Gigabyte launches Biscuits for Raptor Lake on Z790

In recent BIOS updates, Gigabyte has introduced a couple of new features for its high-end motherboards. We've already covered the ‘Instant 6GHz' overclocking feature but now our attention turns to something a little more mysterious – Biscuits.

If you are using a Gigabyte/Aorus Z790 motherboard and a Core i9 CPU, you may have noticed something labelled as ‘Biscuits' in the BIOS. While not publicly announced, this is a smart little feature that can help users differentiate high-quality CPUs from lesser chips, allowing overclockers to sift through trays and swiftly sort out CPUs based on overclocking potential.

The overall rating is a reflection of CPU ASIC quality. In an ideal world, all CPUs would have 100 biscuits, but the average rating for a Core i9-13900K is around 85. If you slot a CPU in and find it has 90 or more biscuits, that means it is a prime candidate for overclocking, so you should be able to achieve 6GHz speeds easily and if you are a professional overclocker, you'll be looking for CPUs at 90 or above to chase world records.

This rating system could also potentially be used by end-users. If you happen to have lucked into a high-rated chip but don't intend to overclock, you might be able to sell it on for a profit. A 13th Gen Core i9 with 100 biscuits should be capable of 8GHz speeds while cooled under LN2, according to Gigabyte's in-house overclocking guru, HiCookie.

Leo's Core i9-13900K sample is rated at 91.162 CP (CP = Biscuit Points), meaning the sample Intel sent to us for review purposes was an ‘above average' chip with greater overclocking potential.

Interestingly, it seems that chips with a below 90 score are more prone to the ‘Cold Bug', which is something that really only applies to extreme overclockers. The Cold Bug (CB) kicks in when a CPU reaches between -160 and -186 degrees, so you'll only ever run into this while using LN2. If a chip is inflicted with CB, it will shut down and stop operating when it reaches incredibly low temperatures.

For now, Gigabyte's database only focuses on Core i9 chips, but this could feasibly be expanded to include Core i7 and Core i5 processors too if the need or demand was there.

So if you have a Z790 Gigabyte motherboard and have been wondering what Biscuits is – hopefully this clears that up. If you are wondering why Gigabyte chose the name Biscuits, well we don't have an official answer for that, but the feature was created by HiCookie, so there is a natural connection there.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: While this feature mainly applies to overclockers looking to get the best chip possible to beat records, it can still give normal users an interesting look at what their chip might be capable of. 

Become a Patron!