The Core i9-14900K, one of Intel’s flagship 14th Gen CPUs, may perform up to 11% slower on ASUS motherboards when the Intel Baseline Profile is enabled, according to new tests that show how the newly introduced profile, which comprises Intel’s recommended settings and a lower power limit, performs in comparison to ASUS’ defaults. ASUS introduced the Intel Baseline Profile as part of a new BIOS update for its Z790 and B760 motherboards over the weekend, following complaints from users about the instability they were seeing in Intel’s 13th Gen and 14th Gen Core processors.
Profiles and power limit differences:
- ASUS MultiCore Enhancement: Auto
- PL1: 253 watts
- PL2: 4,095 watts
- ASUS MultiCore Enhancement: Disabled – Enforce All Limits, Intel’s Fail Safe
- PL1: 253 watts
- PL2: 253 watts
Performance differences include:
- Cinebench R23 (single): -1%
- Cinebench R23 (multi): -9%
- Blender: -8%
- y-cruncher (multi, 500 million digits): -11%
- F1 2024: -8%
- Shadow of the Tomb Raider (720p, Ultra): -8%
- Starfield (720p, High): -8%
A look at the new profile option within the BIOS:
ROG Maximus Z790 Dark Hero BIOS notes:
- “The update introduces the Intel Baseline Profile option, allowing users to revert to Intel factory default settings for basic functionality, lower power limits, and improving stability in certain games.”
- “Updating this BIOS will simultaneously update the corresponding intel ME to version 16.1.30.2307.”
- “Please note after you update this BIOS, the ME version remains the updated one even if you roll back to an older BIOS later.”
- “Before running the USB BIOS Flashback tool, please rename the BIOS file (A5469.CAP) using BIOSRenamer.”
hardwareLUXX on its performance findings:
In both games and multi-threaded applications, the performance of the Core i9-14900K is between 8 and 9% lower with the Intel fail-safe limits. In some games (like ours in Control) you won’t notice any difference at all. But three out of four tests show a slightly reduced performance in the CPU limit. As soon as you move within the GPU limit, there will no longer be any noticeable difference.