new member with I7-8700K system question

[hdtvnut]

Have a new Alienware R7 with 8700K set at 4.8 GHz, GTX 1080 Ti, Sam SM961 512 PCIe NVMe and HyperX 2933 16 GB module. Updated BIOS and Win 10 Home. PassMark about 7000.
Seems reasonable. But I wonder how figures around 9000 for similar systems have been accomplished? I'd like to know some details.

[David (PassMark)]

Overclocking, liquid cooling, SLI, RAM drives, Window's optimization.

[hdtvnut]

Thanks David

I do have liquid cooling, moderate O/C and this 961 SSD measures about 3080 SR/1525 SW, rating above 20,000. I plan to download the Intel utility (Alienware CC stops at 4.8GHz) and push toward 5 GHz to see if my cooling is good enough. My CPU single-thread measures 2850, about right, but the CpuMark is low at 15,000, and I'm curious why.

Maybe the ram configuration; my ram is one 16 GB. Does dual channel give a worthwhile speed improvement? I could replace this one with two or four modules. Maybe faster also, but don't want to waste money, not having info on how much ram speed this motherboard will support. I'll ask, but tech support may not know.

Probably rule out SLI.

I need to learn about Windows optimization.

Is more info available on the two 8700K systems rated at about 8940 and 9040? Like how much O/C, and are they dual-GPU?

[David (PassMark)]

I do have liquid cooling, moderate O/C

Some people are using liquid nitrogen or liquid helium.

my ram is one 16 GB. Does dual channel give a worthwhile speed improvement?

Yes it does. At least at the high end when you are chasing smallish gains. 2x8GB is better.

but don't want to waste money

Too late for that. Your system is already overkill for most tasks.

Windows optimization

In truth there isn't a huge amount to do if this is already a clean Windows install, without too much bloatware.
There are Windows power setting and "Visual Effects" which you can turn off (which can help with 2D tests). If you really get picky you can turn off a few services.

[hdtvnut]

Alienware says two channels are no faster than one, so Dell apparently feels justified in shipping with one. Moot point, because they have no stock of the OEM HyperX Fury 2933 ram, and no expected date for more. Speculation is they are selected OC'd 2666's. So far, I can't find info on the Pegatron MB/BIOS adequate to reset voltage and timing for other makes/speeds. One user tried Corsairs without adjustments; no joy.

[David (PassMark)]

Alienware says two channels are no faster than one

That is a surprising thing to say.

Depending on the application you are using, dual channel can be 0% to 20% faster. There is a summary here,
https://www.gamersnexus.net/guides/1...channel/Page-3