diff --git a/studio/backend/core/inference/diffusion_speed.py b/studio/backend/core/inference/diffusion_speed.py
index f937add782..dd2f2e664d 100644
--- a/studio/backend/core/inference/diffusion_speed.py
+++ b/studio/backend/core/inference/diffusion_speed.py
@@ -208,12 +208,18 @@ def apply_speed_optims(
 
     # Consumer-only: fp16 GEMMs accumulate in fp16 (~2x on GeForce-class parts, whose
     # fp32-accumulate rate is halved; datacenter HBM parts gain nothing and keep the
-    # safer fp32 accumulate). Only affects fp16 matmuls -- the bf16 DiT paths are
-    # untouched -- so it engages wherever fp16 compute appears (SDXL pipelines, fp16
-    # LoRA adapters). Guarded by a per-family deny-list fed by the overflow validation
-    # harness and the UNSLOTH_DISABLE_FP16_ACCUM kill switch.
+    # safer fp32 accumulate). Only affects fp16 matmuls -- bf16 loads were measured
+    # bit-identical with the flag on across every family (36/36 same-seed A/B cases),
+    # so on the quality-neutral tiers the flag engages only when the compute dtype is
+    # NOT fp16. On an fp16 pipeline (the pre-Ampere fallback dtype) the same harness
+    # measured real same-seed drift (mean 2-5% on SDXL / FLUX), so fp16 compute gets
+    # the 2x accumulate only under ``max``, the tier that already trades exactness for
+    # speed. Guarded by a per-family deny-list fed by the overflow validation harness
+    # and the UNSLOTH_DISABLE_FP16_ACCUM kill switch.
     if on_cuda:
-        applied["fp16_accum"] = _enable_fp16_accumulation(family, logger)
+        applied["fp16_accum"] = _enable_fp16_accumulation(
+            family, logger, dtype = getattr(target, "dtype", None), speed_mode = speed_mode
+        )
 
     # --- the compile lever, remapped per tier ----------------------------------------
     # default = LIGHT compile: for a GGUF model, compile ONLY the dequant op chain
@@ -343,19 +349,25 @@ def _enable_tf32(logger: Any) -> bool:
 
 
 # Families the overflow validation harness (scripts/fp16_accum_validate.py) found to
-# produce non-finite activations or visible drift under fp16 accumulation. Empty until
-# a family actually fails: the gate below already restricts the flag to consumer GPUs
-# and fp16 GEMMs, and the DiT families run bf16 compute (unaffected by this flag).
+# produce non-finite activations or NEW black frames under fp16 accumulation. Empty by
+# measurement: across all six families the harness found no overflow anywhere -- bf16
+# loads are bit-identical with the flag on, and fp16 loads stay finite (their same-seed
+# drift is why fp16 compute is additionally gated to the ``max`` tier below).
 _FP16_ACCUM_DENY: frozenset[str] = frozenset()
 
 
-def _enable_fp16_accumulation(family: Any, logger: Any) -> bool:
+def _enable_fp16_accumulation(
+    family: Any, logger: Any, *, dtype: Any = None, speed_mode: Optional[str] = None
+) -> bool:
     """Turn on fp16-accumulated fp16 GEMMs for consumer GPUs, where they run ~2x the
     fp32-accumulate rate (datacenter HBM parts are not throughput-nerfed, so they keep
     the safer default). Gated on: the torch build exposing the flag (2.10+), a
     consumer-class device, the family not being deny-listed by the overflow harness,
-    and the UNSLOTH_DISABLE_FP16_ACCUM kill switch being unset. The caller's
-    snapshot/restore pair returns the process-wide flag to its prior value on unload."""
+    the UNSLOTH_DISABLE_FP16_ACCUM kill switch being unset, and -- when the pipeline
+    compute dtype IS fp16, the only case where the accumulator width changes results --
+    the ``max`` tier (measured same-seed drift: mean 2-5%; bf16 loads are bit-identical
+    so they engage on any tier). The caller's snapshot/restore pair returns the
+    process-wide flag to its prior value on unload."""
     import os
 
     if os.environ.get("UNSLOTH_DISABLE_FP16_ACCUM", "").strip() in ("1", "true", "yes"):
@@ -363,6 +375,8 @@ def _enable_fp16_accumulation(family: Any, logger: Any) -> bool:
     name = str(getattr(family, "name", family or "")).lower()
     if name in _FP16_ACCUM_DENY:
         return False
+    if str(dtype).replace("torch.", "") == "float16" and speed_mode != SPEED_MAX:
+        return False
     try:
         import torch
 
diff --git a/studio/backend/tests/test_diffusion_speed.py b/studio/backend/tests/test_diffusion_speed.py
index dadaf73b93..9dc50f4e28 100644
--- a/studio/backend/tests/test_diffusion_speed.py
+++ b/studio/backend/tests/test_diffusion_speed.py
@@ -453,3 +453,36 @@ def test_fp16_accum_not_touched_off_cuda(monkeypatch):
     )
     assert applied["fp16_accum"] is False
     assert torch.backends.cuda.matmul.allow_fp16_accumulation is False
+
+
+def test_fp16_accum_denied_on_fp16_dtype_below_max(monkeypatch):
+    # fp16 compute is where the accumulator width actually changes results (measured
+    # same-seed drift, mean 2-5%): the quality-neutral tiers must refuse it.
+    torch = _stub_torch_fp16_accum(monkeypatch, consumer = True)
+    _stub_gguf_accel(monkeypatch)
+    for mode in ("eager", "default"):
+        applied = apply_speed_optims(
+            _Pipe(),
+            _target(dtype = "float16"),
+            is_gguf = True,
+            family = _family(),
+            speed_mode = mode,
+        )
+        assert applied["fp16_accum"] is False
+    assert torch.backends.cuda.matmul.allow_fp16_accumulation is False
+
+
+def test_fp16_accum_allowed_on_fp16_dtype_under_max(monkeypatch):
+    # max already trades exactness for speed (conv algos, max-autotune), so the 2x
+    # fp16 accumulate joins that tier for fp16 pipelines.
+    torch = _stub_torch_fp16_accum(monkeypatch, consumer = True)
+    _stub_gguf_accel(monkeypatch)
+    applied = apply_speed_optims(
+        _Pipe(with_compile = True, with_fuse = True),
+        _target(dtype = "float16"),
+        is_gguf = True,
+        family = _family(),
+        speed_mode = "max",
+    )
+    assert applied["fp16_accum"] is True
+    assert torch.backends.cuda.matmul.allow_fp16_accumulation is True