Stopping Intel Core i5-13490F frequency swings in Ragnarok
Having my minimum frames hover around 40-45 FPS felt terrible, especially against giant enemies where that choppiness completely kills the combat rhythm. Looking back at my logs, the Intel Core i5-13490F clock speeds were bouncing between 3.2GHz and 4.8GHz like a heart monitor, clearly caused by some overly aggressive power-saving logic. My first instinct was to enable Enhanced Turbo in the BIOS, but that was a mistake—temps spiked to 92-96℃ instantly, triggering thermal throttling and making the FPS collapse even harder. I pivoted and forced the Windows Power Plan to 'High Performance,' locking the minimum processor state to 100%, and bumped the PL1 power limit to 125W in the BIOS. In HWMonitor, the clocks finally settled into a tight 4.6-4.8GHz range, and frame times dropped from 22-35ms down to a consistent 16-19ms. Early on, I had two random reboots due to an aggressive voltage offset, but dialing it back to +0.05V stabilized everything. CPU temps now stay between 68-76℃ with fans at 1800 RPM. Stress tests confirm the clocks are rock steady now.
