Jump to a different version of the Z390M BIOS (Performance drops with I7 9700K).
Jump to a different version of the Z390M BIOS (Performance drops with I7 9700K).
Hey, you're using a Z390 M-GAMING board with an F9m BIOS from the F7 version. After updating and doing some Cinebench tests, you noticed a drop of around 40 points. That’s not uncommon—BIOS updates can sometimes affect performance slightly. Running the F7 BIOS again might help restore your previous speed. Your current setup has an i7 9700K with 5GHz/4.7cache, so it's a solid configuration.
I wouldn't be too concerned about a 40 pt drop in Cinebench results. Other factors like background processes and processor temperature limits also matter, unless the chip has an automatic overclock setting.
Increase your cache frequency to 4.8ghz and observe the results.
I'm not sure if reverting BIOS versions can reverse microcode changes, but someone might have a better idea. In the end, you'll lose a minor percentage—like about 200 points in CBR23, which was roughly a 2% reduction from my 8700k after the 2018 Spectre update to the newer 2019 version—but it shouldn't affect you too much.