mitzu

We have talked a lot about our PC optimization, but never about the foundation behind every setup we deliver

Every grobPC optimization starts with AerialOS, our own Windows 11 build designed for competitive gaming, minimal latency and consistent performance

Why AerialOS instead of another “lite” Windows

1 // Lite builds

Most custom builds strip Windows to make it smaller and supposedly faster. They cut Store, Defender, updates, Edge, and pieces of servicing. On traces, that system no longer behaves like Windows. Components look for things that aren’t there. Services break. Behavior drifts

2 // AerialOS

Is a normal Windows 11 that wasn’t gutted. Defender, Microsoft Store, and Windows Update stay. The ecosystem is intact, so the system still behaves like regular Windows — without ads in the UI and without tweak guides from the 2010s

Full Windows at stock level: less hassle than assembling a custom image yourself, and the machine still has to run as one piece

3 // How it’s built

The image is serviced through official DISM. AerialOS moved off NTLite to DISM, so servicing stays in the official stack instead of an NTLite lite-build. The CBS / WinSxS store isn’t stripped. Kernel, drivers, and services stay stock

Needed components, drivers, services, and SxS have no right to be removed just to cut the process count or make the system look lighter. This isn’t an NTLite lite-build in the SapphireOS, KernelOS, GhostSpectre, or X-Lite sense, where packages get pulled out of the component store

4 // Why this isn’t placebo

The system was checked with the same tools Microsoft uses on Windows: WPR, WPA, Xperf, GPUView, Media eXperience Analyzer (MXA), WinDbg, and powercfg. Development follows Windows Internals, not recycled registry packs or “gaming tweaks” cherry-picked from 2000–2019

If a change doesn’t show up on a trace, it doesn’t go into the build

5 // Power

The base is the Balanced power plan — that’s the scheme Microsoft documents and Windows Internals treat as the reference. The plan is built with powercfg only. No third-party power-plan software

Disk and monitor timeouts and selected power-saving policies are adjusted so the machine responds faster in-game. This isn’t a homemade “Ultra Gaming” plan, and it isn’t High Performance with everything turned off

6 // Standalone utilities

A few utilities ship in the image so you don’t have to hunt forums after setup: MouseTester, UsbTreeView, MSI Mode Utility, GoInterruptPolicy, and ReservedCpuSets. Don’t stack third-party tweak packs on top. They overwrite what’s already set

7 // Who it’s for

Esports first: CS2, Valorant, low latency, steady frame times. Work components are still there — Store, Defender, updates, office apps, the browser. The system is meant to run as one piece, not as a Windows that only exists for a match

8 // What you need on your side

Basic Windows skills: a clean, correct reinstall, then the right drivers for your PC so the system runs properly

Post-install stays minimal. Fewer cosmetic tweaks means fewer conflicts and a more stable system. If you want to change individual settings later, use the post-install folder. That part takes more than basic Windows skills. You need to understand what you’re changing. If you don’t, leave it alone

9 // What you get

No promised “plus a hundred frames.” No claim that this is some separate real-time OS. What you get is a complete Windows that runs better than stock, with settings you can verify on the same Microsoft toolchain

Even before individual tuning, AerialOS provides a cleaner, more responsive and more consistent baseline than an untouched Windows installation

But the OS is only the foundation

We then configure Windows, drivers, BIOS and registry parameters, tune the RAM, and safely overclock individual components for the exact PC and player

To book an appointment dm me💌

Why more cores doesn’t mean better
CS2 performance 🤔

9800X3D / 9850X3D vs 9950X3D in CS2

A CCD is one chiplet of cores with its own L3. 9800X3D and 9850X3D are one CCD: 8c/16t, 120 W TDP, 96 MB L3 on every core. The match has one cache to sit on. Nowhere for the game to miss it. 9850X3D is a better-binned 9800X3D — 5.6 GHz boost instead of 5.2. Same topology. You pay for clocks, not a new design.

9950X3D is two CCDs on one IOD. Cache CCD: 96 MB L3. Frequency CCD: higher boost, up to 5.7 GHz, 32 MB L3. The spec sheet says 16 cores / 32 threads and 128 MB L3. That is two pools, not one. Crossing them costs Infinity Fabric. A driver can hide the hop. It cannot remove it.

CS2 does not use the core count on the box. It uses L3 on the cores running the match, boost on those cores, and threads that stay on one CCD. The game will not feed 16 cores in a match. The second CCD is extra scheduler work, not extra aim. On the 8-core parts the scheduler cannot pick the wrong cache. On the 9950X3D it can. Average FPS can look fine. Frametime will not.

What actually steers a 9950X3D: Provisioning Packages can park the non-cache CCD. The 3D V-Cache optimizer does not park anything — it only favors a CCD. Current AMD chipset, including the Application Compatibility Database. An old chipset is how CS2 ends up on the frequency CCD and “feels inconsistent.”

When that stack works, a 9950X3D plays like a 9800X3D with spare silicon. Reviews already have them trading blows. When it does not, threads leak, 1% lows fall over, and average FPS still looks fine. 170 W TDP (≈230 W PPT) versus 120 W TDP (≈162 W PPT) is not free. Published CS2 wall-power tests showed about 40–60 W more even with the frequency CCD mostly idle.

9950X3D is the right buy if the second CCD has a job: OBS, browser, compile, VM. A CS2-only box does not need it.

If you already own a 9950X3D

BIOS: CPPC on. CPPC Dynamic Preferred Cores set to Driver — that is the correct handoff to Windows, not Cache “just in case.” C-states on. Do not kill core C-states to chase latency; cut DF C-States if fabric wake is the issue. Leave SMT on. Skip vendor Turbo modes that disable the frequency CCD and SMT unless you want to pay for 16 cores and play as 8.

Windows: Balanced. Not High Performance, not Ultimate — those plans fight parking. Let the AMD services run. Current chipset. Do not stack Process Lasso or ParkControl on top of AMD’s policy. PCI Express Link State Power Management off. USB selective suspend off.

9800X3D / 9850X3D still belong on Balanced with C-states on. They just do not depend on parking.

Buy: CS2-first → 9850X3D if the price delta is small, 9800X3D if it is cheaper. Mixed workload → 9950X3D and leave the setup alone. Already on a 9950X3D and CS2 feels off → fix Balanced, chipset, Driver, and C-states before you buy another chip. If it only “gets fast” after a Turbo mode kills the frequency CCD, you became a 9800X3D with extra IOD tax.

Do not treat 16 cores as a CS2 upgrade.
Do not compare a frequency-CCD-disabled 9950X3D to a 9800X3D.
Do not mix 9950X3D with 9950X3D2.
Do not prove scheduling with a warmup overlay on an empty map.

Buy the topology the game does not have to be talked into.

— mitzu

Hallo brotherman’s if you've encountered a similar error while using the AerialOS 26H2 / 26300.8346 build, just grab the new build based on 25H2 from our Discord channel, and the problem will be fixed. hf, cya ✌🏻
@FACEIT @FACEITcs @FACEITSupport

-mitzu

DF C-States – Updated Take

DF C-States control whether the Data Fabric is allowed to enter low-power states once every core has reached a deep C-state. When the fabric sleeps, idle power drops. When it has to wake up under load, there is a measurable latency cost and added jitter.
AMD’s own documentation is clear on this point. In their EPYC BIOS and Workload Tuning guides they state that Global C-State Control should generally stay enabled, because disabling it also kills core C-states. For low-latency or low-jitter workloads they specifically recommend disabling DF C-States instead. The official wording is that disabling DF C-States prevents the Infinity Fabric from entering a low-power state and reduces latency jitter, at the cost of higher power consumption.
This is the cleaner alternative. You keep deeper core C-states available while stopping the fabric itself from sleeping. Fully disabling Global C-State Control is the blunt approach and is the one AMD strongly advises against except for debugging.
On current desktop Zen 4 and Zen 5 platforms the effect is usually modest, but the principle remains the same. For competitive play, where frame delivery consistency matters more than a few watts at idle, I disable DF C-States. For a system that spends most of its time idle, I leave them enabled.
The decision is not based on community folklore. It lines up with what AMD themselves document as the correct way to handle the latency-versus-power trade-off on the Data Fabric.

- mitzu

Your Average FPS is Lying to You: Why Disabling C-States is a Silent Killer

"But my FPS stayed the same!"
When you disable C-States, average FPS might not change. But in competitive shooters, high numbers mean nothing if the game feels jittery.

What wins duels is frametime consistency and buttery-smooth mouse tracking. Disabling C-States destroys this.

Here is the technical breakdown of why this BIOS tweak ruins your gameplay 👇

— THE WINDOWS SCHEDULER CHAOS

Modern Windows 11 works in symbiosis with hardware power states via Intel Thread Director and AMD CPPC2.

When you disable C-States, you completely break Core Parking. The OS loses the ability to isolate background tasks. The scheduler gets confused, leading to erratic thread management that breaks the internal fluid pacing of your game.

— INTEL: THE POWER LIMIT TRAP

On Intel CPUs (12th-14th Gen), disabling C-States forces all cores to stay in the active C0 state 24/7.

This drastically increases Package Power draw and idle temperatures. Because the CPU hits its PL1/PL2 (power limits) and thermal ceilings much faster, it throttles single-core boost. Your single-thread speed drops, resulting in a heavier, less responsive feel during firefights.

— AMD RYZEN: THE CHIPLET NIGHTMARE

On AMD Zen, disabling C-States destroys the "softness" of the game due to the multi-chiplet layout. CPPC2 relies on Core Parking to tell Windows which cores are fastest.
If C-states are off (especially on dual-CCD like 7950X3D):

1. Core Parking breaks.
2. The OS fails to lock the game to the V-Cache CCD.
3. Threads bounce across the high-latency Infinity Fabric.
Result? Micro-stutters you won't see on an FPS counter, but will feel when flicking.

— WHAT THE TELEMETRY SHOWS (WPA)

If you analyze traces via Windows Performance Analyzer (WPA), disabling C-States does NOT lower execution latency.

Instead, it introduces massive micro-fluctuations in thread handling. Because the scheduler is fed conflicting power-state telemetry, it aggressively shuffles tasks, spiking systemic jitter (DPC / IRQ).

— VERDICT

Stop chasing placebo tweaks that promise lower latency but deliver a choppy experience.

Keep C-States on AUTO or ENABLED in your BIOS. Let the CPU microcode and the OS scheduler do their job. Your game will feel significantly smoother and more stable.

cya! 🖱💨