MSI Z270 motherboards have autopilot to overclock a Core i7-7700K to 5.2GHz

Legit Reviews visited MSI at CES 2017 and got to hear that select Z270-based motherboards from the company will feature an autopilot overclocking mode that will overclock the Intel Core i7-7700K processor to 5.2GHz if you have a liquid cooling system.

This feature can be enabled via the Game Boost button within the UEFI of the MSI Z270 XPower Gaming Titanium ($329.00), Z270 Gaming M7 ($249.99) and Z270 MPower Gaming Titanium ($239.00) motherboards.

Representatives from MSI said they have tested hundreds of Intel Core i7-7700K "Kaby Lake" CPUs and are confident that these chips are capable of hitting 5.2GHz without a problem is you have a high-quality watercooling system.

During the discussion, MSI stated they have tested several hundred different Intel Core i7-7700K Kaby Lake processors and haven’t had any issues with any of them. There are a couple caveats that you have to be aware of to reach the 5.2GHz. First, a good high quality (closed loop) water cooler is required, it needs to be a minimum of a 240mm model (dual rad). Next, the memory should be a good high quality enthusiast brand; while overclocking the CPU won’t be impacted by the memory much, it is always recommended to get the best you can afford. Of course, MSI did reinforce that they are not responsible for damages caused by the GAME BOOST feature as with any end user performed overclocking.

By setting the Game Boost dial to 11, the motherboard will increase the CPU frequency to 5.2GHz, up from the stock frequency of 4.2GHz (with 4.5GHz Boost). The CPU voltage gets automatically increased to 1.507V but the reporter notes the UEFI environment already gave a temperature readout of 48°C so he had some doubts about MSI's promises.

Legit Reviews decided to test MSI's claims and reports that it didn't work as well as promised. The 7700K system was able to hit 5.2GHz and boot into the UEFI but once they entered Windows 10 the test system became unstable.