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flaviusaetius
Copper Contributor
Oct 02, 2024

W11 24H2: Task scheduler and underutilization of P-Cores over E-cores in critical applications

Hello, after a long time of testing I come here to share my conclusion. After testing two different processors (14900K and 14900KS) in different builds of Windows 11 (23h2 and 24h2 compilations 1150 1457 and 1882) and 10 I come to report a significant performance drop because Windows is allocating E-Cores instead of P-cores in certain applications such as games. The problem started a few months ago when my Windows 11 updated to version 23H2 and I noticed that the FPS in certain games dropped. As a reference, I started adopting the CPU test of the GAMESPY application of 3DMark as a test reference. Simply, before updating my Windows 11 to version 23h2, TimeSpy recorded an average of 23 thousand to 24500 points for the 14900k and 14900ks processors. After the update, I could not get more than 20,000 points and the maximum fps dropped dramatically.
So, because of this, I decided to join the insider program to get the new version of Windows 11 (24h2 build 26100.1150) and see if the problem persists.
To my surprise, in Windows 11 build 26100.1150, the system's task scheduler allocated the use of E-Cores and P-Cores in applications very satisfactorily. In 3dmark time spy, I got 24,000 Points + again.
However, a new and curious problem appeared. For example, if I install Windows 11 26100.1150 and when the system is first booted (right after installation) it downloads the cumulative updates via Windows Update (and goes to future builds 26100.1457 or the latest 26100.1882), the task scheduler's error in properly allocating the e-cores or p-cores persists. And after many tests, I found that the error is in the scheduler, because when I disable the E-cores in the BIOS, both games and Timespy, when running only with P-cores, end up having much higher FPS than with the E-cores and P-cores enabled.
And now what's even more curious. If after a clean installation I install Windows 11 version 26100.1150 and BLOCK the cumulative updates (KB5043080), and before installing all the others, the task scheduler continues to perfectly allocate the use of E-cores and P-Cores. After installing these updates, I can unlock and install the cumulative updates that lead to version 26100.1457 and the problem simply does not occur. I do not know which update in the meantime (between blocking KB50043080 and installing the other updates) and then installing KB50043080 does something to the system that allows the task scheduler to continue to function properly. Therefore, I leave my report here about this efficiency and allocation problem of the P and E Cores of the 14900k and 14900Ks processors with the installation of Windows 11 versions 23h2 (which presented problems in this regard) and 24h2 with the mentioned particularities. I had also tested the system with Windows 10 and in it the system was working the same way as in version 24h2 build 26100.1150, that is, without problems and working normally.

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