Bug in B660 bios cpu voltage offset

[trihy]

Hi. I made several tickets on Asus support but there is no way to make them understand the problem.

There is a bug on b660 bios, on all b660 boards. And all 600 series. On z690 is less visible cause there is adaptive voltage, which most people use. On b660 there is only offset.

Problem is, setting a CPU voltage offset of -0.005 will cause ramdon freeze at idle. As you increase the offset, the random freeze ratio will increase.

Also setting + offset will do the same.

This is because applying any offset will cause more than -0.200mv drop at idle.

This was happening on msi boards too and was fixed with a bios update.

Thread on msi forums https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?threads/msi-b660-tomahawk-ddr4-cpu-core-voltage-offset.372022/



Please someone from Asus explain why cpu voltage drops to 0.300 or less when using default bios settings. Lowest per spec value is 0.700 for alder lake.

Thanks.

[Shosiu]

Hi,
Sorry for the delay, but I was finally able to gather necessary information.
All the issues were with the special bios I got from you via private chat.
I found the source of freezing issue with negative offset - it was "Max Power Saving" option, which sets C-State limit to C10. It was causing freezing issues whenever I tried to load system. When changed to default C6, then I was able to boot system with negative offset. For all the other tests below, when C-State is enabled, it's with C6 value.
Negative offset for all the tests was set to 0.08V ("Actual VRM Core Voltage" option in BIOS set to "Offset Mode", "Offset Mode Sign" set to "-" and "CPU Core Voltage offset" was "0.08").
My setup:
i5 12500, Kingston Fury Beast 2x16GB 6000Mhz KF560C40BBK2-32, RTX 3060, Corsair SF750 Platinum, OS drive - Kioxia Exceria Plus 2TB
Os version: Windows 10 PRO, 21H2
Cinebench R23, APE Enabled, C-State Enabled, no offset:


Cinebench R23, APE Disabled, C-State Enabled, offset 0.08V:


Cinebench R23, APE Disabled, C-State Disabled, offset 0.08V:


Cinebench R23, APE Enabled, C-State Disabled, offset 0.08V:

[STARRAIN_ROG]

Hi Shosiu,
Thank you for your reply but sorry I'm still a little confused. Could you please help to check the following conditions?
Looks like you can boot into windows to run Cinebench R23 on the special bios with APE Enabled, C-State Disabled, offset 0.08V and APE Disabled, C-State Enabled, offset 0.08V. Not sure why you said "With negative offset (APE disabled, C-states enabled), I have freezing issues when loading system - it's not possible to load system at all."
Do you get "Max Power Saving" option, which sets C-State limit to C10 on the special bios with default settings and you have to set it to C6 manually to avoid freezing issue?
Thank you.

[Shosiu]

Hi,
Let me clarify: When I have everything stock, I can turn on "Max Power Saving" option in bios, which sets "Package C State Limit" to C10 (by default, when Max Power Saving is turned off, this value is set as C6). Saying "Everything stock" I mean APE Enabled and C-State enabled.
However, if I set any negative offset, then Package C State Limit must be changed to C6, as C10 causes freezes during system load.
All the Cinebench results I posted previously, were done with C-State Limit set as "C6" (of course only in those scenarios, where C-State was enabled).
Is that clear now?

[STARRAIN_ROG]

Hi Shosiu,
If you disable "Max Power Saving" option in bios and make "Package C State Limit" as default C6, do you have freezing issue on the special bios?
The Cinebench R23 screenshots you provided are with "Max Power Saving" option disabled and "Package C State Limit" is default C6?
Only adjust APE, C-State, offset options you mentioned above the screenshots?
Thank you.

[Shosiu]

If I have "Max Power Saving " disabled with Package C State Limit set as C6, no freezing issue is present.
The screenshots I attached are made with "Max Power Saving" disabled, but I've just repeated them all with "Max Power Saving" enabled and results are the same.

[STARRAIN_ROG]

Hi Shosiu,
Thank you for your confirmation.
I'll consult our tech team more about it.

[c00LhaNd]

Is it possible that Asus B660 has a power level bug? I have a i7-12700 on the B660-G. As soon as I make any setting in the AI ​​Tweaker area that affects the CPU in any way my power level is immediately limited to half (!!)... Means, e.g. even setting the Performance Core Ratio from "Auto" to "Sync All Core" has the effect. Result, normaly I have around 200W at full load in Prime. As soon as I set something I only have a maximum of 110W and therefore a good 50% loss of performance. 😞 "OC" is possible with it, but it just does the exact opposite -> less performance. I've tried all the bios versions including beta versions but still the same problem with all of them. Anyone have any ideas?

[STARRAIN_ROG]

Hi c00LhaNd,
Do you compare performance between bios all default settings(no OC) and adjusted settings in AI Tweaker on bios 1620?
In addition to Performance Core Ratio, do you adjust other settings?
Could you please share as screenshot of the results of your testing?
Thank you.

[STARRAIN_ROG]

Hi Shosiu,
After consulted our tech team, higher performance needs higher voltage, so it will affect performance if you set cpu voltage offset -0.08V.
If you would like to adjust it, we would suggest to lower the value.
Thank you.

[Shosiu]

Hi,
Sorry, but I don't buy this explanation - whatever voltage offset I choose, CPU still has 4.1GHz but different performance.
The more voltage offset I set in BIOS, the worse CPU performs - still being clocked the same.
That way, undervolting does not exist on this motherboard and I can't keep same performance and just lower voltage and power consumption.
For me that's big disappointment.