BIOS settings question

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   I have a question about some BIOS settings.

Two of them at the top of the OC Tweaker menu.

I've been running benchmarks using cinebench R23 and 3D Mark. 

With Gaming Mode enabled and AGESA enabled in the BIOS the score in cinebench is 14K. With Gaming Mode disabled and AGESA enabled the score is 21K. Why does Gaming Mode reduce it by so much? 

For the Fire Strike Extreme demo in 3D Mark with Gaming Mode enabled and AGESA enabled in the BIOS the score is 31435. With Gaming Mode disabled and AGESA enabled the score is 33171. Which is not that big of a difference.

So either turning on Gaming Mode gimps the CPU or cinebench isn't working correctly. Or the test it uses is out of date?

What does Gaming Mode actually do? Something to do with CCD and SMT. I have no idea what those mean.

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Massacher Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 17 Mar 2026 Status: Offline Points: 60	Post Options Post Reply Quote Massacher Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: BIOS settings question Posted: 6 hours 56 minutes ago at 11:26pm
	I have a question about some BIOS settings. Two of them at the top of the OC Tweaker menu. I've been running benchmarks using cinebench R23 and 3D Mark. With Gaming Mode enabled and AGESA enabled in the BIOS the score in cinebench is 14K. With Gaming Mode disabled and AGESA enabled the score is 21K. Why does Gaming Mode reduce it by so much? For the Fire Strike Extreme demo in 3D Mark with Gaming Mode enabled and AGESA enabled in the BIOS the score is 31435. With Gaming Mode disabled and AGESA enabled the score is 33171. Which is not that big of a difference. So either turning on Gaming Mode gimps the CPU or cinebench isn't working correctly. Or the test it uses is out of date? What does Gaming Mode actually do? Something to do with CCD and SMT. I have no idea what those mean.

Xaltar Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Moderator Group Joined: 16 May 2015 Location: Europe Status: Offline Points: 35483	Post Options Post Reply Quote Xaltar Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 5 hours 57 minutes ago at 12:25am
	"Game Mode" disables one of the CPU's CCXs if the CPU has more than one, it also disables Simultaneous Multithreading. If the CPU has more than one CCX then essentially half of the CPU cores are disabled as well as multithreading. This lowers latency when gaming but will reduce performance in other tasks including benchmarks. If the CPU only has a single CCX then only multithreading is disabled but benchmarks scores will still be lower as a result. An 16 core 32 thread CPU where the CPU has 2 CCX modules each containing 8 cores will become an 8 core 8 thread CPU with Game Mode enabled. An 8 core 16 thread CPU that contains only one CCX will become an 8 core 8 thread CPU. As for AGESA, I think you mean EXPO? AGESA is the name for AMD's core BIOS. Enabling EXPO enables the preconfigured RAM overclock stored in the RAM's firmware.