Have you considered MSI Lite Load Control for Intel 13900k? It might help with stability and performance.
Have you considered MSI Lite Load Control for Intel 13900k? It might help with stability and performance.
Hi,
My main work PC is having huge issues. I have an Intel 13900k on an MSI MEG Z790 ACE board (96GB ram, two 48GB units). My Win 10 and many softwares (Chrome, Photoshop, Edge, Thunderbird, and many others) keep crashing (most of them just close with no error message), and Windows itself gets blue screens often as well.
I updated to the latest BIOS recently but maybe it was too late (I hope not I really don’t want to do the whole RMA thing – I don’t have the box and taking the CPU out just for the SN is not something I really wish to do not to mention what will I have to do without a CPU until I get the new one and this is a work PC).
I have very little knowledge on overclocking/underclocking, but I tried to read whatever I could, and I would love some help from people with more experience.
I tried Lite Load at 9 and disabled Intel Turbo Boost and Boost Technology 3.0 - this combination seemed to stop the crashing and the system is now stable, BUT it is about 1/2 the performance and I can't continue like that (what is the point of having a 13900K and getting 1/2 the speed).
So my question - what settings should I change in the BIOS to try and bring this PC to as stable as possible but keep more of the performance (I assume there will be a penalty, but I want to keep it as small as possible) - suggestions are very welcome!
Thanks in advance!
Id
The typical impression I have when hearing about 13th/14th Gen Intel processors paired with BSoD in the same discussion is
it's your hardware.
Intel's 12th Gen and newer CPUs use Performance and Efficiency cores. Windows 10 is not P & E core aware. Windows 11 can schedule tasks on the appropriate cores. Windows 10 does not have this ability. You can have a big performance hit when a task that should be running on a P core ends up being scheduled on a slower E core.
Instead of disabling Intel Turo Boost, try limiting the CPU so it uses the same maximum multiplier no matter how many Performance cores are active. You should be able to do this in the BIOS or you can use ThrottleStop to do this.
https://imgur.com/5jiXTPh
View: https://i.imgur.com/5jiXTPh.png
I would also use the Windows High Performance power plan. If this plan is hidden on your computer, you can use ThrottleStop to access it.
Running a CPU at a constant speed can increase stability. Some users that do not understand Intel CPUs think this is a terrible thing to do. As long as the C states are enabled in the BIOS, inactive cores will enter the low power C7 state. In this state cores are disconnected from the internal clock and they are disconnected from the voltage rail. Inactive cores are sitting at 0 MHz and 0 Volts. That is as good as it gets.
There is no need to use the Windows Balanced power plan to slow a CPU down. Some tiny power savings is not important if your computer is constantly crashing.
Interesting - I had no idea win 11 has any real performence advantage (of this sort) over win 10.
Anyway, I am on 10 and will probably not upgrade until Windows 12 is at least 6 months without any major bugs.
Back to what you wrote.
Do you know how to limit the CPU in the BIOS? I am unfamiliar with the different settings, and I don't want to accidentally change something I should not.
I downloaded ThrottleStop and activated high performance (maybe it's indeed easier to limit it from here - there is a set multiplier, but I am not sure what number to choose (it is currently at 63T - what is this?).
Not sure what all this paragraph means exactly (a bit over my head) -
Running a CPU at a constant speed can increase stability. Some users that do not understand Intel CPUs think this is a terrible thing to do. As long as the C states are enabled in the BIOS, inactive cores will enter the low power C7 state. In this state cores are disconnected from the internal clock and they are disconnected from the voltage rail. Inactive cores are sitting at 0 MHz and 0 Volts. That is as good as it gets.
Do I need to do something beyond limiting the CPU and High Performance in your opinion?
Thanks for all the suggestions btw!
ID
Post screenshots of the ThrottleStop FIVR and TPL interfaces to help you understand the available options.
This was a method used by Intel CPUs previously. It is seldom applied anymore. If this feature isn’t active on your system, it will be disabled in ThrottleStop, preventing any changes.
Certain applications can boost performance by 30% to 40% when scheduled correctly on a Performance core. This behavior occurs automatically with Windows 11. Scheduling settings are inconsistent with Windows 10.
I’m not acquainted with your motherboard BIOS. Check for turbo ratio or turbo group configurations.
Begin by performing these steps and assess your system’s stability. Many issues stem from the default turbo values Intel chose. To stay competitive with AMD, Intel pushed their CPUs to near-stable limits. You may tolerate this initially, but after a year you could face frequent crashes.
When your computer is idle on the desktop, ThrottleStop will indicate whether low-power C states are active and in use. Cores can reach over 99% utilization in the C7 state if background processes aren’t consuming much resources.
Sorry for the delayed response – this is our main work PC and I often can’t test it.
Here’s an image of my ThrottleStop: https://ibb.co/qtDBwB6
My C7 is 0% while my C6 is around 99% in idle – not sure what that means...
I haven’t made any other changes because I’m unsure what to adjust, and my PC isn’t stable with any of the Intel boost enabled.
Share pictures of the other ThrottleStop windows as well. The FIVR and TPL windows are the key ones. A screenshot of the C States window when idle on the desktop would also be helpful. Have you checked the BIOS for turbo groups or turbo ratios? Using Disable Turbo to reduce CPU speed will actually slow it down significantly.
Hi,
Additional details to share:
1. I refreshed the BIOS once more and also reset it completely to ensure a fresh start (the newest BIOS for my MSI Z790 was just released).
2. I executed Cinebench2024 and achieved approximately 1850, though HWiNFO 64 indicates thermal throttling. I’m using fan control and set the auto to full speed, but at the default Intel settings, certain cores still hit 100°C. I’m using a Noctua NH-U12A, possibly because its performance isn’t sufficient compared to the NH-D15 I had before (I wanted to avoid water issues and noise was a priority). This is what I’m dealing with.
3. I didn’t modify anything in the BIOS after clearing it.
Where should we proceed next?
P.S. I also checked the MSI forum for others’ experiences—some users have different strategies, or at least this seems to be their approach. I’ll add my observations there as well.
https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?...-p...st-2331789