idonknowok121 Posted 7 hours ago Posted 7 hours ago Hi everyone, I'm tuning my MSI Katana 15 HX (Core i9-14900HX, RTX 5060 Laptop). Despite having solid thermal headroom and an undervolted profile, the system is strictly hitting an EC (Embedded Controller) / hardware power limit around ~85W to 93W sustained under Cinebench R23 / CPU-Z stress tests. ### Current Tuning & Thermal Setup: - Undervolt: -129.9 mV Core / Cache offset via ThrottleStop FIVR. - AC Loadline tuned to 90 in BIOS. - Thermal Mod: Conductonaut Extreme Liquid Metal on the CPU die, and Upsiren UX PRO Ultra thermal putty on the VRMs / VRAM with the stock aluminum plate heatsink. - Thermals: Extremely cool. Full load package power peaks at ~93.7W at only 73°C (with fan running moderately; if fans are maxed out, it drops into the low 50s°C). VRM temps stay around 70–80°C. - Cinebench R23 score: ~28,185 pts at ~93W. - CPU-Z Multi-Thread: ~12,100 pts. ### The Issue: 1. In ThrottleStop TPL, Long Power PL1 and Short Power PL2 are set higher (115W/135W+), Sync MMIO unchecked, Disable Controls unchecked. MSI Center is set to Extreme Performance Mode. 2. In the Advanced BIOS (Power & Performance / Config TDP), PL1/PL2 are also configured higher (115W-150W). 3. However, whenever the CPU package power attempts to breach ~85W–93W, the system immediately cuts clock ratios back down to lock the package power around 82W–85W. 4. I want to keep IMON settings strictly at stock/untouched to maintain system stability and SVID accuracy. ### Questions for the community: 1. Is there any known software, MSR flag, or BIOS setting to bypass this EC-enforced ~85W/93W limit without physical motherboard modifications? 2. Has anyone found custom EC firmware or specific register offsets in the AMI Aptio V BIOS that grant control over this chassis' power limits? 3. Could secondary power limiters (such as Platform PL4, VR current limits, or Tau window) be triggering this throttle? Attached are my ThrottleStop screens, TPL, FIVR, and benchmark results. Any advice or technical insight from experienced tuners would be greatly appreciated!
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