I want to let my Intel Core i7-10700F sustain higher power limits. My system uses an MSI B460M PRO-VDH motherboard and a Corsair CPU cooler. An AI suggested setting PL1 to 135W, the long-duration window to 128 seconds, and PL2 to 180W. Are those settings reasonable for this motherboard's VRM, or would they put too much stress on the power delivery?
3 Answers
I wouldn’t jump straight to 135W and 180W. The VRMs are relatively bare, so treating roughly 125W as an upper limit is more realistic unless monitoring shows that temperatures remain well controlled. Check CPU, VRM, and MOS temperatures during a long stress test rather than relying on an AI-generated preset.
The board may have limited or locked power-limit controls depending on the BIOS, so those settings might not even be available. Its default behavior may be the safest option if the firmware won’t let you adjust them.
That motherboard’s power delivery is fairly modest and was mainly intended for a 65W processor with short boosts. While the heatsinks help, I’d start much lower—around 95W for PL1 and PL2—and only raise the limits if the VRM or MOS temperatures stay comfortable under a sustained workload.
That seems more reasonable. The suggested settings were revised to roughly 90–100W for PL1 and 135–150W for PL2 with a shorter time window after the board’s phase count was considered. The BIOS currently shows PL1 at 65W, an 8-second duration, and PL2 at 224W on automatic settings.