Intel i9 14900K paired with an MSI motherboard
Intel i9 14900K paired with an MSI motherboard
From what I've observed, MSI hasn't invested much in their 14th generation BIOSes yet. On my Z690 Unify-X with a 13700K, memory speeds that were consistent before are now lacking in the latest BIOS with identical settings. To ensure compatibility, I stick to outdated BIOS versions (the last update prior to 14th gen support) rather than newer ones. It's similar to what happened when the 13th generation launched—initial updates had significant problems like being unable to boot at DDR5 6000, followed by CPU overclocking issues, and then fixes before further complications arose. Eventually, the situation stabilized after a few revisions.
I believe this adjustment was made because I lowered the BIOS settings. During a cinebench test using the same power constraints of 320 Watts, the voltage fluctuates around 1.35v instead of the expected 1.46v. The unusual behavior is that it occasionally spikes to 365 watts, whereas the latest BIOS would have maintained 320W without exceeding it.
Interesting. The issue could relate to the voltage mode settings. MSI offers two VRM configurations—VCC Sense and Socket Sense—which each provide slightly different measurements. It’s possible they default to a different setting on newer models. Neither setting is expected to reflect the actual CPU voltage, as both would likely cause overheating in Cinebench unless you were using direct die. These values might simply represent VID levels, which are often much higher than what the CPU actually uses, and manufacturers sometimes adjust these settings during BIOS updates. To determine the genuine voltage reading that matches between revisions, you’d typically refer to VR VOUT, though I’m unsure if that feature is available on your board.
It seemed the latest BIOS update was necessary. Restoring the old BIOS brought everything to auto mode, but it triggered thermal throttling and avoided a crash. Switching back to power limits of 320 Watts auto voltage worked well on the cine bench, reaching 39,000 without issues. I also noticed the overclock settings differ from my 12th-gen configuration in voltage and power constraints, which likely contributed to previous problems when I attempted to apply the same settings on the newer 14th-gen chip. Instead of using a fixed limit like 1.3 or 1.25 volts, this model requires a bit more power—around 1.43 volts.