MSI has a BIOS setting said to improve memory latency by a noticeable degree. A good way to counter any latency degradation spotted following the AGESA 1.2.0.2a firmware update.
Latency Killer is a feature of MSI’s AM5 motherboards said to reduce DDR5 latency. According to a screenshot shared by @unikoshardware on X, this setting can lower RAM latency by 8ns, from 74.7ns to 66.7ns. That said, keep in mind that these results were obtained using AIDA64 Cache and Memory Benchmark, which tends to vary at the slightest system load change.
In other words, this represents a 10% improvement in memory latency, returning performance to what it was before the previous AGESA update. Logically, this should result in higher CPU performance, but surprisingly, according to MSI’s description, this feature could do the opposite. How and why is unknown, as well as if this setting will be available on all of MSI’s AM5 boards.
Mind you, AMD is probably already working on a fix to this issue and should release it in one of its upcoming AGESA updates. Unless there are fundamental limitations, it’s just a matter of time.
Lastly, these tests were conducted on a system powered by a Ryzen 9800X3D CPU and an MSI MPG X870E Carbon WiFi motherboard coupled with DDR5-8000 CL38-48-48-126 memory.
In any case, if you’re running some latency-sensitive software, you can enable this feature to bring back your system to its former glory – prior to AGESA 1.2.0.2a, without having to roll back to older BIOS versions. This is particularly good for Ryzen 9800X3D CPUs, as AGESA 1.2.0.2a includes specific optimisations you wouldn’t want to revert.
If you are interested in trying it, this option is located under the overclocking tab, offering three parameters: Enabled, Disabled, and Auto. The latter probably defaults to disabled as MSI suspects CPU performance degradation when the feature is active.
