Motherboards with HPET toggle bios

Rofflay · 21 Oct 2019 at 13:55

Hello, I wanted to get this thread started as this setting HPET is a legacy timer over TSC and should really not be used for gaming. The problem is some vendors IGNORE this information and simply supply this with no visable disabling options. I do not want to get into the software side of disabling HPET as it is inferior and can be turned on by programs like the Ryzen OC tool through a cmd command on reboot. So if you have a modern motherboard please look into this and please post here.

You will find all the info needed in the below link but over the years i have consistently shaved my latency from 40us idle to only 5us by disabling the high precision event timer. An easy to see if you have the timer enabled is to look the device manager for the high precision event timer.

https://www.anandtech.com/show/12678/a-timely-discovery-examining-amd-2nd-gen-ryzen-results/5

https://community.amd.com/thread/238035

https://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/article/615216/which-processor-best-intel-amd/

https://www.resplendence.com/latencymon

Rofflay · 21 Oct 2019 at 13:57

I will start this off by saying the Gigabyte x570 Aorus master has the high precision event timer in the bios under power options. So i am adding this to the below list of friendly motherboards for HPET.

HPET FRIENDLY BOARDS:
Gigabyte Aorus X570 master

Rofflay · 21 Oct 2019 at 14:08

Also could @GIGA-Man maybe comment on the Gigabyte range and policy for x570 and x299? It is really hard to find out the info and over 5 days since i emailed Gigabyte with no reply. Normally Gigabyte are the best vendor for getting HPET and even a custom bios.

mattavich · 5 Nov 2019 at 13:19

I'm on a Gigabyte Aorus Gaming 3 Wifi and I am getting odd stutter in games.

I want to test disabling the HPET but I can't find it in my bios settings at all.

Is there any way to alter this setting?

Rofflay · 7 Nov 2019 at 18:42

mattavich said:
I'm on a Gigabyte Aorus Gaming 3 Wifi and I am getting odd stutter in games.

I want to test disabling the HPET but I can't find it in my bios settings at all.

Is there any way to alter this setting?

Google for the bc use platform command line, And disable it under device manager but it can be triggered on this way. Sadly you have no way of really disabling unless you get a bios. You should ask Gigabyte support.

Ideally, Never buy a MB without it because it has been confirmed it causes trouble, It slower and they are ditching it and going back to TSC.

Rofflay · 18 Nov 2019 at 20:44

Sigh this is depressing no one really cares about having double thier system latency? Or is it no one wants to admit they paid £200 for a board with no HPET toggle and they feel embarrassed?

I created this thread to help the gamers on OCUK get the best gaming setup possible, And AMD and Nvidia were greeted with open arms with low latency mode. Well that is exactly what HPET does it is low latency mode forced in the bios. Now by the fact no one even really bothered to post this surely shows that no one cares about forced high latency mode? Because thats what happens consistently +%50 increase in overall system latency recorded by latencymon.

Space Monkey · 19 Nov 2019 at 00:07

Does this affect overall system responsiveness, ie. desktop work, web browsing etc as well as games?

Rofflay · 19 Nov 2019 at 18:58

Space Monkey said:
Does this affect overall system responsiveness, ie. desktop work, web browsing etc as well as games?

I think it is attributed to general feel of the system but would you really notice that on desktop work? Not on a bloated system which tends to mask the benefits. What i found ever since the setting creeped into bios's is that it is mostly people sensitive to latency that really notice it people say they can hear better audio, Me personally i feel it as microstutter in games and it makes panning feel a lot worse there sometimes on a 360 pan will be a split second stutter where i think the fast low latency systems excel is they never exhibit this.

But there is science and numbers behind this setting, Its been announced as being superceeded also by a more intelligent version of TSC so why would you ever run it on right? You bassiclly end up with a hybrid timer when doing so that is how i changed mine in the bios thus changing my system timer to pure TSC which is faster.

pastymuncher · 20 Nov 2019 at 19:59

My Gigabyte Aorus Z390 Pro doesn't have a HPET toggle in the bios but according to Timerbench 1.4 it is disabled anyway and uses something called Invariant TSC instead. I benched with HPET on and off and what a hit there is from turning it on. I had nearly 40 fps less, less gpu load and a much higher (almost double) latency.

It's probably not a case of nobody caring or being embarrassed but more a case of people not knowing anything about it. I know I didn't until I read the Anandtech article you linked to. It's not exactly easy to pick a board that actually has a toggle anyway as the board reviews don't go into depth about what is and isn't in the bios as well as HPET not being talked about.