Over the previous few weeks, we’ve seen an growing variety of reviews of instability on high-end Intel CPUs just like the Core i9-14900K. Asus has launched a BIOS replace for its Z790 motherboards geared toward addressing the issue, but it surely carries a efficiency lack of upwards of 9% in some workloads.
The latest BIOS replace from Asus consists of the Intel Baseline Profile. This profile disables varied optimizations which can be mechanically utilized on Asus Z790 motherboards and runs high-end Intel chips inside Intel’s particular limits. Hardwareluxx examined the brand new profile with the Core i9-14900K and located that the CPU ran round 9% slower in a number of assessments.
In Cinebench R23, for instance, the German publication discovered that the Intel Baseline Profile slashed efficiency by 9%. In Y-Cruncher, a benchmark that calculates Pi, the efficiency drop was 11%. Even video games have been affected, with Starfield, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, and F1 2023 exhibiting an 8% drop in efficiency when examined at 720p (these variations ought to disappear at larger resolutions).
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One of many essential causes behind the instability, it appears, is the limitless energy funds accessible to high-end Intel CPUs on some motherboards. With the right BIOS settings, the utmost turbo energy accessible to a chip just like the Core i9-14900K is 4,095 watts. Your CPU won’t ever draw that a lot energy, however such a excessive restrict permits the chip to attract as a lot energy because it wants for temporary spurts, even when that leads to a crash.
These settings observe some BIOS changes we’ve seen specialists suggest over the previous few days. Asus presumably launched the BIOS replace in response to Intel’s investigation of the issue, but it surely’s not clear if different motherboard distributors will observe swimsuit.
The efficiency drop solely applies when you have been utilizing the varied enhancements accessible on Asus Z790 motherboards. Nonetheless, you might need been utilizing these enhancements with out even realizing it. By default, Asus mechanically applies no matter enhancements it dems greatest on your CPU throughout the BIOS, doubtlessly inflicting instability. When you haven’t messed together with your BIOS settings, there’s likelihood your CPU will run slower with the Intel Baseline Profile utilized.
Fortunately, that shouldn’t influence gaming efficiency a lot. The efficiency drop primarily reveals up in different functions, whereas the instability that this BIOS replace addresses reveals up primarily in video games. It’s not a really perfect trade-off regardless, however hopefully it addresses the issues with crashing for Core i9-14900K homeowners.
It’s nonetheless not clear what the scope of the issue is with Intel’s high-end CPUs. Proper now, it seems that the Core i9-13900K and Core i9-14900K are the principle culprits, with the Core i7-13700K and Core i7-14700K affected to a lesser diploma. Solely a few of these chips present instability points, whereas different Intel CPUs shouldn’t have any issues.
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