Current No.1 US Overclocker Splave has been busy proving that you don’t always need to have the latest and greatest Core i7 processor to move up the rankings. In fact Splave managed to take down a very impressive eight Global First Places in the space of just two days using a Core i3 7350K, the fabled unlocked Core i3 K SKU that virtually the entire OC scene was clamoring for prior to the launch of Kaby Lake.

Starting with Geekbench 3 (multi-core) we find a new dual-core Global First Place ranked score of 15,920 points which was achieved using an Core i3 7350K pushed to 6,708MHz (+59.71%). On the same day Splave also managed to take down GFP’s for both Cinebench benchmarks. In Cinebench R11.5 the new fastest ever dual-core score now stands at 8.23 cb points, this was done with a Core i3 7350K clocked at 6,710MHz (+59.76%). In Cinebench R15 he managed to hit 758 cb points, this time with both cores set at 6,707MHz (+59.69%). Next up we have two Wprime benchmarks. In Wprime 1024M Splave set a new dual-core Global First Place ranked score of 3min 5sec 562ms with the Core i3 7350K pushed to 6,734MHz (+60.33%). Using the same configuration Splave also managed to take the GFP ranked score in Wprime 32M with a run of just 5sec 812ms.

Just two days later we find Splave and his Core i3 7350K still going strong, making a Global First Place score of 1,212 marks in XTU with the dual-core chip pushed to 6,680MHz (+59.05%). In GPU Pi for CPU he managed a clock frequency of 6,749MHz (+60.69%) to complete a run in just 7min 43sec 53ms. Finally, we come to HWBOT Prime and a score of 6008.79 pps, made with the highest clock frequency of the entire session – a massive 6,801MHz (+61.93%). Nice going sir!

Since launch there has been plenty buzz around the Core i3 7350K. Splave may hold the upper hand at the moment in eight key benchmarks, but he has actually faced some stiff competition from some of the scene’s most respected players. We’ve seen lots of highly competitive dual-core action from Overclockers such as Xtreme Addict, Smoke, l0ud_sil3nc3 and current No.1, Dancop. This is all solid proof that an unlocked Core i3 is fully justified, not just for overclockers and system builders on a budget, but because it is also a great source of interest for competitive Elite players.

As noted in our weekly Most Valuable Submissions news article, these submissions have certainly proved worthwhile to Splave in terms of his rankings on HWBOT where he now stands in third place. You can find links to all Splave’s Global First Place scores in the text above, and also on the Splave profile page here.