The original post: /r/overclocking by /u/Stopnoticing88 on 2025-06-08 19:53:15.
Hi everyone!
Iβm planning to upgrade my system by installing a Coffee Lake R0 stepping CPU (QTJ1 β similar to an i9-9900K ES/QS) on a Gigabyte GA-Z170-Gaming K3 rev 1.1 motherboard. I want to make sure I understand the risks and requirements before flashing anything or touching the hardware. π In Russian we call ES cpu mutants π€£
βοΈ Current Setup: Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170-Gaming K3 rev 1.1 (UEFI)
BIOS: F2c (custom mod based on original F2, from 2016)
CPU: Intel i5-6400 (running with BCLK overclock, which Iβd like to keep as a fallback option)
π― Goal: To get a QTJ1 (Coffee Lake R0, 9th gen-like chip) running on this Z170 board with minimal risk, and ideally without any physical pin mods.
β Questions: Pin modding: Is it required? Or is it enough to just mod the BIOS with CoffeeTime, assuming the board already supports custom firmware?
Intel ME version:
What ME version should I install for compatibility?
Does it matter if I plan to disable ME afterward (as many guides suggest)?
Should I update ME before flashing BIOS, or after?
BIOS modding base:
Can I safely use my already-modded F2c BIOS as a base for CoffeeTime patching?
Or should I revert to a clean official F2 BIOS before starting the modding process?
Avoiding newer BIOS versions:
F22 and newer donβt add 9th gen support anyway
They might remove BCLK overclocking support
Include performance-hitting security patches (e.g., Spectre/Meltdown)
May prevent rollback to earlier versions like F2c
β What I want to keep: The ability to fall back to i5-6400 with BCLK OC in case the QTJ1 doesn't boot or is unstable
Avoid flashing anything irreversible or bricking the board
π¬ TL;DR: Has anyone successfully run QTJ1 or similar R0 Coffee Lake CPUs on a Z170 Gaming K3? Any advice on:
BIOS version
ME firmware version
Stability
Rollback safety
Any first-hand experience, links to guides, or CoffeeTime configs would be really appreciated. Thanks in advance!