Rendered robot hand holding an ASUS motherboard.
Rendered robot hand holding an ASUS motherboard.
Asus has debuted a new feature as part of a BIOS update for its 800-series motherboards for AMD's Ryzen 9000 series of processors. The update adds a new "AI Cache Boost" toggle in the Extreme Tweaker overclocking menu of the motherboards' BIOS. The setting overclocks the Infinity Fabric from 2GHz to 2.1GHz, enhancing AI performance when running on the GPU by up to 13%.
As Large Language Model (LLM) AIs continue to become more and more capable, and the models grow ever smaller and more capable of being run locally, onboard AI hardware is becoming a more intriguing prospect for new PC buyers. Although most graphics cards are still used for playing games, for those using them to run local AI, Asus' new BIOS update may be worth installing. In internal testing, Asus found that enabling the setting on a 9950X3D and RTX 4090-equipped PC saw a boost in AI performance on the GPU of around 4%. That was just 2.5% on a 9950X and 4090 PC, but on a PC equipped with a 9800X3D and RTX 4090, it managed to increase the AI score by almost 13%.
Is it telling that even Asus isn't using a new RTX 5090 in its benchmarks? Maybe even manufacturers can't get hold of them.
ASUS BIOS with AI Cache Boost setting.
ASUS BIOS with AI Cache Boost setting.
Credit: Asus
Although Asus suggests that you can run this new AI Cache Boost capability alongside existing BIOS settings like GPU Boost, it won't have any effect on gaming. Indeed, Asus suggested, via VideoCardz, that doing so might result in lower system stability. AI Cache Boost is purely there to improve the interconnectivity of various PC components, which can make a real difference in AI workloads. Other benefits are dubious.
However, if you want to really push your PC's AI capabilities, Asus didn't stop there. After enabling both Game Turbo mode and AI Cache Boost modes, disabling simultaneous multi-threading, and shutting down one CCD on the latest Ryzen processors, AI performance could be increased even further. On a 9950X3D cut down to a single eight-core chiplet, Asus saw improvements of up to 19.4%.
That's probably not enough to make it worth cutting your CPU performance in half. But it's intriguing to see the ways that PC users will be able to tweak their PCs for AI in the future. It seems almost certain now that we'll start to see AI benchmarking as a component of future component testing. How much it will really matter for now, though, remains to be seen.