Power Limit Throttling and Current/EDP Limit Throttling expected behaviour

[Codrut]

I have an Intel i7-1400F (so it's locked) which is running just fine, no complaints yet

The motherboard is an Asus TUF GAMING B760M-PLUS WIFI II which has a B760 chipset (a good match for a locked CPU).

I am confused on what shall be the expected behaviour when running XTU.

Basically in the Asus BIOS I can chose to use the Intel Default profile or the Asus profile (they call it AI tweak something).

When I am choosing the Intel profile and I run Intel XTU Stress Test then I get Power Limit Throttling or Current/EDP Limit Throttling or both. The Package TDP drops immediately abruptly to around 65 W.

When I am choosing the Asus profile I don't get Power Limit Throttling at all only for very brief moments Current/EDP Limit Throttling and the CPU runs with a Package TDP of usually more than 219W which I think is the maximum for i7-14700F, in the range of 240W.

What is the expected behaviour? I remember I've seen all these influencers testing Intel CPUs and they start Cinebench and the TDP stays over 200W continuously. How should the Intel CPU behave? Is it not capable of sustaining 219W (in the case of 14700F)?

I do have good cooling, it's water cooled and the temperatures are below 80 Celsius even when running at 250W. I never get Thermal Throttling 

But I am confused on what should I use here? The Intel or Asus profile? If the answer is Intel, why then the CPU cannot sustain the full load? What is the expected behaviour here?

Can someone please explain?

Thank You!

[Codrut]

It seems I figured it out that the default limit in XTU is 65W (I don't know where it picked this value, from BIOS?)

I have increased it to 219 W and my CPU now runs under full wattage

My question is, is this setting which I made in XTU permanent? What happens if I uninstall XTU?

Can someone please explain how this works?

Thanks

[pressed_for_time · Accepted solution]

The three key settings here in the ASUS BIOS are PL1 (Extended Duration Power Limit), PL2 (Short Duration Power Limit) and IccMax. Intel defines IccMax as "...how much current the CPU is allowed to pull when working at 100% capacity".

The Intel Default Settings option in the BIOS is exactly that, so for a 14700F PL1 should be 65 W and PL2 should be 219 W. The short duration that PL2 applies for, in an ASUS BIOS, is normally 56 seconds. IccMax will be set  to the Intel default for your particular CPU.

If you look at your XTU graphic you can see that Turbo Boost Max Power is the PL1 limit. Turbo Boost Power Time Window is the short time duration for PL2 already referred to. Although not shown on your graphic the XTU setting for PL2 is called Turbo Boost Short Power Max.

The other option in the ASUS BIOS is the OC (Overclock) Profile or a similar wording. With this what ASUS tend to do is to set PL2 to the same value as PL1 and then set both to more than 219 W. So instead of a brief boost to 219 W the CPU can use the increased power limits in PL1 and PL2 indefinitely. ASUS also set IccMax to a much higher level, typically 511 Amps. This does not literally mean that. What it does mean is the maximum amperage that the combination of your motherboard and CPU can sustain.

The Power Limit Throttling or Current/EDP Limit Throttling or both that you see with the XTU Stress Test simply reflects that the BIOS is set to the Intel defaults. The absence of these warnings when the ASUS OC Profile is used or PL 1 is set to 219 W using XTU reflects  that the Intel limits are no longer being observed.

The reason for all this is that ASUS, at one stage, was running its motherboards with the OC Profile as the default setting. The consequence was that users were seeing unexpectedly elevated CPU temperatures, issues with cooling processors and so on. And as it was the default there was no obvious way of reverting to the normal Intel settings. That has changed now, it means you get a choice of BIOS profiles, one of which is clearly a set of OC settings if you want it.

Another option is to use XTU to customise these settings as it will over-ride what is set in the BIOS. If XTU is uninstalled then the system will revert to whatever settings the BIOS is currently set to.

[Codrut]

Thank you very much for the detailed explanation! It's really appreciated.

Here are some BIOS screenshots I took which I'm uploading for just in case, if anyone notice that I'm doing anything wrong please let me know.