Image: Asus
A combination of AMD’s 3D V-Cache, AI, and multiple cores offers enthusiasts a bold new opportunity for tweaking the performance of their PCs. But a new Asus BIOS option, Asus AI Cache Boost, takes the potential complexity out of it all, offering double-digit performance increases just by enabling the Cache Boost option.
We’ve already discovered that you can boost the performance of a Ryzen AI Max processor by up to 60 percent just by adjusting the UMA frame buffer. The new Asus BIOS option offers a related tweak specifically for AMD Ryzen 9950X3D and 9900X3D processors.
Naturally, the performance varies depending upon the type of applications being run. Using benchmarks like Geekbench and UL’s Procyon benchmarks, the AI performance increase was fairly nominal: up to about 7.6 percent — though that’s all from just tweaking a BIOS setting. But when added to another Asus BIOS feature, known as Turbo Game Mode, Asus was able to dial up AI performance by almost 20 percent.
Here’s what AI Cache Boost does
Naturally, there are a few conditions, Asus said in a blog post announcing the new feature. For one, Asus is aiming the new increase at AI workloads specifically; gamers might not see the same effects on their frame rates — but that also means you can probably just leave the AI Cache Boost option enabled, Asus said. (If your games become unstable, turn it off.) Second, you’ll need an Asus AMD 800 series motherboard and a Ryzen 9000X3D series CPU. (Asus didn’t specify which motherboard models.)
Asus has put the new AI Cache Boost option inside the BIOS, under the “Extreme Tweaker” tab. From there, just enable AI Cache Boost, the company said.
What’s going on? Under the hood, Asus is overclocking the Infinity Fabric to 2,100MHz, which increases the data rates between CPU cores, cache, and memory.
Turbo Game Mode adjusts how the CPU itself runs. A Ryzen 9000 processor uses two Core Complex Dies, or CCDs; Turbo Game Mode disables one in the name of efficiency. It also turns off SMT, also known as multithreading. Combining the two modes is most effective when running a game or application that runs mainly on a few CPU threads, rather than the entirety of the processor.
To be fair, that’s not always the right choice, which is why Asus recommends that you know what application you’re running and how it will benefit. “Disabling a CCD and SMT has a significant impact on multithreaded performance, so we recommend that users only enable Turbo Game Mode when it benefits their current workflow,” Asus said.
You can refer back to the Asus post for the actual benchmark scores.
Modern processors simply offer more opportunities for adjusting performance, whether it be on a per-core level, using AI, or tweaking power inputs. But they can be confusing, and not worth the time nor potential risk to discover what works and what doesn’t. This feels like a smart addition to the hardware tweaker’s toolbox.
Author: Mark Hachman, Senior Editor, PCWorld
Mark has written for PCWorld for the last decade, with 30 years of experience covering technology. He has authored over 3,500 articles for PCWorld alone, covering PC microprocessors, peripherals, and Microsoft Windows, among other topics. Mark has written for publications including PC Magazine, Byte, eWEEK, Popular Science and Electronic Buyers’ News, where he shared a Jesse H. Neal Award for breaking news. He recently handed over a collection of several dozen Thunderbolt docks and USB-C hubs because his office simply has no more room.
