Tuning core scheduling for Intel Core Ultra 9 285K in Overwatch 2
Going from a silky 300 FPS down to 140 FPS is a nightmare, but it gave me the perfect excuse to stress test the Ultra 9's new scheduling logic. The E-cores were introducing a 15-25ms sync delay when handling esports logic, causing the frame generation time to jump all over the place. I started with the 'Ultimate Performance' power plan in Windows, but while the P-cores boosted, the E-cores kept stealing cycles—a frustrating realization that I needed to perform surgery in the BIOS. I disabled all E-cores and locked the P-cores at a steady 5.4GHz. Looking at the RivaTuner graph, the frame time immediately collapsed into a tight 3.2-3.6ms window, and the stutters vanished. My idle power draw jumped by about 20W after disabling E-cores, but I managed to bring it back down by tweaking the C-State power management. CPU temps hovered between 65-78℃. I switched the operating mode in the driver panel, and frame times have stayed rock steady at 3.2-3.6ms.
