2024-02-22 21:00:00
As PC performance is rapidly improving, standards for ‘power consumption’ and ‘heat generation’ are also continuously increasing. This is also the result of a desperate attempt to surpass the performance improvements that can be achieved at the level of the semiconductor manufacturing process or architecture, and several problems are intertwined. However, as a result, although the performance efficiency of the latest PCs has increased significantly compared to before, the power consumption and heat generation levels required to maximize performance are much higher than before.
Accordingly, ‘cooling’ has become increasingly important in maximizing the performance of the latest high-performance PCs. In particular, in high-performance desktop PCs where performance is important, the cooling performance of the central processing unit (CPU) or graphics processing unit (GPU) can have a meaningful impact on performance. Even if a laptop PC uses the same CPU and GPU, significant performance differences appear depending on the product’s cooling design and power supply limit settings. Now, for high-performance PCs, a cooler capable of handling the power consumption and heat generation of the CPU and GPU has become essential.
But this also doesn’t have to be excessive. In particular, the opinion that the latest Intel Core 14th generation processor cannot be used without a water cooler is somewhat exaggerated. Not only the 14th generation Core i5 class, but also Core i7 and i9 class ‘K series’ processors can achieve satisfactory performance with an air cooler at an affordable price. Installing an expensive, high-performance water cooler may result in higher performance, but the cost-benefit is limited. And rather than ‘unlocking’ all settings, using appropriate restrictions can increase overall efficiency.
The official power limit setting for Intel’s 14th generation Core K-series is a maximum of 253W. / Reporter Kwon Yong-man
The Core 14th generation ‘K Series’ processor, which has the highest performance among Intel’s PC processor products, has a higher thermal design power (TDP) setting than the general model. Based on Core i9, the typical Core 14th generation i9-14900 processor uses PBP (Processor Base Power) of 65W and MTP (Maximum Turbo Power) of about 219W, while the Core 14th generation i9-14900K processor has an official PBP setting of 125W, MTP setting is 253W. Accordingly, the basic and maximum operation speeds are set higher for the ‘K series’ processor.
In addition, the ‘K series’ processor also has the feature that the processor’s basic power limit settings can be arbitrarily set on the motherboard to enable ‘overclocking’. Accordingly, Intel’s default PBP and MTP settings are often ‘ignored’ as arbitrary settings at the motherboard level. In fact, in the case of the Core i9-14900K, even Intel sometimes ignores this to some extent. Even when the actual Core i9-14900K is installed and Intel’s default settings are applied, the PBP and MTP settings are recognized as the default ‘253W’.
High-end motherboards based on the Z790 chipset that support overclocking often exceed this setting. In particular, in many motherboards, the ‘MCE (Multi-Core Enhancement)’ setting, which has different names depending on the manufacturer, is enabled by default. In this case, the official PBP and MTP settings are ignored and most power limits are set to ‘unlimited’. , Turbo boost settings are set to ‘maximum operating speed’ in all situations. It is a state of ‘overclocking’ that is borderline dangerous. Some manufacturers’ motherboards may not load Intel’s official settings at all.
The Core i9-level processor also uses various technologies to increase performance and responsiveness. In particular, ‘Thermal Velocity Boost (TVB)’ or Adaptive Boost (ABT: Adaptive Boost Technology)’ makes the most of the processor’s temperature or power consumption when there is room for it to instantaneously increase operating speed. However, if the ‘power consumption’ that is the standard for this setting is unlimited, performance can be further improved by using these functions, but power consumption and heat generation also increase. Of course, these features do not apply to Core i7 or lower.
If you apply unlimited boost-related functions, you may need a water cooler. / Reporter Kwon Yong-man
If these various ‘boost’ related functions are applied indefinitely, the 14th generation Core i9 class processor may see high power consumption and heat generation, exceeding 300W, in situations where the processor’s resources, such as rendering, are utilized to the fullest. Of course, Core i7 or i5, which have a slightly smaller number of cores and a slightly lower operating speed, show lower power consumption and heat generation even in such extreme situations.
The reason processors show higher-than-expected power consumption and heat generation in these extreme situations can be found in the ‘disparity’ between the characteristics of the current semiconductor process and product settings. Semiconductor-based processors have an ‘optimum point’ where the highest efficiency can be expected depending on the manufacturing process and architecture. Below this point, the change in power consumption is not very large even if the operating speed increases, but beyond the optimal point, we face a situation where power consumption relative to operating speed increases significantly and energy efficiency relative to performance decreases significantly.
However, in the latest high-performance processors, the ‘maximum operating speed’ setting is somewhat beyond this optimal point. This can be interpreted as a setting to obtain the absolute performance required for the product realistically, even at the cost of lower power efficiency. Of course, such a high setting presupposes high-performance ‘cooling’, and there is also a safety device that adjusts the operating speed to protect the processor if all heat is not controlled due to cooling performance issues. And the continuous use of these points is also a somewhat ambiguous point in the scope of operation guarantee.
Performance difference depending on whether or not the power limit of the Core i9-13900KS is set, the higher the better. / Reporter Kwon Yong-man
A water cooler is not necessarily required for the Intel Core 14th generation K series processor. Of course, if you want to unlock all power limits on the Core i9 processor and always maintain maximum boost operation speed in all situations, you will need a high-performance water cooler, but not all users need this condition. The difference in performance between removing all processor power limit settings and installing a high-performance cooler and maintaining the power limit setting is also not that significant.
Even assuming a high-performance water cooler environment equipped with a 360mm class radiator and sufficient power supply, the difference in maximum processor performance between the 253W power limit and the power limit release in the Core 14th generation i9 class processor is less than 10%. And this performance difference mainly appears in multi-threaded environments such as rendering, and ‘single-thread’ performance, which is important in gaming, etc., is sufficient even within the current power limit range, so there is almost no performance difference. Moreover, in gaming, which requires the performance of other elements such as graphics cards, this difference is further reduced.
There is a perception that water-cooled coolers perform better than air-cooled coolers, but this is not necessarily true. Water-cooled coolers are also divided into performance grades depending on the size of the radiator. Products with a 360mm-class radiator have a clear performance advantage over air-cooled coolers, but the price is high, and products with a relatively less burdensome 240mm-class radiator are inferior to air-cooled coolers in the same price range. The performance advantage is not significant. In addition, water coolers are prone to problems such as pump failure or water leaks, so it is difficult to recommend them to users who are not familiar with PCs.
In the case of air-cooled coolers, there is no burden of water leakage, etc., the price is relatively cheap, and management is less demanding. The latest ‘dual tower’ type air-cooled cooler has a TDP of 250W, which is enough to handle the 14th generation Core i9 and i7 levels, even at a price of around 50,000 won. In addition, when using a water cooler, you may need to consider separate cooling solutions for the motherboard’s power supply or SSD, but in the case of an air cooler, the advantage is that both the power supply and SSD can be cooled by the airflow around the CPU cooler. am.
If you use the basic power limit, a water cooler is not necessarily ‘required’. / Reporter Kwon Yong-man
If you want to use the Core 14th generation K series processor with an air cooler, it is recommended to use Intel’s default power limit settings. For the Core 14th generation K series, Core i9 and i7 are set to PBP 125W and MTP 253W, and Core i5 is set to PBP 125W and MTP 181W. To apply Intel’s default power limit settings, after installing the processor, turn off the MCE-related settings in the motherboard BIOS settings and check the processor’s power limit-related settings. It is better to use boost-related settings other than power limit as is.
If you use Intel’s power limit settings as is, it is sufficient to use a 2-fan, dual-tower configuration air cooler priced around 50,000 won that can handle a 250W TDP even for Core i7 or i9 class processors. In the case of Core i5, the burden is less than this, so it will be comfortable to use a 1-fan single tower air cooler priced in the 30,000-40,000 won range that can handle a 200W TDP. Even if cooling performance is insufficient, the processor has technology to protect itself from damage by adjusting its operating speed depending on the situation, so there is no need to worry too much about a slight lack of cooling performance.
Meanwhile, from the user’s perspective, it would be better not to be too obsessed with lifting power limits and multi-core maximum boost operation speed. Boost operation speed is actually like a ‘bonus’, so it’s good to have, but if you obsess over it too much, you may end up losing more. Rather than purchasing an expensive motherboard and cooler to maintain maximum boost operation speed on a Core i7-level processor, it is realistically a better choice to compromise on this aspect and configure better specifications for a Core i9-level model that is faithful to the basics. It will be.
Reporter Kwon Yong-man [email protected]
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