PowerSpec BIOS - Intel Default Settings - 8/23

PowerSpec_MikeW

@Truthbringer

That's essentially the issue. Under certain circumstances voltages spike momentarily to levels that degrade the processor. The 0x129 will cap it. I'll go more into it, but I'd like to release that information alongside our extended warranty information on existing systems.

JerryRaia

PowerSpec_MikeW

That was an old post that wouldn't go through at the time. A week later it shows up! Yes all good here, I did flash with a different monitor.

Cynimun

@Truthbringer
I have had my PC since April, no crashes or anything even when I have put it under a lot of stress, so I must have been one of the lucky ones. I am doing all this as preventive measures.

JerryRaia

I have had mine since December. Maybe a couple of BSOD's but nothing that wasn't typical windows behavior. I guess there is no way to really know unless one is crashing all the time when pushing the system

Truthbringer

Once more testing is done I do notice my Cinebench R23 score is in the 36k range. when I see videos online of them testing the 14900KF's people get in the 38k range and even 40k and beyond. I assume this is because after BIOS updates I chose Intel Power Default. Maybe that the users getting higher are using the Intel Extreme recommendations? Should we also be changing that on the Microcenter PC's? Kind of disappointing to score around a 14700 scores for 14900 prices. I believe when I got the PC it was scoring much higher but there was not any power limits.

PowerSpec_MikeW

@Truthbringer

Intel default power limits are going to lower your Cinebench score by around 10%. You can use the CPU Lite Load setting to undervolt the CPU and get some of it back. On my samples, I got within 3% of the original score. Start at Mode 10, see how low you can go. Recommend OCCT CPU test for stability testing.

xXAstroXx

I have a PowerSpec G443 with an MSI PRO Z690-A WIFI (MS-7D25) Mobo. It doesn’t specify if it’s DDR4 Or DDR5, but mine came with DDR5 RAM. I tried flashing the bios for the DDR5 mobo and I got a prompt saying it wasn’t an MSI bios 🫠 I’ve never modified or installed an msi factory bios before on my pc either, so my understanding is that the bios you provided was specifically for PowerSpec, which should have worked. I also noticed the file type is different than the file type for the bios provided for the g443 in another thread. The Intel default bios is showing .AMG, but the bios that was provided for my model in another thread was .AMB? Am I doing something wrong? Or is the bios not correct for the PowerSpec G443 models?

PowerSpec_MikeW

@xXAstroXx

BIOS is correct. Try to download it again, make sure it's not corrupt. Make sure you extract it from the zip file.

Cynimun

@PowerSpec_MikeW
Do I need to change the power settings after applying today's BIOS update to prevent the voltage issues that were discovered? or is that addressed with the microcode update?

PowerSpec_MikeW

@Cynimun

Should be default, you can check the CPU Cooler setting under the OC menu. It'll say Intel Defaults.

xXAstroXx

@PowerSpec_MikeW

I tried again after I redownloaded the bios update. I placed it on a usb flash drive instead of trying to install it directly from my C drive. Either the update was corrupt or the bios doesn’t like updating from the main drive.

PowerSpec_MikeW

@xXAstroXx

I would always update from a flash drive.

JerryRaia

I flashed my MSI MPG Z790 EDGE WIFI with the HM8 update then turned XMP back on. What about the CPU boost? Is it good to turn that on after all of these issues?

PowerSpec_MikeW

@JerryRaia

Up to you. With this update basically Intel capped the max VCore at 1.55v. So it'll never hit the voltage levels that were causing degradation. Which was generally happening on initial loads. Say when you first load into a game, and there's a large amount of data being loaded and a heavy load from the GPU placed on the CPU.

And it really depends on what you're doing. Gaming at 4K doesn't put a lot of load on the CPU. CPU usage scales downwards as resolution and graphics quality increases. Less frames for the CPU to process. So the load is more on the GPU at that point.

Truthbringer

msi mpg z790 edge wifi released a non beta 0x129 microcode update today. I have beta installed. Is this new one different than the 8/14 powerspec one?

PowerSpec_MikeW

@Truthbringer

Ours is based off of the beta. There should not be any changes between our custom and the new release on 8/22.

CJ6122

Curious why the current bios version for the MSI Pro Z690 boards (E7D25IZ1.AMH) drops the P Core clocks of a 14900k to 5.7 instead of the 5.8 as they should be. The two cores that boost to 6.0 are correct but the rest are not. Easy enough to alter but is this intended?

PowerSpec_MikeW

@CJ6122

BIOS sets the Intel default power limits. 253W PL1=PL2 rather than being uncapped. That will somewhat limit the maximum clock frequency within those power limits. The P Core turbo boosts are up to, and not guaranteed. I'd play around with CPU Lite Load and undervolting the processor.

MrDrew

Hello, I really need help. 14900KF crashing all the time when using 3D design program, totally reboots w/o notice. I updated BIOS recently from MSI (E7D25IMS.AJ0, 8/15/2024) but don't know if I should use the BIOS listed here now? It includes Intel stuff, right? Don't know if I should bring in PC to look at possible CPU replacement? Thank you so much. @PowerSpec_MikeW

MSI_SnapShot.bmp

PowerSpec_MikeW

@MrDrew

Our BIOS is based on AJ. No major changes besides some customizations to secure boot settings and fan curves. Is there a BSOD or does the PC just restart itself?

MrDrew

@PowerSpec_MikeW There is just sudden reboot, no BSOD. I had also tried other stuff like disabling hyperthreading and reducing p-core to like 53 from 57…all from other suggestions/sites over the months. Wondering if I should try your BIOS and if it includes the new microcode (no experience with that—-is that just BIOS?). Maybe your BIOS also resets various stuff to correct settings?

PowerSpec_MikeW

@MrDrew

It has defaults we set, you can certainly check it out. Degraded CPU should just cause instability, it should log crash dumps. You can check C:\Windows\minidump and see if there are any dumps at all. That would be interesting to know. Always possible whatever causes the restart knocks out your GPU first and there's a BSOD you just can't see. The crash dumps or event viewer logs would tell you that.

Truthbringer

@PowerSpec_MikeW

Any word on what they are doing for warranty. If its not extended on processor now that firmware fix is out I am debating to get my chip replaced. If the warranty on chips are extended on prebuilt I will take my chances for I have not had a crash since firmware updates.

PowerSpec_MikeW

@Truthbringer

5 years on affected Intel CPU's, same as the retail Intel warranty. This is for the CPU only, the rest of the system is still 1 year.

MrDrew

@PowerSpec_MikeW I see only one file in minidump. But it is from May 2024….nothing since. I don't think it is BSOD because I can see all the fans/everything crash instantly and then reboot very quickly to Windows login screen. Where should I go for help with Event Viewer logs?

PowerSpec_MikeW

@MrDrew

Custom views, administrative events. Look at what happens before the Kernel-Power code 41.

B007

@PowerSpec_MikeW

Hey Mike, do you know when the new BIOS will be released for the MSI Pro Z690-A WIFI DDR4?

PowerSpec_MikeW

@B007

It's on a fairly long to do list. I'll try to get it up for testing in the next week or two. MSI has an official BIOS: https://download.msi.com/bos_exe/mb/7D25v1J.zip

All we'll change is setting the secure boot mode to maximum security and making sure the fan headers set to PWM for optimal noise levels with the built in fan controller.

MrDrew

https://community.microcenter.com/discussion/comment/56704#Comment_56704

EV359.png

@PowerSpec_MikeW It just happened, crashed/rebooted. 3:59 PM. Thermal zone info was last event before Kernal-Power 41. See attached. I'm on a PowerSpec prebuilt G474.

PowerSpec_MikeW

@MrDrew

So that event is generated when the system boots back up. Look lower, see what happened a minute or so before that error.