While testing Intel Alder Lake Desktop CPUs, we found that AVX-512 support remains unchanged and can be easily enabled, even though this instruction set is completely disabled by the upcoming BIOS.
Intel Alder Lake desktop CPUs lose their AVX-512 instructions with the next major BIOS from motherboard manufacturers
Although Intel’s Alder Lake CPUs are not officially stated as compliant with the AVX-512 instructions, they can be activated by disabling active “Gracemont” cores and leaving the “Golden Cove” performance cores running. This provides slightly better performance and greater efficiency than standard AVX2 instructions. While electronic cores have their own advantages in different workloads, the AVX-512 instructions also seem to achieve greater efficiency.
But this is about to change. Igor lab Reports indicate that Intel has been directing motherboard manufacturers to remove AVX-512 support on Alder Lake CPUs with an upcoming BIOS update. Not surprisingly, this change came just days before Intel plans to release it. Various assortment of K Alder . Lake which will only feature most P-core models (Core i5 and Core i3 non-hybrids).
Intel AVX-512 Performance vs. AVX2 on Alder Lake CPUs. (Image credits: Igor Lab)
These chips have the potential to be an important component of entry-level servers and workstations where their AVX-512 features can be used. Intel doesn’t want this to happen, and as such is doing its best to remove instruction set support from the equation. There’s more, however, and Igors Lab explains that the AVX2’s standard guidelines have a very strict thermal acceleration advantage on all hybrid chips recognized by HWiNFO as “IA: Turbo High Limit – Yes”.
Support/Limits for Intel Alder Lake AVX512 and AVX2 on HWiNFO (Image credits: Igor Lab):
Thermal locking results in limited clock speeds with the stated reason being to avoid the degradation of electron transport within new chips. There are now few systems that can reach the maximum clocks of 5.2GHz for the chip due to this accelerator because many computers will not have enough cooling to reach these high clocks.
Fortunately, solutions to these two AVX hurdles already exist, the AVX2 Acceleration and the AVX-512 Release. For example, Asus has implemented a patch in their BIOS versions for “Maximus” series motherboards that disables the AVX2 controller. The only important thing here is that the clock must already be set in the BIOS at boot time. Otherwise, the subsequent program within the operating system will be changed to intel fishing net again.
Fortunately, solutions to these two AVX hurdles already exist, the AVX2 Acceleration and the AVX-512 Release. For example, Asus has implemented a patch in their BIOS versions for “Maximus” series motherboards that disables the AVX2 controller. The only important thing here is that the clock must already be set in the BIOS at boot time. Otherwise, the subsequent program within the operating system will be changed to intel fishing net again.
You can now keep the current BIOS and keep the AVX-512 instructions, but new motherboards are expected to not have a BIOS. Also, you’ll definitely need a better BIOS than available at launch to get good stability and DDR5 compatibility for your Alder Lake CPUs, but upgrading means saying goodbye to the instruction set. So it’s a really weird move by Intel, and if they’re really upset about this feature on consumer CPUs, they shouldn’t have had it in the first place.
