Consider disabling MCE if it's causing issues or disruptions.
Consider disabling MCE if it's causing issues or disruptions.
I'm setting up my PC this week. My configuration includes a 10900K Maximus XIII Corsair Vengeance Pro with 32GB RAM at 3200MHz (two 16GB modules). I'm using it solely for gaming, and I don't plan to overclock. I'm not very interested in modifying the hardware. I'm still unsure about MCE settings—I've looked up comparisons on YouTube but didn't find any relevant results. I understand that MCE will likely draw more power and generate more heat than intended. I'd prefer to avoid this if possible, especially if the performance gain isn't significant. Should I enable or disable it? As with other ASUS boards, I'm confused about the Auto, Enable, Disable options—what do they actually mean? Lastly, I noticed two XMP profiles now appear? What's the difference between them? I didn't see this on my machine, but I saw it in a video from a Maximus board.
Consider testing this independently. Benchmarks from others may not fit your situation due to differences in silicon quality. Record any useful performance gains and decide if the extra heat and power usage justify it for you.
The 360mm should help control it, but according to @Den-Fi, assess your risk-reward. If your PSU has limited wattage capacity, I wouldn't power it up—it would simply cut off the PC during power surges. Adding more RAM and a better board can be useful if you're dealing with unstable profiles.
mce is merely a slow component; disable it unless you prefer all other functions active.
I believe my PSU should be okay. It’s a SuperFlower 1000W Leadex Platinum model, but I’m aware that SuperFlower has released several generations already. I haven’t opened it yet, unsure if it’s one of the older models (doesn’t matter much). The price I paid was quite low, which made me doubt it. Probably best to test it myself, as you suggested.
On the ASUS board, disabling settings seems straightforward. Enable likely just removes all restrictions, while Auto lets the BIOS optimize things automatically. By default, it’s set to Auto, which is also considered “on.” If I understand correctly, Enable would override those defaults, whereas Auto handles everything on its own.
MCE has existed for at least the eighth generation—by the eighth and ninth it mainly drops power caps and ties everything to a single-core turbo. The approach shifts in the tenth gen, since MCE IIRC won’t factor in TVB, meaning the 10900K model is likely only 52x faster. On my 8700K I set each core to 4.7GHz (its default single-core boost) and pushed a massive 1.42v. For 5GHz I need 1.375v manually tuned, and hitting 5.1GHz with the same settings lands me there. If I enable the gaming enhancement on my Z590, it will attempt 5.3GHz across all cores at an unrealistic 1.56v.
This guide explains how to use Coffee Lake Turbo with an 8700K or 8600K.