My PC had annoying frame drops I couldn't explain — until I found this hidden CPU BIOS setting

Squeezing every ounce of your CPU's power can be hard, considering Windows hides performance-boosting settings in a new feature that may not be apparent to most users. There's also another important CPU setting that lies dormant deep in the BIOS menu, one you might have already overlooked.

Beyond these tweaks, I came across another setting — C-States, a CPU power management feature that determines how aggressively your processor sleeps when it's not under load, which is why my frames weren't smooth. It wasn't until I disabled this setting that I fixed my annoying frame stutter.

Understanding CPU C-States

Your processor doesn't stay awake all the time — it sleeps in stages

Modern CPUs come with an abundance of circuitry inside. For instance, P-cores (Performance Cores) have high raw computing power and are best for heavy workloads like rendering or gaming, whereas E-cores (Efficiency Cores) are low-power cores that best handle less demanding tasks like background services. Depending on your needs, a CPU enters different power-saving modes, called C-states, in which parts of the processor are powered down. There are multiple C-states, and they differ by CPU, but generally, C0 represents full CPU activity, whereas C1 to C7 represent parts of the CPU going to sleep; higher numbers indicate deeper sleep. C8-C10 are the deepest CPU idle states.

To list each scenario of C-state: C0 could be your CPU fully awake, out in tasks like heavy workloads, like gaming or heavy 3D rendering, and depending on medium usage, your CPU can shift to C1–C7 states, lighter activity as you go up the numbers, and C8-C10 is when most of the power to the processor is cut off.

C-states vary across CPUs, so it's important to check your manufacturer's manual to confirm.

C-States may quietly be killing your frame times

The tiny delay in waking up is enough to mess up your entire frame pacing

Dave Meikleham / MakeUseOf

Now, depending on whether you're a gamer, latency matters a lot in your hardware. Between the hundreds of frames and the constant communication between input and processes, every millisecond counts, and even the slightest delay causes hiccups that hurt performance, resulting in frame drops and stutters.

How does this relate to C-state? Well, your CPU doesn't demand maximum utilization all the time — that completely depends on the game, and it might demand more resources in areas where it's asset-dense or moving through the world. The idea is that your CPU still constantly shifts between C-States during gaming, but returning to C0 isn't instantaneous — there's a slight delay in waking the whole processor, and the penalty increases depending on whether the CPU is returning from a higher C-state. This delay then causes frame-rate dips and stutters because frame timing gets disrupted.

For me, I couldn't figure out why I was getting micro-stutters and sudden frame dips in games where I had to change location or when there were suddenly more elements on my screen. The temperatures were normal, and the CPU usage wasn't consistently at maximum, so thermal throttle was also out of the equation. That was until I found out what C-State meant, and once I disabled them, my frames became smooth.

To disable C-States, you'll need to follow these steps:

Enter the BIOS via the F2/Delete button on startup. Navigate to Advanced/EZ Mode, depending on the motherboard brand. Now, look for CPU Configuration/Power Management, once again, different naming conventions for different motherboards. Over there, you'll find Intel C-State/CPU C-State/Package C-State Limit/Global C-State Control depending on your CPU brand: AMD/Intel. Disable or turn off C-State. Save BIOS settings and exit.

Disabling C-States has some important caveats that need to be considered

Don't do it without decent cooling

Dave Meikleham \ MakeUseOf

Now, the idea of disabling C-state seems enticing since you'll be unlocking your CPU's maximum capabilities 100% of the time as it remains active throughout. However, your entire CPU being fully awake also means that it will draw more power consistently, ultimately meaning that your system will also run hotter even when it's idling. Moreover, switching between C-states allows your processor to cool down, and being active in C0 leaves no room to chill, so temperatures might exceed the safe limit to the point that your CPU starts thermal throttling, adversely impacting performance.

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Therefore, I highly recommend not disabling C-State if you don't have a decent cooling setup. I have a decent cooler for my Ryzen 7 7700X, and even with C-State disabled, I was able to control the temperatures and make the most out of my processor.

The right call depends on your setup

C-states are among the many BIOS settings that PC users tend to overlook, and they can fine-tune your PC to suit your daily needs, whetherfor maximizing performance or efficiency. Regardless, C-State is one of the most overlooked settings when it comes to finding the culprit for those annoying frame drops and low 1%.

Anyhow, disabling C-State or keeping it enabled is entirely up to the user — it's not universally right or wrong. As I mentioned earlier, if you want your PC to deliver maximum performance at all times, have a decent cooling system, and aren't worried about the electricity bill, disabling C-State might be beneficial. If you're on a laptop, the power draw alone is a reason to leave C-State enabled.