TwistedAndy

No. That's the CPU revision. You may find the microcode update (MCU) version in HWiNFO64.

Here are some updated about the current situation with undervolting: https://www.reddit.com/r/intel/comments/10slejm/comment/j73ge9a/ Good news: 1. The undervolting protection can be disabled on some BIOS allowing the runtime undervolting 2. There's an option to undervolt the system through BIOS, but... Bad news: 1. The undervolting protection feature is not working properly on a large number of motherboards (including Dell) and significantly reduced the system stability if even the small undervolting is applied. Some vendors have found a solution, but it may affect the device security 2. Dell won't add this feature to the BIOS anytime soon and, probably, won't intentionally fix the related issues

Do you get the same issue as described here?

Today Intel has officially confirmed the new undervolt protection feature. It allows vendors to block the undervolting. Also, which is more confusing, it is enabled by default, so a vendor needs to make an extra step to disable it, add a setting to the BIOS, and make it work.

Offsets are the same on Dell either. What happens when you try to disable those locks using commands like setup_var CpuSetup 0x43 0x0 setup_var CpuSetup 0x10E 0x0 ? Do you get an error? Or the offsets are simply not saved?

You can try using ThrottleStop, for example.

As for the Undervolt Protection, you can check inf the Undervolt Protection is enabled in the HWiNFO64. You may find more details here: Intel Undervolt Protection

That's a great question. We must wait while Dell adds this setting to the BIOS and assigns an offset.

It might be related to the IA CEP (Current Excursion Protection), but I'm not completely sure.

You are changing EFI variables (configuration). BIOS (firmware) reads them and sets MSRs accordingly.

Another interesting fact. I have found, that Precision 7670 and 7770 have a hidden setting called Undervolt Protection in the decompressed BIOS and it is enabled by default. At the same time due to the older microcode in the latest BIOS (1.8), this setting does not affect the undervolting. Unfortunately, XPS 15 and 17 does not have this feature despite sharing mostly the same EFI structure and offsets. I have checked the 0x381 offset and it was disabled (0x0)

I did deeper research regarding the undervolting lock and found many interesting things. This feature is called "Dynamic OC Undervolt Protection" and blocks the negative voltage offsets. I have described it here: Good news: - This feature can be enabled or disabled by a particular vendor and controlled by 0x195 MSR. Bad news: - We all know which option Dell will choose... - The 0x195 MSR is read-only (R/O), so no easy tweaks - It may affect all the existing and future CPUs using the updated microcode (released in August 2022 and newer).

Dell does not care about performance in third-party apps like Cinebench R23. At least that's exactly was I told by two different Dell representatives while resolving issues with my XPS 17. I think, the updated Precision 7680 and 7780 models will achieve 16-18K out of the box and nearly 25-27K after aggressive tuning and with noise levels like a jet plane. Razer paid more attention to the performance in the new generation and increased the cooling system.

I've found a post from HP confirming that undervolting is blocked in the new Intel's microcode update for Alder Lake and Raptor Lake. I have described everything here. It affects not only mobile HK and HX CPUs, but the unlocked desktop (K and KS) processors as well.

Yes, obviously. The problem is that the negative voltage offsets are not applied at all, even if you specify them directly in EFI. In this case, those offsets should be applied regardless the operating system, VBS, and without XTU/TS. But they are not. It looks like embedded controller or some parts of the main firmware just ignore or block those offsets. Yes, correct. Customers have paid for an additional feature and now it is completely locked. I think, my next device will be from XMG, who not only encourage undervolting even on restricted CPUs (H-series), but cover this type of tuning under a warranty.