[BUG] - 7950X3D using X3D Cores instead of non-X3D cores

[Wesker993]

Before continuing...

• I agree to follow Atlas' Code of Conduct
• I have searched our issue tracker to verify that the issue hasn't been reported already
• I have searched the Atlas documentation beforehand for a solution
• I am on the latest version of Atlas, and didn't do an unsupported upgrade

Description

Hello,

once AtlasOS is installed, after driver installation the default cores for system become the X3D cores instead of non-X3D.
Tested it without installing the power plan of AtlasOS, too. No change.

Steps to reproduce

1. Install fresh windows 11
2. Install AtlasOS
3. Install drivers
4. Restart

Expected behavior

X3D Cores should not be used as default cores for system.

Actual behavior

X3D Cores are exclusively used by the system.

Atlas Edition

Atlas for Windows 11 23H2

Desktop information

AMD R9 7950X3D - 16x 4,20GHz
Corsair Vengeance DDR5 6000, 2x32gb CL30
WD Black SN950 2000GB NVME
Nvidia RTX 4090 + RTX 4060

Additional content

Especially when playing games, it could be useful to get the system back on the non-X3D cores because that's basically the purpose of that processor.

[wuyilingwei]

I used 7900x3d, which has a similar design in theory. I observed that CPU0 was occupied by a large amount, but other tasks were indeed assigned to 12-23 by default. If I understand correctly, these CPUs should be non-x3d cores (?). I don't seem to have reproduced this problem here.
I don't know much about these, if there are any errors, please point them out. Because of the similarity of the design of 7900x3d and 7950x3d, the problems they encounter should be similar.

[Wesker993]

I used 7900x3d, which has a similar design in theory. I observed that CPU0 was occupied by a large amount, but other tasks were indeed assigned to 12-23 by default. If I understand correctly, these CPUs should be non-x3d cores (?). I don't seem to have reproduced this problem here. I don't know much about these, if there are any errors, please point them out. Because of the similarity of the design of 7900x3d and 7950x3d, the problems they encounter should be similar.

Hey man, hope you're doing good.

Well, I can just tell you about my experience:

I installed AltasOS like 4 times. Happened every time. It seems like something changes in the 7950x3d's frequency because I was able to observe that the x3d cores (The first CCD) were even higher in their base clock (but non the turbo or max clock) than the non-x3d cores. Since there is a bios option which says "choose which cores are to be preferred ["frequency", "cache" or "driver"], it might consider the first ccd to be the faster ones and makes them the default. But changing that value does not change anything.
It's the only idea I have.

But you know what? I am going to reinstall AtlasOS once more. I will be able to reproduce that problem. It always happened when I installed the drivers, especially AMD Chipset Drivers.

My solution "so far" was to completely change the allocation with Process Lasso of even the critical processes. But still, there are some processes that simply ignore that.

Will be taking a few days since I am having night shifts the next 3 days. But I'll let you know.

Cheers

[the-P1neapple]

Hello @Wesker993 and @wuyilingwei, I want to go through a few tips I have seen online regarding core parking for your CPU models.

Firstly, can you please update your bios if you have not already to the latest version.

Next, please ensure all Chipset Drivers (From AMD, not your OEM) have been installed and ensure the "AMD 3D V-Cache Performance Optimizer Service" is enabled. If not enabled already, please advise us.

Finally, please re-enable Windows Game Bar and update it from the Microsoft Store.
Launch the games you are having issues with. When you open each game, please press Windows + G to open Game Bar and tick Remember this Game.

Please let me know if this helps.

[the-P1neapple]

@cristhian2k47 those drivers are outdated and you can source up to date ones from AMD directly

[Wesker993]

Hello @Wesker993 and @wuyilingwei, I want to go through a few tips I have seen online regarding core parking for your CPU models.

Firstly, can you please update your bios if you have not already to the latest version.

Next, please ensure all Chipset Drivers (From AMD, not your OEM) have been installed and ensure the "AMD 3D V-Cache Performance Optimizer Service" is enabled. If not enabled already, please advise us.

Finally, please re-enable Windows Game Bar and update it from the Microsoft Store. Launch the games you are having issues with. When you open each game, please press Windows + G to open Game Bar and tick Remember this Game.

Please let me know if this helps.

Hey man,

• I often updated the BIOS, that ist not the problem
• Chipset Drivers are up to date

I disable Game Bar all the time because I don't want to use these overlays. But this ist not the problem. Problem is that the entire system runs on the x3d cores. By default this is not the case. So, it's not about the games not running on x3d but the system running on x3d.

[the-P1neapple]

Since there is a bios option which says "choose which cores are to be preferred ["frequency", "cache" or "driver"], it might consider the first ccd to be the faster ones and makes them the default. But changing that value does not change anything.
It's the only idea I have.

@Wesker993 Since I don't own an x3D CPU myself, I did some research on CCD. Due to the lack of documentation related to CCD, a lot of people seem to leave this setting on Auto on the BIOS. However, I saw a video from JayzTwoCents that demonstrates that the Auto setting prioritises Frequency.

Prioritising frequency comes at the cost of prioritising most tasks on V-Cache, causing a performance drop in heavy workloads. In your case, you may be prioritising Cache which I am assuming allocates everything to the x3D cores. After changing the setting to Driver, it allocates tasks to cores more efficiently.

Going back to my previous message, the Windows scheduler works with the GameBar to tell the driver what software is a game (by using the remember this game option) and needs to be prioritised on the x3D cores; other tasks can be pushed to the non-x3D cores. This only works when the CCD is set to Driver. As much as we all hate GameBar, it is very important to use it on x3D cores to have the best performance. You also need to turn on Game Mode in Windows Settings.

Please let me know how you go. For more information, I suggest you watch the video I linked.
If you are still having issues, send me a screenshot of the task manager metrics and tell me your motherboard. I will see if there is any issues relating to your specific model

Edit: one important not I forgot to leave out is make sure you test using the balanced power plan instead of our Atlas Power Plan to ensure the scheduler works correctly.

Edit 2: Sorry I may be confusing myself between the Cache and Frequency modes for the BIOS, all I am saying is give it a shot on Driver mode.

[the-P1neapple]

@Wesker993 Hey just checking if you managed to fix this issue.

If you found a different method I would appreciate if you shared it with us.

[Wesker993]

@Wesker993 Hey just checking if you managed to fix this issue.

If you found a different method I would appreciate if you shared it with us.

Hey, man! I had some horrible weeks of work, so I wasn't able to do anything about it. I am downloading 24h2 right now, wich makes AtlasOS incompatible at the moment.
I am using WinUtil instead which does the same things but you can choose what you want and what not more precisely. Atlas might be a little more aggressive with what it deactivates and what not but still...

No solution for that so far with AtlasOS.

[MINORITYmaN]

We recently encountered a similar issue on a friend's 3D workstation,
and after some troubleshooting, we determined it was a Windows problem.

Just a heads up: sites like Massgrave don’t always provide the most current Windows images.
However, if you use the Media Creation Tool, you’ll get a more recent, patched version.
The one released about 2-3 weeks ago resolved this issue for us,
allowing the core orchestration to finally work as expected.

My suggestion is to try using the Media Creation Tool and see if it yields different results.

Cheers!