GameBoost after CMOS any Problem?

[hsynnam159f02e5]

Hello,
After enabling Game Boost, if I clear CMOS using the rear motherboard button (only after shutting the PC down), can this cause any problems? Can it directly damage any hardware component, or cause things like a drop in %1 low FPS?

What Game Boost does is basically set the PBO limits to “Motherboard,” set the scaler to 10×, and apply a Curve Optimizer value of –5.

How harmful is clearing CMOS after using Game Boost? What are the possible symptoms? Can it directly affect %1 low FPS?
Even if I later set everything back to the correct values like 6000 MHz CL30, could this still cause %1 low FPS issues or any other kind of lasting damage?

I couldn’t find much clear information about this. I would really appreciate your help.

System:
Ryzen 9800X3D – MSI B850 Tomahawk MAX WiFi

 

[citay]

Well, with a Clear CMOS, all user settings go back to defaults. So afterwards it'll be like you never had GameBoost enabled. There will be no aftereffects from it.

P.S. On AM5 it can actually be good to use GameBoost, on Intel it would be a bad setting to use, because on Intel it tries to overclock stupidly.

 

[hsynnam159f02e5]

Thank you for replying.
I enabled Game Boost, and a few hours later I wanted to rearrange the power cables on my power strip. I heard some crackling sounds — the kind you normally hear when plugging and unplugging cables — but just to be safe and to clear any fear of possible static electricity, I did a CMOS reset. At that time I had forgotten that Game Boost was enabled, and I only remembered it later.

Now I’m not sure if this is just placebo or if it would have happened anyway, but my %1 low FPS seems to be dropping a bit more than normal. I bought my components on December 26, so I didn’t have much experience on the first day. The game felt smooth, and my %1 lows weren’t dropping to something like 30 FPS, but I also didn’t spend enough time in-game to be 100% sure if it was always like this or not.

When enabling Game Boost, it showed a warning message in the BIOS (like the one in the picture), and before that there was another “Warning” text mentioning PBO Auto and Enabled. On this B850 board it’s not even labeled exactly as Game Boost — it’s basically just a PBO setting.

Do you think clearing CMOS could cause a problem like this? Could simply switching PBO to negative and using a –5 Curve Optimizer value cause all of this?

 

[citay]

I enabled Game Boost, and a few hours later I wanted to rearrange the power cables on my power strip. I heard some crackling sounds — the kind you normally hear when plugging and unplugging cables

Usually, crackling from a power strip happens when you press the power switch between on/off, because they use cheap switches in there which cause contact bounce. The power fluctuates rapidly between on/off before settling on the final state. You can see this from attached lamps that flicker, and it's not good for any attached electronics in the long run. As for why you heard this crackling from simply rearranging cables, not sure.

but just to be safe and to clear any fear of possible static electricity, I did a CMOS reset.

Has nothing to do with it. Firstly, the PC chassis and the components inside are grounded through the PSU, there can't really be a buildup of static electricity. Secondly, it wouldn't affect your BIOS settings. The CMOS battery keeps them independently of what is going on with the PSU.

This would be like your car not always starting on the first go because the battery is weak, and you then deleting all your radio settings as a precaution. The radio settings, as well as the BIOS settings, won't change behind your back, you will know about it. So no need to ever clear them on your own with something like this.

Now I’m not sure if this is just placebo or if it would have happened anyway, but my %1 low FPS seems to be dropping a bit more than normal. I bought my components on December 26, so I didn’t have much experience on the first day. The game felt smooth, and my %1 lows weren’t dropping to something like 30 FPS, but I also didn’t spend enough time in-game to be 100% sure if it was always like this or not.

Most of the time, when you decide to pay close attention to something for the first time, you also notice it properly for the first time. Something similar can easily happen when people get a new TV: Even if they set up the picture properly, they look at everything very closely, and they spot inadequacies, so they attribute those to the new TV. But a lot of source material is not as pristine as they think, so if they just watch normal TV for example, they will spot inadequacies in the source material, not in the TV. They need to check with test material (videos or pictures where the quality is clearly defined), then they can say something about the TV's image quality.

Do you think clearing CMOS could cause a problem like this? Could simply switching PBO to negative and using a –5 Curve Optimizer value cause all of this?

As mentioned, a Clear CMOS will not have any "ghosts" from what was before. It will start from square one. So you could easily do the test and enable GameBoost or whatever you had enabled before. Write down your settings or take photos with your phone. Most likely you will find that none of the settings can make a drastic difference for games. But try it.

 

[hsynnam159f02e5]

Thank you very much, you really put my mind at ease.

I think the main reason might be the NVIDIA 591.74 driver, because %1 low FPS is very bad with it. Still, it feels strange to me that this started right after enabling Game Boost and then clearing CMOS, and that coincidence keeps pushing my thoughts toward worst-case scenarios. I rolled back to driver version 591.59 and it feels a bit better, but I believe there are still stutters because the shader cache hasn’t fully rebuilt yet.

What I still don’t understand is why my %1 low FPS sometimes shows values like 120. I see things like “AMDip” mentioned online, but I’m not exactly sure what I’m supposed to do about it.

I really hope I didn’t damage anything. Since December 26, I’ve had two main worries:

The first one is about the ATX 12VHPWR cable. I opened the case again just to reposition and hide the cable properly so dust wouldn’t affect it. While doing that, I didn’t fully lift the case — I slid it by placing the front of the case against my bed to turn it toward me. After that, it seems like my BIOS settings were reset. I assume something flexed slightly and caused the reset. Since that day, I’ve been in a heavy psychological spiral, constantly feeling like performance is getting worse.

The second worry is clearing CMOS after using Game Boost — something I feel like I shouldn’t have done. Since then, it feels like %1 lows are dropping even more.

I’ve tried many things: loading BIOS defaults, shutting the PC down, switching the PSU to 0, unplugging all cables, using the rear Clear CMOS button, and even shorting the JBAT pins with a screwdriver to make sure everything was fully reset. Still, it feels like %1 lows are worse, and I can’t stop checking them constantly.

Do you have any recommendations to make games smoother? Are there specific BIOS settings I should enable or disable to improve overall system stability and gaming smoothness?

Do you think I should use PBO at all?
Is it necessary to manually set +200 MHz boost or adjust Curve Optimizer values?
Are RAM timing tweaks like setting High Efficiency Mode to “Tightest” actually worth it?

Is there anything you would recommend in BIOS or Windows settings?
Windows 10 vs Windows 11, 23H2 vs 24H2 vs 25H2 or more like build 22631.4037?

I understand computers quite well, so you can explain things simply — I’ll easily understand.

Thank you in advance for taking the time to read this.

 

[citay]

Performance is a pretty well-defined state, as in, it can be measured in detail. This is good, it means we don't have to get our feelings and interpretations involved too much, we can simply measure it and know what's up. However, we would need to have a baseline to compare against. If you don't have baseline numbers from before these events, then it's opening up for interpretation again, and your mind can play tricks on you if the performance was supposedly better before.

So personally, I would set up the BIOS as you had it before (as best as you remember it), then see if that can improve anything. The board and the BIOS are very "digital": Whatever you set tends to have the exact outcome as before. A Clear CMOS in between would not matter in the slightest, if you set it up the same way afterwards. There can be no "silent deterioration".

As far as the BIOS settings, since I'm on Intel, I'm not an AM5 expert, but a bunch of people seem to use PBO, with a negative Curve Optimizer of up to -30 or so, which results in an undervolt, which is good for efficiency. You can also pair it with a slight frequency boost. You can see a bit how this works here, for example:

Is there anything you would recommend in BIOS or Windows settings?
Windows 10 vs Windows 11, 23H2 vs 24H2 vs 25H2 or more like build 22631.4037?

Latest Win11, and then disable the useless "Memory Integrity" feature, see here. Or disable the virtualization setting in the BIOS, results in the same thing.

 

[hsynnam159f02e5]

Hello my friend again. I’ve been reinstalling Windows, drivers, and trying everything on my computer until morning, and I’m barely holding myself together to not lose my mind. I also couldn’t find anything clearly explained on the internet about the potential harm of doing a clear CMOS after enabling Game Boost.


I’m hoping the issue is driver-related. In the BIOS, I already configure everything properly — I disable things like TPM, Secure Boot, and Resizable BAR — but the game behaving like this right now is driving me crazy.


I only want to understand what that note about not performing a clear CMOS after activating Game Boost actually means and what consequences it may cause. I haven’t been able to find any clear explanation online so far.


Do you happen to know any MSI forums on the Asian side where I could reach people who are more knowledgeable about this topic? They are the manufacturers after all, and they would most likely know this much better.

 

[citay]

You can open a ticket with MSI, that's the most direct way of contact.