Almost every CPU on the market ships with more performance on tap than it is allowed to use out of the box. If you're willing to step into your system BIOS, there are a hundred different ways to squeeze extra performance from modern chips. You can find power limits to raise, boost behavior to tweak, or memory timings to tighten and refine, and yet, the default experience leans in the opposite direction.

Major manufacturers tend to ship conservative presets with motherboards that are tuned for stability, thermals and the widest possible compatibility, which makes sense when you're building for millions of users with very different cooling setups. With just a handful of manual toggles and perhaps thirty odd minutes of your time, you can achieve the performance your CPU is capable of.

There are many ways to use Precision Boost Overdrive

And it's almost always configured incorrectly by default

If you've been even minutely interested in CPU overclocking on the AM4 or AM5 platform, chances are you have likely encountered the term, Precision Boost Overdrive (PBO). It is arguably the most effective way to gain frames and faster render times out of a Ryzen chip. There is, however, a common misconception that PBO is a simple "on/off" switch. Many BIOS configurations either implement it as "Enabled" or leave it on "Auto" by default, only to disappoint the end user when benchmark results barely move above single digits.

Many motherboard manufacturers have taken the approach of taking AMD's PBO framework a step further with dedicated profiles to match performance output. In 2024, MSI's PBO profile optimizations expanded following the release of the Ryzen 9000 series processors, introducing a little bit of nuance in how you can manage the setting.

While a standard PBO toggle nets a gain of 5–8% on Zen 5 chips, MSI's optimized PBO Enhanced Mode can effectively double that. On chips like the Ryzen 7 9700X, this preset can unlock up to 15% more performance compared to stock settings. This has been confirmed by users on the MSI Forums. Naturally, more power can give rise to more heat. For users who seek to achieve more efficiency out of a PBO configuration, some boards give the option to do so through the Set Thermal Point feature, which allows for capping temperature limits while retaining performance.

BIOS defaults also leave curve optimization to you

Defaults aren't very great at tuning for performance or efficiency

Whereas the PBO feature handles the performance ceiling for your CPU, the Curve Optimizer handles how your chip behaves at boost clock frequencies. Unfortunately, again, the Curve Optimizer is also set to "Auto" on most factory BIOS settings, and rarely (if ever) apply custom voltage offsets. The silver lining is, there is some more performance headroom to be achieved by tweaking the voltage-frequency curve, particularly by applying negative offsets as necessary.

On Ryzen 7000 series and Ryzen 9000 series processors, negative Curve Optimizer values can be used to undervolt the CPU, which in turn lowers the power draw and temperature. This permits PBO to maintain the boost clock frequencies for longer without thermal throttling. If you're using a Ryzen 7000 series chip like I am, I have found that offsets ranging from -20 to -30 on Curve Optimizer produce the best results when coupling with PBO, especially if you're making all-core adjustments. You don't always have to venture into the BIOS settings to access the Curve Optimizer feature on Ryzen platforms, since the AMD Ryzen Master utility offers a safe way to do it as well.

Is your BIOS missing out on these new features?

An outdated BIOS/UEFI may not do justice to a new chip

If you've read this far and are confused to not find some of the features mentioned here in your BIOS, your motherboard may be running an old firmware version. This is yet another perplexing part of purchasing a new motherboard, and, unfortunately, one that many large manufacturers don't address fully. Once every 6–12 months, it is common to see a new BIOS/UEFI update pop up on the manufacturer's website, and if your motherboard entered the supply chain before it's rolled out, you won't be able to leverage the new tuning features without a BIOS update.

Most users don't bother with a BIOS update if the PC POSTs or until something's broken, but these updates have an important purpose. Besides unlocking additional performance, some updates patch critical security vulnerabilities and resolve hardware shortcomings. For example, ASUS released updates for multiple Z-series and B-series SKUs to address user concerns around MultiCore Enhancement settings that would occasionally over-volt CPUs. It is extremely important, now more than ever, to ensure your motherboard can communicate effectively with your CPU and give you a chance to use the newest features designed for performance and stability of your system.

Tuning has always been a defining feature of PCs

If there's one thing that can be said about factory defaults that motherboards ship with, it's that they're designed for the masses, and must be tuned for the individual. There's a surprising amount of performance that you can leave on the table if you're not revisiting your BIOS at least once a calendar year, so if you care about your system's health and performance, it is generally recommended to do so. There's not much to be missed for those using their PC as a workstation, but if you find yourself pixel-peeping and playing games with an FPS counter on the corner of your screen, chances are, BIOS tweaks will serve you well.