Asus Prime X299-a & i9-7900x: can't figure out settings for "stock operation"

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sefsefsefsef

Senior member
Jun 21, 2007
218
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Hi, I built a PC with the specs in the title, and I can't get the 7900x to run at what should be its "stock" settings. I'm running the latest Mobo BIOS (0802). I've been running it overclocked, but it gets pretty hot and loud (at 4.3GHz for 8 of the cores, 4.6GHz for 2 of the cores), and so I want to try it at stock. This has proved harder than it should be.

When I run the CPU at stock, I am *expecting* it to turbo to 4.3GHz on 1-2 cores, 4.1GHz on 3-4 cores, and to 4.0GHz on 10 cores. However, I'm *never* seeing any clocks go above 4.0GHz, even for single-thread Cinebench runs. I am aware of Asus multi-core enhancement, and I've tried running with this auto and disabled, and that doesn't seem to have any effect. I've tried playing with every other setting I can imagine might have an effect, but nothing helps.

Ideally, I would like to live in a world where Turbo Boost 2.0 and 3.0 both work, but first I want to get 2.0 sorted out. For the record, enabling or disabling TB 3.0 doesn't have any effect in any of these combinations either. Any suggestions on what I should try next? Thanks.
 
R

RLGL

Platinum Member
Jan 8, 2013
2,113
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If the X299 bios is like the bios for the Z170 , pressing F5 while in the settings menu should set the system defaults. Save and exit F10 . After the restart make sure it is running at the "stock" settings.
 
S

sefsefsefsef

Senior member
Jun 21, 2007
218
1
71
I guess I should have mentioned that I already tried resetting BIOS and loading optimized defaults. The problem is that the defaults do not actually do what Intel says should be normal (and toggling Asus MCE doesn't make a difference either).

I thought I had tried all the basic stuff, but I never tried putting Windows power management into Balanced mode. That didn't fix it, but it got me one step closer to something livable (see below).

Here's the current situation. When you open up CPU-Z, it shows the range core ratios that your CPU can do. For the i9-7900x, it shows 12-43. All I want is to have some combination of settings where I see that full spectrum (12-43), depending on the load and how many threads are being used (idle at 12, single thread workload at 43, and 10 core workload at 40, as advertised). The problem that I'm seeing is that for "stock" settings, the multiplier never, ever goes above 40, even for single thread workloads.

Yesterday, I discovered that if I disabled MCE, turned the core ratio to "Sync all cores," but then didn't specify what core ratio I wanted (leaving it on Auto), then the CPU would clock its cores at a ratio of 33 if the core was idle, or 45 (the Max Turbo Boost 3.0 speed) if the core had work assigned to it (regardless of the number of active cores). Today, on the suggestion of checking the power management, I decided to try turning it to Balanced mode. Now in Balanced mode, with the BIOS settings that were giving me ratios of 33 and 45, I'm now seeing ratios from 12-45, still 2 above what I'd really like, but at least it's idling at a very low ratio, and going to a very high ratio when there's work to do. Now the only downside is that at 4.5GHz, the CPU thermal throttles (cooled by a H115i) during the Intel XTU memory stress test, but it doesn't seem to do this for normal workloads or gaming (or the Intel XTU CPU stress test).

I'm moderately satisfied with this outcome, but I would like to be able to have a truly "stock" experience. If anyone has any other suggestions, I'm very eager to try them. Thanks again.
 
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