CUE 4 prevents CPU from entering C-States with Intel TVB technology.

[Astral85]

I have an i9 10900K processor + Asus Z590 Maximus XIII Hero motherboard. The i9 10900K has Intel TVB (thermal velocity boost) and thermal voltage optimization technologies. TVB allows the processor to reach core frequencies above the CPU max boost of 5.3Ghz if thermal conditions allow it. Thermal voltage optimization I belive is supposed to work in part with adaptive voltage but I don't fully understand the mechanism.

 

The point I am raising is that when CUE 4 software is running with these technologies enabled CUE 4 is preventing the CPU from entering low power C-States and downclocking while idle. Simply exiting CUE 4 will see the CPU enter into it's normal low power C-States.

 

The issue also in part seems related to "per core overclocking" on Asus motherboards. When the BIOS is set to "sync all cores" instead of per core - TVB is disabled - adaptive voltage is enabled, the CPU will enter low power C-States with CUE 4 running. When it is set back to "per core" the downclocking will stop. I also noticed (on my XIII Hero) that C-States has to be on AUTO to allow the CPU to enter C-States (with sync all cores) and CUE running. If C-States are set to manually enabled the CPU will not enter C-States.

 

I would like to know if the CUE software team can investigate as to why processors with Intel TVB technology are not entering low power C-States with the CUE 4 software. CUE software appears to keep making a call to the processor to keep it core frequency in boost clocks. What this results in is the CPU being kept in boost clocks at all times while idle with an unacceptable level of CPU voltage and power draw.

Edited May 12, 2021 by Astral85

[LeDoyen]

iCUE loads the CPU too much to let it downclock. that's a common issue that's been going on for years on iCUE 3 already. 4 is no different so far.

 

TVB being an automatic overclock, if you set manual OC you indeed disable it. Maybe it'll be easier to use Intel XTU to set your OC. it's not very clear in BIOS at least to me.

Also, 5.3ghz is the max clock WITH single core TVB, otherwise it's 5.2Ghz with the usual turbo boost stuff.

With all core TVB, the all core clocks go from 4.8 to 4.9Ghz.

 

If you want to go beyond that, you'll have to set a higher overclock table

[Astral85]

iCUE loads the CPU too much to let it downclock. that's a common issue that's been going on for years on iCUE 3 already. 4 is no different so far.

 

TVB being an automatic overclock, if you set manual OC you indeed disable it. Maybe it'll be easier to use Intel XTU to set your OC. it's not very clear in BIOS at least to me.

Also, 5.3ghz is the max clock WITH single core TVB, otherwise it's 5.2Ghz with the usual turbo boost stuff.

With all core TVB, the all core clocks go from 4.8 to 4.9Ghz.

 

If you want to go beyond that, you'll have to set a higher overclock table

 

 

CUE 4 does downclock under adaptive voltage mode with sync all cores and I made that clear in the original post. I know downclocking has been an issue in the past but Corsair must have addressed that some time ago because on my previous Z390/8700K system (which I only updated earlier this year) on adaptive voltage mode the CPU entered the correct idle C-states with CUE 3 running. I am raising the concern that technology's such as Intel TVB and voltage optimization cannot be used with CUE 4 because the software is not allowing this technology to use C-states correctly. I therefore hope Corsair can look into this...

 

TVB allows the CPU to boost core frequencies above the max turbo frequency if thermal conditions allow. Here is Intel's explanation, note "and multi core":

 

"Intel® Thermal Velocity Boost (Intel® TVB) is a feature that opportunistically and automatically increases clock frequency above single-core and multi-core Intel® Turbo Boost Technology frequencies based on how much the processor is operating below its maximum temperature and whether turbo power budget is available. The frequency gain and duration is dependent on the workload, capabilities of the processor and the processor cooling solution."

 

Thermal voltage optimization works on a formula of -100C to 0C increments. It is a little more complicated but the exact formula may be found here: https://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?106375-MCE-explanations-and-others TVB can be set to any ratio above 5.3Ghz if your CPU can run cool enough with voltage optimizations... A friend figured out his CPU would need to be under 30C to reach 5.7Ghz.

 

The main point I am getting to is the issue with these features and how they react with C-states and CUE 4 software...

Edited May 13, 2021 by Astral85