According to Asus Overclocker Shamino’s reply On the ROG forum, (opens in new tab) Intel’s DLVR (Digital Linear Voltage Regulator) technology is disabled in the current generation of Raptor Lake processors. This technology was fused by Intel at the factory.
A user on the ROG forums asked why the Z690 Hero UEFI has the DLVR feature set, and we got a reply. Shaamino said his DLVR was enabled and working on his Raptor Lake chip in his engineering samples, but was fused in the middle of development. by Intel. As a result, Asus decided to leave the DLVR feature intact within his BIOS in case Intel decides to bring the feature back in his CPU architectures/generations in the future.
DLVR is very closely related to Intel’s integrated voltage regulator FIVR technology. Intel patented the technology earlier this year confirming its presence in the Raptor Lake CPU architecture. DLVR had the potential to reduce Raptor Lake’s CPU power consumption by up to 25% if Intel enabled this feature.
Basically, the DLVR sits inside the CPU die and works in parallel with the voltage regulators found on the motherboard to help regulate power. Deploying a digital regulator very close to the CPU reduces voltage ripple and lowers power consumption. According to Intel’s patent, his VID of the CPU, which is the voltage the processor demands, can be lowered by up to 160mv. Power is proportional to the square of voltage, resulting in a power reduction of 20% to 25%.
According to a forum post, Asus has several DLVR settings to adjust the behavior of the Z690 Hero’s digital regulator: auto, enable, and disable. There’s also a “CPU DLVR Bypass Mode Enable” option, and according to Shimano, all Raptor Lake chips are factory fused together. It’s not clear what the difference was between “disabled” and “bypass” modes, but the feature was well integrated into the development process.
It’s also unclear why Intel decided to unplug DLVR during Raptor Lake development. The tech seems too new, at least for the particular implementation on Raptor Lake. Problems can occur if the voltage auto-adjustment is not done correctly. Whatever happened, it looks like he’ll be back for DLVR in the future — maybe not just for Raptor Lake.
