MSI's latest BIOS could give AMD Zen 5 yet another performance boost with a 105 W TDP toggle for the Ryzen 9600X and 9700X

Is it possible to know how AMD Ryzen 9000-series CPUs actually perform yet? It seems like every day there's a new rumoured or actual change affecting how we should interpret the performance and value of these new processors. Right after learning that a Windows update can improve Zen 3, 4, and 5 gaming performance, we're now hearing that TDP boost modes are here for the Ryzen 5 9600X and Ryzen 7 9700X.

Judging by a UEFI screenshot from X user kuroberu (via Wccftech), who claims to have received a new BIOS from MSI, the company looks to be adding a 105 W TDP option to its latest BIOS releases for the socket AM5 platform. This should allow the 9600X and 9700X—both 65 W chips by default—to run at a higher 105 W TDP, improving performance but also presumably increasing voltages—because where there's power, there's voltage.

We'd previously heard a rumour that AMD would officially push a 105 W TDP boost for the chips in an AGESA 1.2.0.1a Patch A BIOS update, and while we've not heard any word from AMD about this, it looks like MSI might be the first to add such a boost option in an upcoming BIOS release.

According to Wccftech, this update should be packaged in the latest AGESA 1.2.0.1 BIOS release for MSI boards. Following this, the official higher TDP mode should launch with an AGESA 1.2.0.2 BIOS update, which Wccftech was told will be released in September or October. 

And if this is already rolling out for MSI, we can likely expect it to roll out from other board partners thereafter, too. Which, by the way, is good news apart from any TDP tinkerings, given that the latest AGESA updates should also fix the AMD Sinkclose vulnerability, an 18-year-old deep-system flaw that millions of AMD CPUs have been vulnerable to.

Received new BIOS from MSI, with a new option «TDP to 105W» to increase TDP of Ryzen 9700X/9600X from 65W to 105W. Ryzen 9700X Cinebench R23 multi-core score: 65W: 20,409, 105W: 23,153. It's 13% faster. pic.twitter.com/mt9wh5AnJSAugust 28, 2024

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