Is my cpu throttling or is throttle watch flawed?

[dguy6789]

Hello. My system is in my signature. My processor when running at absolute full load gets to around 69-70C. People have suggested throttle watch to check for throttling. The thing is, when I run it, some odd things occur. The bar that says throttling always stays at 0%, indicating that throttling is never occuring.

When I play Oblivion, the cpu frequency graph fluctuates by a large amount.

When I run dual prime 95, the cpu frequency graph is much more stable, but with rediculous jumps to multiple terahertz+ then back down to 2.8Ghz.


Why would the frequency fluctuate so much in Oblivion, when it is not even using all of the two cores(as shown in throttle watch cpu usage), and not in Prime 95 dual, which is using 100% of both cores?

Is throttle watch incompatible with my setup? CPU Z and Everest both report that the cpu never changes from 2.8Ghz on either core.

I have attatched a 1600x1200 screenshot resized to the 640x480 limitation. It is a bit blocky, but still can be read.

[thegreek]

that's odd indeed, when I run my 805 @ 4.0 with dual prime I get none of that. How far have you clocked the 820? Also the top shouldn't be like that either :shrug:


EDIT: Here is mine (click on it for bigger pic). At the beginning you can see where I started 2 instances of prime. As you can see my comp is on full load and the line stays at the top 100%. Yours is all over the place.

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e3/ge0rgieee/prime.jpg

[dguy6789]

I do not have a clue what is going on with it. My mainboard has the latest bios. Everything is the latest everything. I have no idea what is going on. One odity I have seen is that cpu z says that my cpu is running at 2.7 volts.

[thegreek]

What kind of PSU do you have? That could be the problem.

[dguy6789]

I have a rather excessive power supply for a machine of this calibur. It is stated in my signature. Here is a link to it on newegg.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817104934


I have done another run to show that my results can be repeated. Here is the picture.

The thing is, it only has the oddity when playing Oblivion. It seems to be normal with dual prime 95 running.

[Tserrof]

I too have a similar phenomenon with my lappy (see sig). Often the frequency graph will jump into the terahertz range at random. This is certainly a problem with the software. As you know, if the proc ever really went into the terahertz range, if even for a split second, it would likely be more resemblant of a piece of melted cheese to put it loosely.

Now judging from this, if throttlewatch mistakenly thinks your cpu has increased its frequancy that dramatically then its only logical that the same program could also mistakenly think your cpu has downclocked despite the apparent obviousness it has not. The 820 does not have EIST, so this can not be the cause. Some motherboards however have on demand based frequency switching which may be causing this. I think it's just the software though. Perhaps it's a malware issue?

In the end, yes I think you need better cooling though. But the whole idea that Oblivion would cause your cpu to throttle while dual priming doesn't, doesn't make any sense. Unless it just so happens that your gfx card just happened to be dissipating just enough heat to make the cpu throttle during in game activity, although that doesn't seem likely, especially since throttlewatch would be detecting that in the red graph.

mmm cheese

[delman]

I just ran it on my computer and it does the same thing. I am running a 630.

[batboy]

My processor when running at absolute full load gets to around 69-70C.

That's pretty hot. I don't recommend going above about low 60's if you want to be safe and stable.

[NookieN]

There could be a couple things going on here.

1. Most of the programs that measure frequency use a combination of counters and the real time clock. If two different programs are attempting to use the same performance counter they could overwrite each other's results. The net effect of this would be a nonsensical frequency. I get this a lot when running Prime95 with some processor state monitoring programs.

2. Some motherboards (including most Intel retail boards) have a little-discussed feature. If the board detects that the VRM (voltage control circuitry) is getting too hot it will start to toggle the FORCEPR pin on the processor. FORCEPR (Force Power Reduction) causes the processor to throttle. This kind of throttling _cannot_ be detected by ThrottleWatch. Furthermore, the temperature that system monitors report for the motherboard usually has nothing to do with the actual temperature of the VRM. This problem is difficult to detect, but if you have good airflow over your MOSFETs and inductors this shouldn't be an issue.

[dguy6789]

Thanks for the information.

1. My machine has absolutely no forms of spyware or viri or other malware.

2. While my mainboard says that my cpu runs hot, I seriously doubt it does run that hot for several reasons:

A. The heatsink is only lukewarm to the touch after hours of dual prime.
B. I have reason to doubt the mainboard's readings because it tells cpu z that my cpu voltage is 2.7.
C. Other machines with the stock heatsink properly attatched with good airflow do not run that hot.

I have the stock heatsink attatched properly, with Arctic Silver 5 on it. My case has dual 120mm fans, one in the front, one in the back, a 120mm fan on the powersupply, an 80mm fan on the side, an 80mm on the top, and a very fast video card fan. My machine has a high amount of airflow, so it is extremely unlikely that any mainboard component is overheating. I plan on getting a new cpu cooler eventually, but a few things are in line infront of it, such as a dvd burner.

As stated before, neither CPU Z nor Everest Home have ever shown the cpu frequency to be anything other than 2800Mhz.

[batboy]

Well, if the heatsink is not properly locked down, the CPU could be running hot and the heatsink could be barely warm. Those stock coolers are a pain to get all 4 legs properly locked down into place. Push on each leg one at a time. If one feels a little springy, then it's not properly locked down. The 8XX series is one of the hottest processors on the market and the Intel cooler pretty much sucks. I will say again, you are probably running too hot. If you wanna stay in denial, fine. Yes, it's possible the motherboard sensors are out of whack or that version of throttle watch don't really support dual core processors. The good news is that it sounds like you have pretty good case ventilation.

[hUMANbEATbOX]

I have a rather excessive power supply for a machine of this calibur. It is stated in my signature. Here is a link to it on newegg.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817104934

not sure what you mean by excessive, but that PSU could be giving you problem (although maybe not, if you aren't overclocked).

its a dual rail psu, meaning it has 2 12v lines, each rated at only 15a. most people trying to oc these chips would prefer a single rail with 30a++. someone with more experience with dual rail psu's would be able to offer more insight, i just wanted to point that out.

[dguy6789]

When I get home, I will reseat the heatsink. The powersupply in question is more than enough for this kind of machine. I have done plenty of research into power supplies before I purchased this one about a year ago.

[thegreek]

not sure what you mean by excessive, but that PSU could be giving you problem (although maybe not, if you aren't overclocked).

its a dual rail psu, meaning it has 2 12v lines, each rated at only 15a. most people trying to oc these chips would prefer a single rail with 30a++. someone with more experience with dual rail psu's would be able to offer more insight, i just wanted to point that out.
The thing is he's running his cpu stock so the PSU shouldn't really be the problem causing this.

[dguy6789]

I reseated the heatsink, dusted it out a bit with some air, and put on some fresh AS5. Temperatures at load are still 69C. This rules out the possibility that I mounted it wrong.

So if this is the case I have to wonder; How is it possible that it would be running this hot? Are Intel stock coolers that bad? My previous Athlon 64 machine with this same case and airflow would run 35C full load on the stock cooler.

[Evilsizer]

I reseated the heatsink, dusted it out a bit with some air, and put on some fresh AS5. Temperatures at load are still 69C. This rules out the possibility that I mounted it wrong.

So if this is the case I have to wonder; How is it possible that it would be running this hot? Are Intel stock coolers that bad? My previous Athlon 64 machine with this same case and airflow would run 35C full load on the stock cooler.
yes the stockers are horrible... using a ninja my self here with no fans getting a full load of 40-42c after running fah for 6-8hrs. cpu 3ghz@3.6ghz with stock volts

[Moto7451]

The thing is he's running his cpu stock so the PSU shouldn't really be the problem causing this.

Actually if the thermal throttling was being caused by the PWM circuits then a bad PSU could be the culprit. Dirty power stresses the mosfets more than clean power. Thats unlikely though as Fortron PSUs are pretty good. Unless you got a dud PSU, that possibility can probably be written off.