SOLVED CPU Stuck at 2.9GHz, should be 3.2 and 3.4 with boost.

I have the system in my sig. I had noticed that my CPU would clock down at idle in the past but I saw that it never went above 2.9GHz even converting some videos to watch on my iPad. I disabled all the settings I could think of in the bios and made sure the minimum processor state in the Power Options was 100%, but it's still doing it.

Ran CPU-Z to get these:



Then here's the BIOS screens, unfortunately it only knows FAT/FAT32 so mobile shots.










Does anything look wrong? Help!

Turn on C1E and see if it ramps up.

Set it to Enabled (not Auto) and it still hovers at those above. CPU-Z reports pretty much 2.8, but Task Manager reports 2.87 with regular dips to 2.84.

Try EIST... one of those I beleive need to be enabled to have any multiplier movement. Then set the windows power to performance.

EIST enabled, it now hits a 30x multi with Prime95 on the small option. Still no 32x

Again, is windows set to performance mode?

Yeah, performance.

Temp thing? Why are you sitting at 44C in the bios? BIOS isn't zero load, but... 44C bios is high... What are your load temps?

It's still coming down from rebooting there because of running prime 95. My temps hover at about 35 across the votes at idle and it does get to 75c with the stock cooler. I know that's above the comfort zone normally liked here but it's never complained during a heavy 10 hour encoding session.

The big point would be it NEVER goes above 28-30 (and I've not seen 30 before today).

Try setting your four Turbo multi's to 32X instead of 34X.
Remember that you're on an H81 board, you may not be able to exceed certain multipliers because of this.

try running a single thread in prime 95 iirc the turbo to 34 only works on a single core 33 on 2 32 on 3 or something like that

The maximum multiplier on the non-K CPUs is fixed. It is usually only available when 1 or sometimes 2 cores are active.

Here is how Intel originally designed the turbo boost function. The maximum multiplier depends mostly on how many cores are in the active state. Inactive cores are defined as any core that has entered the low power C3/C6/C7 state. If you disable all of your C States like your screenshot shows, the maximum multiplier will not be available. You need to have at least C3 enabled and leave EIST enabled. As long as you are using the Windows High Performace profile, there is no need to disable EIST. Also make sure Turbo Boost is enabled in your bios if you have that option.

When the C States are enabled and these CPUs are lightly loaded, the multiplier will constantly be changing based on how many cores are in the active state. Even when running a single threaded benchmark, there are still hundreds of Windows background threads that are constantly waking up additional cores. The number of active cores will be constantly changing and so will be the multiplier. CPU-Z rounds off the reported multiplier when this is happening. If you want a more detailed look at what your multiplier is really doing then download RealTemp. It uses high performance timers in the CPU and a monitoring method recommended by Intel to determine the average multiplier.

Try running the built in RealTemp - XS Bench. This is a single threaded benchmark. Turn off CPU-Z and any other monitoring apps and watch the reported multiplier in RealTemp. You want as little background activity as possible during this test. Due to Windows background activity, it might not hit the maximum possible multiplier during this test but if you don't have a lot of crap running on your system, it should get pretty close.

If you are still not seeing evidence of the highest possible multiplier, try running this,

RealTemp T|I Edition
https://www.sendspace.com/file/55yvry

That version reports how much time your cores are spending in various C States so you can make sure your bios is setting those up correctly.

When you are running Prime 95, all 4 of your cores will be active so the multiplier is designed by Intel to drop. If it drops too much, try adjusting the Turbo Power Limits(Watts) value in the bios a little higher if possible. I am not sure how much you can increase this on a locked 4th Gen CPU on your motherboard but try bumping it up from 84 to 90 or to 100 and test again.

You have this saved as a file ehh UWebb?

Being serious, I didn't catch it wasn't a 'K' CPU. That said, most boards would allow you to force the single core turbo multi on all cores. Is this one that doesn;t?

EarthDog said:

Is this one that doesn;t?

Click to expand...

This is what I'm thinking, as it's an H81 board.

EarthDog said:

You have this saved as a file ehh UWebb?

Click to expand...

No but that's a great idea!

The bios option that lets you run the maximum turbo multiplier whether 1, 2, 3 or 4 cores are active only works on the K CPUs. This option might still exist in the bios when you have a non-K CPU installed but it should be avoided. If this option works, you will get the 4 core limit regardless of how many cores are active. On a locked CPU, this is going to reduce your part load CPU speed.

The Core i5-4460 has a maximum multiplier of 34 but that is only available when a single core is active. With a locked CPU, there is no way around that. It is a limitation of the CPU so it doesn't matter what bios version or motherboard you run it on.

Hopefully DanFraser comes back tomorrow and posts some more details and finds some more MHz. When doing some full load testing, run CPUID HWMonitor so you can watch the CPU package power consumption.

I think the 84 Watt TDP limit should be enough so this CPU should run at the full 4 core turbo limit indefinitely. If it starts throttling the turbo multiplier at full load and power consumption is under 84 Watts then it might be a problem with the power delivery circuits on the motherboard not supplying the CPU socket with enough juice.

Gimme chance, three kids slow me down lol.

Anyway, I'm not bothered about 34, it's the 32 I should have that I dont. I'm going to try the suggestions out later and I'll update.

No problem. I used to have a couple of rugrats too but luckily they grew up.

The single threaded XS Bench test that I recommended will confirm if your CPU is set up correctly. RealTemp should be reporting a multi close to 34.0 during this test. Make sure in the RealTemp - Settings window that Disable Turbo is NOT checked.

If that looks OK then I would recommend doing a full load test with an earlier version of Prime95.

ftp://mersenne.org/gimps/p95v266.zip

Version 26.6 was the last version before the author started adding support for the newer AVX instructions. The AVX instructions are wonderful but they significantly increase power consumption and heat. If you get the proper multiplier when this is running but the multiplier is much less when running Prime95 28.5 then that would show that you are likely being limited by power consumption issues. Post some pics while your CPU is loaded with these tests.

Setting one to 34, second to 33, and the other two to 32 worked. That was done on the turbo ratios in the bios (4th BIOS picture in the original post). It's solved now. I had never heard of only one core having Turbo though, something new to me!

Weird side note. I'm running Windows technical preview (only!) and task manager, CPU-Z and CoreTemp would report 2.87GHz, then after installing the Cortana update it would 'run' at 3.07. Now I get full speed ahead after those bios changes.

What you set it to is default turbo.
Which is why it works.

Sounds like an H81 limitation to me.

ATMINSIDE said:

Sounds like an H81 limitation to me.

Click to expand...

It is a limitation of the CPU. It doesn't matter what board or chipset you run it on. Only the unlocked K CPUs can run the maximum possible multiplier whether 1, 2, 3 or 4 cores are active. Some bios versions leave some options open that don't actually work when running a locked non-K CPU. This motherboard lets you adjust the Turbo Ratio Limits but the CPU will ignore these changes if they are not possible.