Decrease PL1 and PL2 on a 'locked' (non K) 12th gen CPU.

[minek]

Hello.

My question is: Is it possible to decrease PL1 and PL2 settings in 'locked' CPU like i7-12700 on Z960 board (which supports this settings).

I have a bigger desktop with Asrock Z960 and i9-12900K and I checked that it is possible. After changing in BIOS limit to for example 75/120 the power readings were exactly as set under full load. But it's a 'K' - unlocked CPU. In other words: Is it locked only in UP direction (more Volts, more MHz) or both (also DOWN).

I'm going to buy mini-itx board to upgrade my old home/storage server. Being happy with P/E cores I'd prefer to have more cores for this purpose than more MHz, that's why I'd choose i7 over i5 (yes, also thinking about i5-12xxxK which has some E-cores too and probably is tunable as well as my i9*K, but the non-K i7 has a lower "base" MHz which is fine and enough for me). So the most important is will I be able to limit power usage of a non-K CPU to have a quiet and relatively cool system in a small case.

Regards,

Marcin.

[n_scott_pearson · Accepted solution]

If it is (at all) possible to set PL1/PL2 parameters in BIOS Setup, then yes, they can be set for locked processors as well as unlock processors. This is supported, for example, with all sorts of non-K processors in the Intel NUC product line.

...S

[Steven_Intel]

Hello minek,

Thank you for posting on the Intel® communities.

We're glad to know the information provided by Scott helped. Hopefully, it will help other community members as well. 

Since the thread is now solved, we will close it. If you need any additional information, please submit a new question, as this thread will no longer be monitored.  

Best regards,

Steven G.

Intel Customer Support Technician.