Motherboard Makers Prep for Core i9-12900KS's 5.5 GHz Boot with Enhanced Thermal Velocity Tech

ASRock has released new BIOS versions for its Intel 600-series platforms that enable support of Intel's upcoming Core i9-12900KS processor that will use a yet-unknown Enhanced Thermal Velocity Boost technology to reach up to 5.5 GHz. The new BIOSes update the Intel microcode on most (if not all) Intel 600-series motherboards and therefore brings formal support of the forthcoming flagship CPU to high-end mainboards and cheap Intel H610 platforms. 

Apparently, to support Intel's Core i9-12900KS processor with an all-core turbo clock of 5.20 GHz and up to 5.50 GHz max turbo frequency, motherboard makers not only need to add a new CPU ID but also add support for Intel's Enhanced Thermal Velocity Boost technology. This appears to be a yet another (sixth, to be more precise) adaptive boost level for the company's consumer chips.  

Intel yet has to disclose how exactly its Enhanced Thermal Velocity Boost (ETVB) works. Still, it seems to be a superset of the company's regular Thermal Velocity Boost (TVB) technology that increases core clocks when all cores are active, and the chip's temperature is below 70ºC. Perhaps, with ETVB, the clocks and voltages are increased at higher temperatures when cooling is sufficient, but that is just speculation. 

Considering that entry-level motherboards typically do not feature expensive voltage regulating modules (VRMs) for CPUs, it's unlikely the new chip could operate on those lower-end motherboards. Rather, support for the feature is probably just included as part of ASRock's standard firmware framework, thus resulting in its addition even where it doesn't make sense. 

Anton Shilov
Contributing Writer

Anton Shilov is a contributing writer at Tom’s Hardware. Over the past couple of decades, he has covered everything from CPUs and GPUs to supercomputers and from modern process technologies and latest fab tools to high-tech industry trends.