What is the Foundation Toolkit?
Foundation Toolkit is a next-generation cloud-based CPU silicon customization software designed by the creators of Benchmate and SkatterBencher. It leverages the Intel® Extreme Tuning Utility (Intel® XTU) SDK to give users access to precise Intel CPU performance customization tools.
How do I use Foundation Toolkit
First you must install the Foundation Toolkit by clicking Install at the bottom right of the screen. Once installed, you can Start the service and the Foundation functions will be enabled. Then, just browse around the website to see what we have on offer.
Alternatively, you can watch the SkatterBencher user guide below.
What are the hardware requirements?
You need an Intel CPU and compatible motherboard that supports overclocking. Generally that means having an -K/KF/KS/X/HX processor and Z/W- motherboard. Foundation Toolkit has no official hardware support list yet, but we tried it on both 13th and 14th gen Core processors.
Unofficially, Foundation Toolkit should support the following CPU architectures:
- 8th gen Core (Coffee Lake)
- 9th gen Core (Coffee Lake Refresh)
- 10th gen Core (Comet Lake)
- 11th gen Core (Rocket Lake)
- 11th gen Core (Tiger Lake)
- 12th gen Core (Alder Lake)
- 13th gen Core (Raptor Lake)
- 14th gen Core (Raptor Lake Refresh)
- 7th gen Core X (Skylake)
- 7th gen Core X (Kaby Lake)
- 9th gen Core X (Skylake)
- 10th gen Core X (Cascade Lake)
- 1st gen Xeon (Skylake)
- 4th gen Xeon (Sapphire Rapids)
What are the operating system requirements?
Foundation Toolkit has no official operating system support list yet, but we tried it on the latest Windows 11 version and it works just fine.
What are the Operating System Feature requirements?
The following operating features must be properly configured to ensure you can install Foundation:
- Hyper-V must be disabled
- Core Isolation Memory Integrity must be disabled
- Virtual Machine Platform must be disabled
If any of these are not configured correctly, there are many guides available on the internet that will help you figure out how to get it set correctly.
What are the BIOS requirements?
The following BIOS items must be configured correctly to support Foundation Toolkit:
- Overclocking Lock: Disabled
- Overclocking Feature: Enabled
- Undervolt Protection: Enabled
Generally, on motherboards that support overclocking, these settings will be configured by default. If not, you may need to go in the BIOS to set them manually.