Intel ROC is an overclocking app used for Intel chips from the company’s own validation labs. This secret tool, not to be confused with AMD ROCm, has shown that the Intel Core i9-13900HK notebook chip can be clocked up to 5.8 Ghz, which is just huge.
The user known in the networks as Der8auer visited Intel’s labs, where the company tests current and future processors. There, he got a close look at the design of Intel’s reference platform used for testing and what these motherboards can do for Intel’s engineers. Many of the things this user was able to see there are not available to end users (and never will be).
But they are still curious and interesting. For example, in one of the videos posted by Der8auer, he showed a secret application called Intel ROC (Real-Time over-Cloking) that is not publicly available, is only used internally in Intel’s OC labs, and has full access to the variables that control Intel’s CPU to monitor, manipulate, and validate those chips.
This tool is much easier to use than Intel XTU (eXtreme Tuning Utility), which is the official overclocking program available for the unlocked Core series (K-series). The ROC software allows direct control of individual cores via a one-click interface. This provides unprecedented access to overclocking Intel CPUs in a completely user-friendly way. That’s because it’s a custom application that allows Intel employees to adjust the speed of individual cores, even if it’s a hybrid architecture with smaller and larger cores.
In one of the tests this user was able to observe, ROC was used for a quick test with an Intel Core i9-13900HK mobile processor. This is the unlocked version with 6 performance cores and 8 efficient cores, so it is an Alder Lake-P. The CPU was installed on a reference platform with non-standard air cooling (i.e. different cooling than that used in conventional notebooks).
Der8auer overclocked the CPU from 5.6 to 6.0 GHz, but once it reached 5.985 GHz, the system crashed due to instability. However, it operated at 5.8 GHz, which is still surprising considering the many cores in a processor meant for laptops.
Intel currently has no plans to release the ROC application, so we’ll have to make do with Intel XTU for now. However, we will see if after this release a developer dares to release an application with a higher level of customization like this one from Intel.
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