics and also CPU Turbo Ratio and C-State would be disabled. After that some very interesting findings would be happening with BCLK overclocking. Likely Intel had a say in the removal and support of ASRock SKU OC as users could get more performance with a cheaper model CPU. Some overclockers even reached 4955MHz with a simple Core i3-6320.

No more SKY OC for the ASRock Z170 Gaming K6+

The other manufacturers still carry support for this feature, MSI, Biostar, Asus and Gigabyte all have a similar option availble in their BIOS.

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DeAnt28790
Member

Posts: 27
Joined: 2013-03-19

#5229368 Posted on: 02/08/2016 10:23 AM

I really do not like Asrock.
I made the mistake of buying one of their fatal1ty motherboards.
They have big signs saying windows 10 ready.
But they've done nothing to ensure their software actually works on windows 10. Plus their software is utter rubbish anyway.
I've had a couple of hardware issues I can only assume is motherboard related and their bios/software is less than intuitive.
I'm never going near this brand again.

rl66
Senior Member

Posts: 1703
Joined: 2007-05-31

#5229376 Posted on: 02/08/2016 11:05 AM

... but it's lot less expensive than Asus and more innovative...

there is always a brand that fit you much than other... (exemple: Galaxy and EVGA doesn't fit me at all bad bad experience with their motherboard and EVGA support

but are they bad company? )

I think it may be Intel's "hand of fate" on the reason why this bios was removed....

weasel
Senior Member

Posts: 676
Joined: 2013-04-17

#5229424 Posted on: 02/08/2016 01:27 PM

I think it all comes down to where you live in Belgium Asus is absolute crape i really hate their customer service and the asus soundcard and z97 board i got are for sure the last things i bought from them.I normally only buy Gigabyte never had trouble with that brand.I'm now on my first Asrock board and i must admit 7 or 8 years ago i certainly wouldn't give asrock a try.But i can't complain now about my Asrock x99 mobo it was a bit getting used to and if it breaks down i'll just go back to Gigabyte.Ontopic i also think Intel instructed them to remove that feature.

Twiddles
Senior Member

Posts: 1145
Joined: 2013-11-15

#5229427 Posted on: 02/08/2016 01:32 PM

And software that comes with motherboards almost never adds anything noteworthy that can't be done with 3rd party software (which is better most of the time).

OT: Seems like the Intel monster has awoken from it's deep slumber... Hand of fate?

More like claw of money grabbing

But it's entirely fair albeit a bit of a let down for us (Tweakers and OC'ers).

Undying
Senior Member

Posts: 9664
Joined: 2008-08-28

#5229428 Posted on: 02/08/2016 01:38 PM

Did Intel requested them to remove it or just their decision? What about other brands, same thing?

vbetts
Moderator

Posts: 13793
Joined: 2006-07-04

#5229456 Posted on: 02/08/2016 03:06 PM

I'm thinking it's due to the negative affects enabling this feature had. On Asrock motherboards, HT did not work at all with this OC feature on.

-Tj-
Senior Member

Posts: 15180
Joined: 2012-05-18

#5229463 Posted on: 02/08/2016 03:18 PM

I wondered how long that would last.. Was the same on old h87 if im not mistaken, but then it was disabled kinda quick.

Mineria
Senior Member

Posts: 3801
Joined: 2007-05-05

#5229519 Posted on: 02/08/2016 05:52 PM

Shouldn't take much effort to find the previous releases.

Twiddles
Senior Member

Posts: 1145
Joined: 2013-11-15

#5229533 Posted on: 02/08/2016 06:26 PM

I'm thinking it's due to the negative affects enabling this feature had. On Asrock motherboards, HT did not work at all with this OC feature on.

True, IGP needed to be disabled and several other things could go haywire. Not exactly appealing. And who knows what the long term effects will be.

Reddoguk
Senior Member

Posts: 1500
Joined: 2010-05-26

#5229571 Posted on: 02/08/2016 08:02 PM

When sales of your high end K series chips plummets then it's time to call in a few favors.

DLD
Senior Member

Posts: 730
Joined: 2002-09-14

#5229579 Posted on: 02/08/2016 08:25 PM

So, why not inquire at Ass_Rock's office? They OWE an explanation to their customers, don't they?

vbetts
Moderator

Posts: 13793
Joined: 2006-07-04

#5229581 Posted on: 02/08/2016 08:31 PM

So, why not inquire at Ass_Rock's office? They OWE an explanation to their customers, don't they?

No, because this was never something that was supported 100% or set in stone. It was a "Do at your own risk" type of thing.

The companies that did it found back door ways to enable overclocking, and out of all of them I believe Super Micro has been the only one who has come up with a way to do it without having to disable anything, or kill any other feature off.

Mojojoe
Senior Member

Posts: 109
Joined: 2011-10-09

#5229606 Posted on: 02/08/2016 09:09 PM

So, why not inquire at Ass_Rock's office? They OWE an explanation to their customers, don't they?

This isn't ASRock's decision. This feature was breaking the conditions of their licensing by operating processors in this manner. If you are angry, direct it at Intel's lawyers.

Don't write off some enterprising enthusiast from porting forward the microcode of this feature to future BIOS revisions though. Life finds a way, or something.

vbetts
Moderator

Posts: 13793
Joined: 2006-07-04

#5229608 Posted on: 02/08/2016 09:11 PM

What's gonna save them though, is the internet. They knew what they were doing the whole time. Once you put something on the internet, it'll be there forever.

sammarbella
Senior Member

Posts: 3866
Joined: 2014-12-09

#5229678 Posted on: 02/08/2016 11:58 PM

IDK these new mobos but i own an Asrock Z77 with this Non-K OC feature it works perfect with my non K 3770 (3.4Ghz) since many months:

4.1 Ghz locked in the 4 cores working perfectly. 100% stable

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