diff --git a/projects/rocprofiler-systems/external/timemory b/projects/rocprofiler-systems/external/timemory
index b5e41aa9e4..4daa81b7a4 160000
--- a/projects/rocprofiler-systems/external/timemory
+++ b/projects/rocprofiler-systems/external/timemory
@@ -1 +1 @@
-Subproject commit b5e41aa9e4b83ab0868211d81924ac4f639bd998
+Subproject commit 4daa81b7a49b918918bb12bcaa90fc2c4698d527
diff --git a/projects/rocprofiler-systems/source/bin/rocprof-sys-avail/avail.cpp b/projects/rocprofiler-systems/source/bin/rocprof-sys-avail/avail.cpp
index 9313a06fe9..a62ea441d0 100644
--- a/projects/rocprofiler-systems/source/bin/rocprof-sys-avail/avail.cpp
+++ b/projects/rocprofiler-systems/source/bin/rocprof-sys-avail/avail.cpp
@@ -1075,19 +1075,33 @@ write_hw_counter_info(std::ostream& os, const array_t<bool, N>& options,
     using width_bool       = array_t<bool, N>;
     using hwcounter_info_t = std::vector<tim::hardware_counters::info>;
 
-    auto _papi_events = tim::papi::available_events_info();
+    auto _papi_events = tim::papi::available_events_info({ "perf_event_uncore" });
     auto _rocm_events =
         (gpu_count > 0) ? rocprofsys::rocm::rocm_events() : hwcounter_info_t{};
 
-    if(alphabetical)
+    // Tag overflow events by modifying both short and long descriptions upfront
     {
-        auto _sorter = [](const auto& lhs, const auto& rhs) {
-            return (lhs.symbol() < rhs.symbol());
-        };
-        std::sort(_papi_events.begin(), _papi_events.end(), _sorter);
-        std::sort(_rocm_events.begin(), _rocm_events.end(), _sorter);
+        namespace regex_const = ::std::regex_constants;
+        auto _regex =
+            std::regex{ "^(perf::|)PERF_COUNT_(HW|SW|HW_CACHE)_([A-Z_]+)(|:[A-Z]+)$",
+                        regex_const::optimize };
+        for(auto& itr : _papi_events)
+        {
+            if(std::regex_match(itr.symbol(), _regex))
+            {
+                itr.short_description() += " (overflow event)";
+                itr.long_description() += " (overflow event)";
+            }
+        }
     }
 
+    // sort the events alphabetically
+    auto _sorter = [](const auto& lhs, const auto& rhs) {
+        return (lhs.symbol() < rhs.symbol());
+    };
+    std::sort(_papi_events.begin(), _papi_events.end(), _sorter);
+    std::sort(_rocm_events.begin(), _rocm_events.end(), _sorter);
+
     auto _process_counters = [](auto& _events_v, int32_t _offset_v) {
         for(auto& iitr : _events_v)
             iitr.offset() += _offset_v;
diff --git a/projects/rocprofiler-systems/source/bin/rocprof-sys-avail/common.cpp b/projects/rocprofiler-systems/source/bin/rocprof-sys-avail/common.cpp
index b1f4dc95ee..c1997f67ad 100644
--- a/projects/rocprofiler-systems/source/bin/rocprof-sys-avail/common.cpp
+++ b/projects/rocprofiler-systems/source/bin/rocprof-sys-avail/common.cpp
@@ -26,8 +26,12 @@
 #include <timemory/settings/settings.hpp>
 #include <timemory/variadic/macros.hpp>
 
+#include <algorithm>
+#include <array>
 #include <string>
+#include <string_view>
 #include <sys/stat.h>
+#include <unordered_map>
 
 using settings = ::tim::settings;
 
@@ -307,29 +311,73 @@ process_categories(parser_t& p, const str_set_t& _category_options)
 {
     category_view = p.get<str_set_t>("categories");
     std::vector<std::function<void()>> _shorthand_patches{};
+
+    // Helper to do case-insensitive string comparison
+    auto _tolower = [](std::string_view in) {
+        std::string out(in);
+        std::transform(out.begin(), out.end(), out.begin(),
+                       [](unsigned char c) { return std::tolower(c); });
+        return out;
+    };
+
+    // Cache lowercase -> original category mapping to avoid repeated string conversions
+    // Also pre-compute shorthand mappings (e.g., "wallclock" -> "component::WallClock")
+    std::unordered_map<std::string, std::string> _category_map;
+    constexpr std::array<std::string_view, 3> _prefixes = { "component::", "settings::",
+                                                            "hw_counters::" };
+
+    for(const auto& opt : _category_options)
+    {
+        auto opt_lower           = _tolower(opt);
+        _category_map[opt_lower] = opt;
+
+        // Add shorthand mappings if the option starts with a known prefix
+        for(auto prefix : _prefixes)
+        {
+            if(opt_lower.size() > prefix.size() &&
+               opt_lower.compare(0, prefix.size(), _tolower(prefix)) == 0)
+            {
+                // Map the shorthand (without prefix) to the full canonical form
+                auto shorthand           = opt_lower.substr(prefix.size());
+                _category_map[shorthand] = opt;
+                break;
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    // Helper to find case-insensitive match in category options
+    auto _find_category = [&_category_map,
+                           &_tolower](std::string_view input) -> std::string_view {
+        auto input_lower = _tolower(input);
+        auto it          = _category_map.find(input_lower);
+        if(it != _category_map.end()) return it->second;
+        return "";
+    };
+
+    // Process categories - now handles both full names and shorthands via the pre-built
+    // map
     for(const auto& itr : category_view)
     {
-        auto _is_shorthand = [&_shorthand_patches, &_category_options,
-                              itr](const std::string& _prefix) {
-            auto _opt = TIMEMORY_JOIN("::", _prefix, itr);
-            if(_category_options.count(_opt) > 0)
-            {
-                _shorthand_patches.emplace_back([itr, _opt]() {
-                    category_view.erase(itr);
-                    category_view.emplace(_opt);
-                });
-                return true;
-            }
-            return false;
-        };
-
-        if(_category_options.count(itr) == 0)
+        auto _matched = _find_category(itr);
+        if(!_matched.empty())
         {
-            if(!_is_shorthand("component") && !_is_shorthand("settings") &&
-               !_is_shorthand("hw_counters"))
-                throw std::runtime_error(
-                    itr + " is not a valid category. Use --list-categories to view "
-                          "valid categories");
+            // Only create patch if the matched form differs from input (normalization
+            // needed)
+            if(_matched != itr)
+            {
+                // Explicitly convert string_view to string for safe capture
+                std::string _matched_str(_matched);
+                _shorthand_patches.emplace_back([itr, _matched_str]() {
+                    category_view.erase(itr);
+                    category_view.emplace(_matched_str);
+                });
+            }
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            throw std::runtime_error(
+                itr + " is not a valid category. Use --list-categories to view "
+                      "valid categories");
         }
     }
     for(auto&& itr : _shorthand_patches)
diff --git a/projects/rocprofiler-systems/source/lib/core/config.cpp b/projects/rocprofiler-systems/source/lib/core/config.cpp
index afee8ca4d4..46d8a430b5 100644
--- a/projects/rocprofiler-systems/source/lib/core/config.cpp
+++ b/projects/rocprofiler-systems/source/lib/core/config.cpp
@@ -623,11 +623,12 @@ configure_settings(bool _init)
         "the same signal (SIGRTMIN + 1)",
         SIGRTMIN + 1, "sampling", "advanced");
 
-    ROCPROFSYS_CONFIG_SETTING(std::string, "ROCPROFSYS_SAMPLING_OVERFLOW_EVENT",
-                              "Metric for overflow sampling",
-                              std::string{ "perf::PERF_COUNT_HW_CACHE_REFERENCES" },
-                              "sampling", "hardware_counters")
-        ->set_choices(perf::get_config_choices());
+    ROCPROFSYS_CONFIG_SETTING(
+        std::string, "ROCPROFSYS_SAMPLING_OVERFLOW_EVENT",
+        "Metric for overflow sampling. Defaults to perf::PERF_COUNT_HW_CACHE_REFERENCES. "
+        "For full list of events see: rocprof-sys-avail -H -c CPU -r overflow",
+        std::string{ "perf::PERF_COUNT_HW_CACHE_REFERENCES" }, "sampling",
+        "hardware_counters");
 
     rocprofiler_sdk::config_settings(_config);
     amd_smi::config_settings(_config);
@@ -942,12 +943,18 @@ configure_settings(bool _init)
     {
         auto _papi_events = _config->find("ROCPROFSYS_PAPI_EVENTS");
         _add_rocprofsys_category(_papi_events);
-        std::vector<std::string> _papi_choices = {};
-        for(auto itr : tim::papi::available_events_info())
+        // Only enumerate PAPI events if the user has specified them
+        if(_papi_events->second->get_config_updated() ||
+           !_config->get_papi_events().empty())
         {
-            if(itr.available()) _papi_choices.emplace_back(itr.symbol());
+            std::vector<std::string> _papi_choices = {};
+            for(const auto& itr :
+                tim::papi::available_events_info({ "perf_event_uncore" }))
+            {
+                if(itr.available()) _papi_choices.emplace_back(itr.symbol());
+            }
+            _papi_events->second->set_choices(_papi_choices);
         }
-        _papi_events->second->set_choices(_papi_choices);
     }
 #else
     _config->find("ROCPROFSYS_PAPI_EVENTS")->second->set_hidden(true);
diff --git a/projects/rocprofiler-systems/source/lib/core/perf.cpp b/projects/rocprofiler-systems/source/lib/core/perf.cpp
index 036d68b4d0..c40d0a2a03 100644
--- a/projects/rocprofiler-systems/source/lib/core/perf.cpp
+++ b/projects/rocprofiler-systems/source/lib/core/perf.cpp
@@ -31,35 +31,6 @@ namespace perf
 {
 namespace units = ::tim::units;
 
-std::vector<std::string>
-get_config_choices()
-{
-    namespace regex_const = ::std::regex_constants;
-
-    auto       _data        = std::vector<std::string>{};
-    auto       _papi_events = tim::papi::available_events_info();
-    const auto _prefix      = std::string_view{ "perf::" };
-    auto       _regex =
-        std::regex{ "^(perf::|)PERF_COUNT_(HW|SW|HW_CACHE)_([A-Z_]+)(|:[A-Z]+)$",
-                    regex_const::optimize };
-
-    for(const auto& itr : _papi_events)
-    {
-        if(std::regex_match(itr.symbol(), _regex))
-        {
-            auto _symbol = itr.symbol();
-            auto _pos    = _symbol.find(_prefix);
-            if(_pos == 0) _symbol = _symbol.substr(_prefix.length());
-            _data.emplace_back(_symbol);
-        }
-    }
-
-    std::sort(_data.begin(), _data.end());
-    _data.erase(std::unique(_data.begin(), _data.end()), _data.end());
-
-    return _data;
-}
-
 event_type
 get_event_type(std::string_view _v)
 {
diff --git a/projects/rocprofiler-systems/source/lib/core/perf.hpp b/projects/rocprofiler-systems/source/lib/core/perf.hpp
index d57e4e2244..205ab58e2e 100644
--- a/projects/rocprofiler-systems/source/lib/core/perf.hpp
+++ b/projects/rocprofiler-systems/source/lib/core/perf.hpp
@@ -277,9 +277,6 @@ enum class record_type
 #endif
 };
 
-std::vector<std::string>
-get_config_choices();
-
 event_type get_event_type(std::string_view);
 hw_config  get_hw_config(std::string_view);
 sw_config  get_sw_config(std::string_view);