Hey there fellow forumites,

So I recently upgraded to a custom rig that, although I use it most the time for my work unrelated to music (I work remotely), I specced it out with all these extra goodies specifically with BiaB in mind (OK, I confess I also added a nice graphics card so my son could game on it now and again).

After a fair amount of research, I decided to go with a custom rig I had a local dealer assemble for me. I had determined that with respect to the CPU, I wanted the i5-9600k. The CPU, paired 16 GBs of DDR4 RAM, a smallish SSD and a large HDD, has utterly changed by experience with BiaB/RB for the better with respect to RT generation times and overall smooth operations.

From what I've read in these forums over the years, and keeping in mind that I am not very computer literate compared to a lot of you folks, there is a serious curve of diminishing returns with respect to BiaB and one's PC hardware. That said, I like running lots of VST(i)s/plugins now and again, and am also aware that the "k" in 9600k has something to do with overclocking. (Tbh, the overclocking thing was not a substantial factor in choosing the CPU...it was the number of cores, threads, and the fact that it runs at 3.7 Ghz).

However, as a guy whose mother always told him to eat his peas, I hate to see something go to waste. And if there is some untapped capacity that my CPU was designed for, I want to avail myself of it if it can enhance my user experience and workflow. So does the "K" mean the chip is already overclocked, or that it is safe to do so? If the latter, will I get much out of overclocking it for my particular uses? What would be the best way to go about it?

I've seen posts on various forums about the dangers of overclocking and how it can melt your CPU, and as I mentioned, as someone who uses his PC for my regular dayjob 75 to 90 percent of the time, (which involves lots of word docs, excel spreadsheets and the like) I don't want to assume the slightest risk of ruining my brand new PC for whatever marginal advantages, if any, I could get from overclocking my CPU.

Any advice, insights, or incites would be greatly appreciated!

TIA :-)

DB09

Band-in-a-Box 2024. Custom Build Desktop PC W/ Windows 10 Home 64-bit. CPU: Intel Core i5-9600k @ 3.7GHz (6 core x 6 threads) RAM: 16GB DDR4. Storage 238GB SSD + 2.7 TB HDD. GPU: ZOTAC NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB