Gigabyte technically makes switching on X3D Turbo Mode easier, but it still doesn’t work the way we want it to
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AMD’s ‘Turbo Game Mode’ is available on its range of X3D processors and is a pretty simple feature all things considered. What it does is turn off SMT (Simultaneous multithreading), essentially making your processor work off just the cores with single threading. On Ryzen 9 X3D chips, this means turning off the secondary CCD. This can be beneficial for gaming, but it means a hit to productivity.
For this reason, and the fact not all games are equal, it would be nice to toggle this feature on or off whenever you like, but it generally means going to BIOS settings. Gigabyte has now announced ‘Simplified X3D Turbo Mode Activation‘ which sounds promising, but there’s a catch – you still need to restart your PC.
- Cores: 8
- Threads: 16
- Boost clock speed: 5.2GHz
- Base clock speed: 4.7GHz
- L3 cache: 96MB
- TDP: 120W
- Platform: AM5
Gigabyte adds X3D Turbo Mode to AORUS AI Snatch software
As per Gigabyte’s blog post, X3D Turbo Mode is now an accessible setting in its AORUS AI Snatch software. They provide instructions on how to enable it below:
- Run live update on GCC to get the latest AORUS AI SNATCH version B24.11.19.01
- Navigate to the flag icon in the lower-left corner
- Click the flag icon to activate X3D Turbo Mode
- Confirm the pop-up window by clicking “OK”
- System will automatically restart to activate the feature
So, despite technically making it easier to access – no more rummaging through BIOS settings – you’ll still need to restart your PC for the setting to take effect. This setting will be best used on upcoming Ryzen 9 X3D chips such as the 9950X3D, as turning off the CCD without 3D V-Cache will allow it to prioritize gaming, much like the 9800X3D does with its single CCD design.
We tested Turbo Mode to see what difference it makes
Turbo Game mode, or X3D Turbo Mode as Gigabyte calls it, can be useful for many games and Counter-Strike 2 is one of them. Gigabyte claims the setting offers “up to 18% performance improvements” for Ryzen 9000 CPU; we witnessed similar results in our in-house testing.
We put several games (including CS2) to the test and found that the 9800X3D actually gave us 60 bonus FPS in the competitive shooter (where you could argue that every frame matters). We tested this in tandem with PBO (Precision Boost Overdrive) and you can see the results below:
| Game | Stock | PBO + Game Mode | PBO |
|---|---|---|---|
| Counter-Strike 2 | 601.52 | 662.35 | 666.23 |
| Days Gone | 328.29 | 342.38 | N/A |
| Doom Eternal | 513.22 | 607.09 | 595.2 |
| Horizon Forbidden West | 219.33 | 227.37 | 222.62 |
The performance uplift is noticeable in the right conditions, especially in games that are more CPU-bound. We tested at 1080p low settings to try and gauge the best-case scenario. However, if you’re playing at a higher resolution and the GPU is called more into play, then the difference with X3D Turbo Mode is likely less substantial.
Plus, with the performance uplift highly dependent on the game itself, this setting generally doesn’t feel worth it for most people. The fact you need to restart your PC each time you decide to toggle it on or off makes it a nuisance more than anything.
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