Z79 Extreme6/4790K BIOS Issues?

[Ken429]

Just fired up my Z97 Extreme6/4790K system running under W8.1 Update 1 and have a few issues. The MB came with P1.20 BIOS and was working quite well but the 4790K would only run at X42 when executing Prime95 or IBT. It seem to touch X44 for a moment or two when starting other programs. So, I went looking for the latest BIOS thinking that would fix the X42 issue. I did the Instant Flash routine from the BIOS and it updated the MB to P1.33 with no problems. However, now when I boot the system goes into some sort of a trance for ~20 seconds and most of the desktop icons are blank. At the end of the 20 second "delay" Windows repaints the desktop with all the icons. I then ran Prime95 and IBT and they still only run at X42!

I guess I'm on the @#$% bleeding edge again - has anybody else had a similar experience with P1.33? I've checked the Event Log and nothing is out of the ordinary and the system runs just fine after the desktop repaints. Is it possible to back off the BIOS to an older version? Any suggestion on which version is the most stable. Or can I go to the backup BIOS on the MB and see if the problem goes away? I got spoiled with the Gigabyte MB's that let you play with two BIOS versions.

And then there is the X42 issue - What am I missing that causes the CPU to be limited under load? I have left all the BIOS settings at the defaults except the Memory which is set to Profile

Oops, Don't know why or how updating the BIOS could have caused the problem to surface but I uninstalled EaseUS Backup because it would not run on the new system and the ~20 second icon problem disappeared! So now I'm back to only the original issue the X42 limit when the CPU is under load.

[Ken429]

Re: Z79 Extreme6/4790K BIOS Issues?

This answers my x42 issue:

"One thing to be aware of is that Haswell’s Turbo mode operates somewhat differently than other Intel chips. In the past, Intel quad-cores would often hit full Turbo frequency on all four cores, even under full load. Haswell changed this — the Turbo Mode frequency for all four cores is now typically 200MHz below the maximum speed. The Core i7-4770K therefore runs Prime95 at 3.7GHz on all four cores, while the Core i7-4790K runs at 4.2GHz. In our tests, we locked all four cores at the same frequency — at 4.4GHz, our Core i7-4790K is technically overclocked by 4.7% (at least, compared to how Intel normally implements Turbo Mode)."

So... I guess all is as it should be.

[lotuspro]

Re: Z79 Extreme6/4790K BIOS Issues?

Thanks for the update Ken 429. Also, you appear to have disproved a developing theory re a Z97\Windows 8.1\BIOS update problem.
So, back to the drawing board on that one.

[godto]

Re: Z97 Extreme6/4790K BIOS Issues?

Just fired up my Z97 Extreme6/4790K system running under W8.1 Update 1 and have a few issues. The MB came with P1.20 BIOS and was working quite well but the 4790K would only run at X42 when executing Prime95 or IBT. It seem to touch X44 for a moment or two when starting other programs. So, I went looking for the latest BIOS thinking that would fix the X42 issue. I did the Instant Flash routine from the BIOS and it updated the MB to P1.33 with no problems. However, now when I boot the system goes into some sort of a trance for ~20 seconds and most of the desktop icons are blank. At the end of the 20 second "delay" Windows repaints the desktop with all the icons. I then ran Prime95 and IBT and they still only run at X42!

I guess I'm on the @#$% bleeding edge again - has anybody else had a similar experience with P1.33? I've checked the Event Log and nothing is out of the ordinary and the system runs just fine after the desktop repaints. Is it possible to back off the BIOS to an older version? Any suggestion on which version is the most stable. Or can I go to the backup BIOS on the MB and see if the problem goes away? I got spoiled with the Gigabyte MB's that let you play with two BIOS versions.

And then there is the X42 issue - What am I missing that causes the CPU to be limited under load? I have left all the BIOS settings at the defaults except the Memory which is set to Profile

Oops, Don't know why or how updating the BIOS could have caused the problem to surface but I uninstalled EaseUS Backup because it would not run on the new system and the ~20 second icon problem disappeared! So now I'm back to only the original issue the X42 limit when the CPU is under load.

i had almost the same problem with bios 1.33 .... the 1.30 seem to work better for me ... run window 7 ... first install everything boot up fast and responsive.... i then upgrade to 1.30 and everyhting seem ok too .. but 1.3 is a dog ... copy 1 gig file to usb 2 take over 9 min ... that how slow everything seem.

good luck