Intel Baseline Profile Yields Odd Power/Performance On Linux

Intel motherboard manufacturers have begun rolling out BIOS updates containing an "Intel Baseline Profile" option to apply stock power limits to modern Intel processors. This is being driven by instability claims for 13th Gen and 14th Gen Intel Core processors having stability issues for some Windows gamers that is being attributed to multi-core enhancement (MCE) and other power options commonly set on enthusiast desktop motherboards. As the first of several ongoing tests I'm working on at Phoronix, here are some preliminary findings for using the Intel Baseline Profile option on an ASUS motherboard with the Core i9 14900K under Ubuntu Linux.

Recent ASUS BIOS updates for Intel Raptor Lake motherboards have begun offering the "Intel Baseline Profile" option for those wanting to abide by the Intel power defaults.

My initial testing has been done with an ASUS PRIME Z790-P WiFi motherboard with Intel Core i9 14900K. As of the 1656 BIOS for this motherboard since last week, the Intel Baseline Profile option is now available.

Enabling the Intel Baseline Profile option on this ASUS PRIME Z790-P WiFi motherboard disables the ASUS Multi-Core Enhancement, SVID behavior to Intel Fail Safe, enables IA CEP / GT CEP / SA CEP rather than being in auto, and sets the Intel default IA TDC and GT TDC current limits.

I ran various Linux workload benchmarks with this ASUS PRIME Z790-P WiFi motherboard with Core i9 14900K on the default BIOS and then again when the only change made was enabling the Intel Baseline Profile options from within the BIOS. During the benchmarking process the CPU temperature, CPU power consumption, and CPU peak frequency were also recorded on a per-test basis for looking at how this new BIOS option is affecting the Intel Linux performance.