How to fix VRM thermal throttling on the Maxsun B850ITX WIFI ICE?
Right as a fighting move hits its peak, I'd get these tiny frame skips. In a fighting game, that kind of lag is completely unacceptable. Because of the tiny form factor, the VRM on the Maxsun B850ITX WIFI ICE was hitting 92-98C under full load, which forced the CPU boost clock to tank from 5,0GHz down to 4,2GHz. I first tried just cranking up the case fans, but the noise was deafening and the core temp only dropped by 1C—a totally blind and useless attempt. I went into the BIOS and changed the VRM fan strategy to a linked mode based on the module temperature, and tweaked the Vcore voltage to 1,22V to help with stability. Monitoring with HWInfo, the VRM temps settled between 78-84C, and the boost clock stayed above 4,8GHz. I did notice some annoying resonance from the fans at low speeds, but swapping in some silicone pads fixed that. CPU temps are now 68-74C. After three matches, there's zero frequency fluctuation, and memory temps are holding at 58-63C.
