Undervolting via MSI Center or BIOS?

[randego134102c7]

Background: I used to love using ThottleStop to UV my old laptop; understood it pretty well and liked all the options & parameters... that was on an 8th Gen Intel and I've read it doesn't work on the newer chips. Plus why install TS (or Intel XTU, etc) if MSI gives you the tools to UV out of the box?

I've been enjoying an Aegis RS 450US for almost a year now. The i7-13700KF runs pretty good but I've been meaning to UV it a bit.

I see one way to do it is via the MSI Center app. This Youtube vid shows how easily its done:

(He's using the older Dragon Center; attached are the options I have in MSI Center - same thing)

Another way to UV is via the BIOS. In this Youtube vid the MSI BIOS looks (black & white) exactly the same as it does for my Aegis:

(I'm running v. A.A4 which according to MSI website is still the current BIOS version; for other similar Aegis models A.A9 is the latest version but not for the 450US model #)

UV via MSI Center is based on CPU Core Voltage
UV via BIOS is based on Core Voltage Offset (at least in video).


> Which route is better? Is either method as simple as described in the videos?? (any additional steps required?)
> IF I use MSI Center, will it only apply on my profile on this desktop? (If my kids log in with their profile, will the core voltage settings carry over? - I've noticed that mystic light preferences setup on one profile for example do not carry over to the other)
> I'm used to playing with offsets and testing; with core voltage how do I decide on a #? Do I run Cinebench (etc) and look to see what the MAX voltage was, then lock in a # lower than that?

 

[randego134102c7]

Update: I went ahead and used method 2 (second vid). Go figure the offset mode options in my b&w BIOS wasn't just a plus & minus, it was:
+ by PWM
+ by CPU
- by PWM
- by CPU

I selected - by CPU and used a 0.050 offset. Knock on wood the computer restarted fine after saving. Only ran a couple Cinebench23 a few games (BeamNG) and everything seems fine. It did shave -3/4 C off my previous max Cinebench temps, and probably 6/7 degrees on average. Score wise it was within 50 pts of previous best (30,523 vs. 30,566).

I've read about PL1/PL2 power limits... wondering if I should go back and set each to the Intel recommended 253w (or whatever it is) limits? Meh, for now I'm happy - and thankful playing around with BIOS didn't mess up this PC (like it did with the first MSI Aegis we bought). I also recently installed Kingston Renegade RAM which could not have been easier to do - I just selected the XMP profile 1 (1.4v) and they're running fine at 6400 MHz.

 

[plutomate]

software OC/UV is not a good idea, always enter such settings in BIOS eventually. Intel recommend settings can reduce the CPU performance and imo, it's really unnecessary if you don't see any unstable or overheating problem. It voids the whole point of buying higher tier CPU.