[SOLVED] New CPU Throttling (i9-14900K)

[SemkeHG]

Hi,

Just last night I replaced my i7-13700kf (Fried through 8 months of abuse with the Intel stuff) with a new i9-14900k.

The system runs fine and at first I didn't notice any problems, it's completely usable and doesn't crash. The throttling is clear during benchmarks/stress tests.

• Intel XTU (CPU Stress Test): Instant Current and Power Throttling on test start however, no thermal throttling?
• Cinebench (Multithread): Constant Thermal throttling a couple seconds after test start.

Extra things to note:
- BIOS has been updated to the newest official version and default settings set.
- The CPU has been running at 5700MHz-6000MHz right from the first boot and stays there even while idle on 2%-3% load (Not sure if this is normal).
- Idle temps are around 35 C - 45 C.

Full specs: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/KXHqL9

I am not sure where to even begin with the troubleshooting as I am not well versed enough to know whether this is a power issue or a thermal issue with both tests showing either one or the other. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Lutfij]

From my observation, you should've looked at a 360mm AIO at the very least to cool your processor, now that you went with an i9.

BIOS has been updated to the newest official version and default settings set.
Did you clear the CMOS after verifying your BIOS was flashed to the latest version?

 

[Phaaze88]

The throttling is clear during benchmarks/stress tests.

That's a given result for running those programs on an unlocked i9 running on auto settings, such as vcore.
This can still happen with a 360mm AIO.

Even though you updated bios, there's still the question about which power delivery profile the motherboard is running after doing so:

Spoiler

* Baseline Power Delivery Profiles are not recommended for 13th and 14th Gen K SKU Processors
Hwinfo will allow you to see how much power the cpu is drawing.

• Intel XTU (CPU Stress Test): Instant Current and Power Throttling on test start however, no thermal throttling?
• Cinebench (Multithread): Constant Thermal throttling a couple seconds after test start.

One runs the harder AVX instructions by default, the other doesn't.

I am not sure where to even begin with the troubleshooting as I am not well versed enough to know whether this is a power issue or a thermal issue with both tests showing either one or the other. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

There's really nothing to troubleshoot. You just jumped the gun a bit fast.
If these tests represent how you're going to use the cpu, then I'd say you have a little tinkering to do - a larger cooler would make it more manageable though.
If they don't, then leave it be.

 

[SemkeHG]

From my observation, you should've looked at a 360mm AIO at the very least to cool your processor, now that you went with an i9.

BIOS has been updated to the newest official version and default settings set.
Did you clear the CMOS after verifying your BIOS was flashed to the latest version?

I did consider a larger AIO however after some research saw that this may be good enough for now and i'd look to invest in one later.

That's a given result for running those programs on an unlocked i9 running on auto settings, such as vcore.
This can still happen with a 360mm AIO.

Even though you updated bios, there's still the question about which power delivery profile the motherboard is running after doing so:

I did just try resetting the CMOS, and also setting the "Intel Profile" to performance as it was previously on extreme. Of course i'm not looking to run this CPU into the ground.

This time around I noticed that the Current/EDP Throttling is actually happening even on idle, this is syncing up with some "Performance Limit Reasons" under hwinfo, which I cannot decode.. Reference below:

https://imgur.com/a/jzJEgYL

View: https://imgur.com/a/jzJEgYL

 

[SemkeHG]

Managed to at least fix the constant Current/EDP Throttling by disabling Intel default settings in BIOS, currently just running using a GIGABYTE PerfDrive config with MCE off, no longer throttles on idle. Still not perfect, will need to look at the OC settings as perfdrive is automatically OCing

 

[SemkeHG]

Have this sorted now, can do a full multithreaded Cinebench run without any throttling and decent score.

- Disabled Intel Defaults in BIOS
- Disabled MCE
- Small Undervolt and brought down to 5.4GHz

 

[Misgar]

The throttling is clear during benchmarks/stress tests.

Running AVX stress tests is a bit like pointing your car down a steep hill and pushing the accelerator to the floor. The engine will hit the rev limiter in top gear. They're designed to "throttle". Let's hope the new microcode "fix" will prevent your 14900K degrading over time.

 

[SemkeHG]

Running AVX stress tests is a bit like pointing your car down a steep hill and pushing the accelerator to the floor. The engine will hit the rev limiter in top gear. They're designed to "throttle". Let's hope the new microcode "fix" will prevent your 14900K degrading over time.

Fair enough, that makes sense. Was worth looking into regardless as it made me notice the Current throttling even on idle, which I think even I can deduce isn't normal

 

[Misgar]

The CPU has been running at 5700MHz-6000MHz right from the first boot and stays there even while idle on 2%-3% load (Not sure if this is normal).

My problem is I don't have a recent Intel CPU to check your figures but I've seen high clock frequencies on my rigs (including 3800X and 7950X) when "idling" after startup. I suspect this is due to Windows checking for Updates online. 5 to 10 minutes after booting, the Update check completes and CPU frequencies drop significantly.

The 2% to 3% load you see in Task Manager is probably an average figure. There may be bursts of *invisible" activity up to 100%, potentially keeping the CPU clock rate high. It's only when this "bursty" activity ends that CPU frequencies drop. Try CPUID HWMonitor to see a more "instantaneous" rate.

High clock frequencies are not the same as "throttling" which is a term I associated with the CPU reaching its upper temperature limit, i.e. 100°C for modern Intel and 95°C/90°C for modern AMD. My old Phenom 965 crashes above 60°C. We have another 40°C of headroom these days.

I don't run any "overclocking" on my 3800X and 7950X apart from XMP, but I do overclock most of my older Intel and AMD chips. This 2-core Pentium G3258 I'm using at the moment is running at 4.1GHz (mild overclock) instead of 3.2GHz stock. I keep Vcore in check for longer life.

Modern Intel and AMD chips are already overclocked out-of-the-box and bounce off the upper temperature limit (rev limiter) with significant multi-thread loads.

I prefer stability on 24hour+ rendering runs with my 7950X. I could cut the these times by a small amount with AMD PBO, but it's not worth the risk of a failed run.

Good luck with your experiments.

 

[SemkeHG]

My problem is I don't have a recent Intel CPU to check your figures but I've seen high clock frequencies on my rigs (including 3800X and 7950X) when "idling" after startup. I suspect this is due to Windows checking for Updates online. 5 to 10 minutes after booting, the Update check completes and CPU frequencies drop significantly.

The 2% to 3% load you see in Task Manager is probably an average figure. There may be bursts of *invisible" activity up to 100%, potentially keeping the CPU clock rate high. It's only when this "bursty" activity ends that CPU frequencies drop. Try CPUID HWMonitor to see a more "instantaneous" rate.

High clock frequencies are not the same as "throttling" which is a term I associated with the CPU reaching its upper temperature limit, i.e. 100°C for modern Intel and 95°C/90°C for modern AMD. My old Phenom 965 crashes above 60°C. We have another 40°C of headroom these days.

I don't run any "overclocking" on my 3800X and 7950X apart from XMP, but I do overclock most of my older Intel and AMD chips. This 2-core Pentium G3258 I'm using at the moment is running at 4.1GHz (mild overclock) instead of 3.2GHz stock. I keep Vcore in check for longer life.

Modern Intel and AMD chips are already overclocked out-of-the-box and bounce off the upper temperature limit (rev limiter) with significant multi-thread loads.

I prefer stability on 24hour+ rendering runs with my 7950X. I could cut the these times by a small amount with AMD PBO, but it's not worth the risk of a failed run.

Good luck with your experiments.

It actually ended up just being overclocked in the BIOS by default, due to GIGABYTE PerfDrive profiles, even with the Intel default settings. I've turned down the clock speeds and undervolted so all good now.