How to fix erratic frame times on MSI B450M Mortar Max?
When pushing Path Tracing in Overdrive mode, I noticed my CPU core voltage was dipping by 0.05V from a 1.3V baseline, causing frame times to spike from 16ms to a jarring 45ms. The VRM on the MSI B450M Mortar Max was absolutely cooking, hitting 92-98℃, which triggered an immediate current limit protection. I first tried enabling 'Ultimate Performance' in Windows, but that was a joke; it gained me maybe 2 FPS while making the micro-stutters even worse. I eventually dove into the BIOS, switched the Load-Line Calibration to Mode L2, and locked the Vcore offset at +0.02V. Monitoring via RTSS showed the frame time curve finally flattening out to a steady 12-18ms. It wasn't a seamless fix though; the system rebooted a few times during idle until I bumped the memory voltage to 1.36V for total stability. Now the CPU sits between 75-82℃ with fans humming at 1800 RPM. I saved this to a BIOS profile, and the 12-18ms frame delivery is rock steady.
