That's literally overclocking. You're clocking it at a rate over the nameplate value. Just because the BIOS is factory-unlocked doesn't really change anything.

Yeah. Intel advertises the ability to overclock, but that doesn't mean overclocking is in spec. It just means Intel allows you to run it out of spec if you so choose. The spec says you can set the clock multiplier, it doesn't say anything above the stock range will actually be stable.

Plus almost always people are tweaking voltages and such also.

This article is about automatic / enabled-by-default overclocking, which isn't actually specified by Intel but is done by the motherboard manufacturers anyway. At least the "GAMING GAMING GAMING" oriented ones like MSI and friends.

As an example of motherboard manufacturers going outside specifications, my MSI motherboard has a built-in option to change BCLK, which is the clock reference for the entire PCIe bus. Changing it not only overclocks the CPU, but also the GPU's connection (not the GPU itself), as well as the NVMe SSD.

This was so not-endorsed by Intel that they quickly pushed microcode that shuts the CPU down if it detects BCLK tampering.

In response, MSI added a dropdown that allows you to downgrade the microcode of the CPU.

So yeah. Very not within specifications.

If intel sells a "3.2ghz cpu" and also advertises that it can run, thermals allowing, a core or two at 4.2ghz, I don't consider that 4.2ghz core "overclocked" as much as "this chip is engineered to have a variety of clocks as advertised." The chip is made from the factory to operate in a couple different ways, just like my car may have a transmission that allows the engine to spin at a couple different speeds, as duty cycle demand.

If I run the chip in a way not documented by the manufacturer, or modify the ECU to allow the turbo to generate more boost, those are both unsupported modifications, and I'd consider either of those "overclocking"