[SOLVED] Best settings for an i9 - 11900k ?

[Kkehlet88]

Hi,

I just got myself an i9 -1900k and I need some advise regarding fine tuning my settings primarily in BIOS, from someone who is actually running this CPU.

My specs are;

ASUS Tuf Z490-plus (BIOS updated)
Corsair 750W (Gold)
i9 11900k - Kraken X63
ASUS 3080 Tuf
64 GB Corsair Vengeance 3200mhz CL18

For now i’m not interested in an “actual” overclocking yet. I know that you can boost this CPU with settings like XMP1, Multi core enhancement and Adaptive boost technology without having to OC. But how are these settings compared to OC’ing ? And which should be turned on ?

Thanks in advance

 

[Eximo]

XMP if you want your memory to run at the rated speed.

Multicore enhancement is a type of overclocking. Forces the boost frequency on all cores, this require a lot of power and may lead to overheating/instability without a proper overclocking.

Adaptive boost is the default behavior as far as I know.

 

[Kkehlet88]

Thanks for the answer.

I had to enable Adaptive turbo Technology in my BIOS. Not enabled out of the box..

But what combination is good here ? I’m quite scared about MCE since I know this CPU pulls a lot of power and runs pretty hot.

 

[rakibfahadgts]

It's the silicone lottery. Two units won't be identical. Also you have average Rams. That cas latency is below average

 

[TerryLaze]

Thanks for the answer.

I had to enable Adaptive turbo Technology in my BIOS. Not enabled out of the box..

But what combination is good here ? I’m quite scared about MCE since I know this CPU pulls a lot of power and runs pretty hot.

This CPU draws as much power as you tell it to.
Almost all reviews only show you power draw with unlocked limits and only show you the max instead of the average W.

If you have Pl1 and Pl2 in bios then pl1 should be 125W , pl2 251W , and the tau 56 sec. tau is how long the pl2 should be allowed for at most.
This will result in an average power draw of around 125W even with MCE enabled because MCE will stick to those limits.

Also you can enable anything and then monitor power draw with desktop apps like hardware info and the likes, so if you see more power than you like you can change it back.

 

[Kkehlet88]

Thanks for the answers..

So at “Stock” bios with XMP1, adaptive boost Technology and MCE enabled it should not be a problem ?

Also how much would it benefit me to switch to these rams ?
Crucial Ballistix DDR4-3600 C16 DC - Black RGB - 16GB

 

[Finnegan1616]

Thanks for the answers..

So at “Stock” bios with XMP1, adaptive boost Technology and MCE enabled it should not be a problem ?

Also how much would it benefit me to switch to these rams ?
Crucial Ballistix DDR4-3600 C16 DC - Black RGB - 16GB

you could probably get better RAM than that (like the G.Skill trident Z RGB)

but ram can affect performance a bit

 

[geofelt]

I have played with this some.

Short conclusion: Do not bother trying to "fine tune"
The 11900k is a very strong processor and any improvement is not likely to be noticeable.

The value in overclocking comes if you have the kind of app that can run all 16 threads full out. Since you have a 3080, I would guess that gaming is more important.
For that, you are likely better off to let the turbo mechanism do it's job and boost a few cores past what a overclock on all cores could do.

If you remove the power limits, power usage can increase dramatically.
I have things connected to a APC 1500 ups.
I monitor power usage with their power cute app.
As I type this, I am using 363 watts.
If I now start up cpu-Z and do a stress test, the power usage goes up to 588 Watts.
I keep the power limits to normal.
FWIW, My Noctua NH-D15s keeps my cpu temperatures to about 85c.



On ram, faster ram is not likely to help meaningfully.
But, go ahead and use xmp to let it run at the advertised 3200 speed.

 

[Kkehlet88]

And what do you mean by removing the power limits?

 

[geofelt]

And what do you mean by removing the power limits?

In my bios there is an option to remove limitations on the amount of power that the cpu can draw. This can be done if you are overclocking highly.
It is found in the settings for overclocking.
The default power limit, is to my mind, aggressive enough.

 

[Kkehlet88]

Im not going to touch that.. Only Multi core enhancement, but that has nothing to with power limits ?

 

[Kkehlet88]

I still need some help to understand / find out what to enable here.
So far I have touched the following in BIOS.

XMP1
Adaptive Boost Technology = Enabled
Asus Multicore Enchantment = Enabled (remove all limits)

Intel Speedstep = Auto
Intel SpeedShift = Auto
Intel Turbo Boost Max Technology 3.0 = Enabled
Turbo Made = Enabled

CPU C-states = Auto
Thermal Monitor = Enabled
Dual Tau Boost = Disabled

Can anyone elaborate on, if these settings are fine, or if there is something I need to change up ?

Thanks.

 

[Phaaze88]

ABT and MCE are both auto OCs.
MCE is fixed and runs all cores at the cpu's all core turbo.
ABT is dynamic; it does not have a guaranteed boost threshold like MCE does. Silicon quality, cooling, and power delivery all influence what you get with this one.
Needless to say, both of these demand more power consumption and requested voltage than simply leaving Turbo Boost + Thermal Velocity Boost enabled, and running a balanced power plan.
Well, you could offset that power consumption with a negative Vcore offset, but the same also works for TB + TVB + balanced plan; just as snappy and runs cooler.
It's up to you what you want to do... MCE is pretty useless though...

Speed Step and Speed Shift. These are both power saving features, one is software based(Step), the other hardware(Shift).
No need to have them both enabled. Shift is the superior 'Speed'.
I am not sure if either works with ABT or MCE enabled. Someone else may be able to clarify.

Max 3.0. Enabled.
It's first implementation in X299 via a downloadable driver was a buggy mess. It broke on me pretty often, so I ended up removing it - not that it did much for me anyway.
With the more modern chips, the driver is run through Windows. This one should be more stable.

Turbo Mode. Of course, you leave this on, unless you want the cpu to run no higher than the base clock..?

C-states. Enabled, unless you're going to set a static operating frequency. Not sure if it works with MCE.

Thermal monitor. Leave enabled, unless you want the cpu to ignore its thermal limits for some crazy reason...

Dual Tau Boost. Unsure, but Searching seems to imply that this is another power saving feature. Probably don't need this enabled on top of Speed Shift...

 

[Kkehlet88]

ABT and MCE are both auto OCs.
MCE is fixed and runs all cores at the cpu's all core turbo.
ABT is dynamic; it does not have a guaranteed boost threshold like MCE does. Silicon quality, cooling, and power delivery all influence what you get with this one.
Needless to say, both of these demand more power consumption and requested voltage than simply leaving Turbo Boost + Thermal Velocity Boost enabled, and running a balanced power plan.
Well, you could offset that power consumption with a negative Vcore offset, but the same also works for TB + TVB + balanced plan; just as snappy and runs cooler.
It's up to you what you want to do... MCE is pretty useless though...

Speed Step and Speed Shift. These are both power saving features, one is software based(Step), the other hardware(Shift).
No need to have them both enabled. Shift is the superior 'Speed'.
I am not sure if either works with ABT or MCE enabled. Someone else may be able to clarify.

Max 3.0. Enabled.
It's first implementation in X299 via a downloadable driver was a buggy mess. It broke on me pretty often, so I ended up removing it - not that it did much for me anyway.
With the more modern chips, the driver is run through Windows. This one should be more stable.

Turbo Mode. Of course, you leave this on, unless you want the cpu to run no higher than the base clock..?

C-states. Enabled, unless you're going to set a static operating frequency. Not sure if it works with MCE.

Thermal monitor. Leave enabled, unless you want the cpu to ignore its thermal limits for some crazy reason...

Dual Tau Boost. Unsure, but Searching seems to imply that this is another power saving feature. Probably don't need this enabled on top of Speed Shift...

Thank you very much for this elaborate answer Phaaze! Much appreciated..

So basically i’m pretty good set by disable SpeedStep, enable SpeedShift and setting C-states to enable instead of Auto ?

 

[Phaaze88]

Yes.

 

[Kkehlet88]

Yes.

What is the difference between having c-states to auto or enable ?

 

[Phaaze88]

None really. Enabled is like a solid 'yes' answer, and more my own personal preference.
Auto 'should be' yes too, based on the other settings.