[Ryan T]

I searched on the forums and couldn't seem to find much info regarding this question so I thought I would ask. I had thought that speedstepping was triggered by CPU usage but in games CPU-Z is still showing my cpu at 6x most the time instead of 7x.

Heres the system specs:

Abit IP35 pro motherboard
Core2 duo 6320
Zalman 9500 HSF
Corsair XMS2 PC6400 ddr2-800 4GB
Maxtor 160GB HDD's (two) Raid 0 configuration
BFG 7950GT video card
Antec Earthpower 500 watt PS
coolermaster 690 case

I have the FSB at 450 Mhz for a final clock of 3.15ghz per core on the CPU. The Vcore is set at 1.4v and has been stable. The ram is running at 5-5-5-12 using a 1 to 1 ratio for a 900Mhz clock with voltage at 2v. The OS is windows vista business 64 bit the power plan is balanced but the processor is set at 100% for full load so it shouldn't be running it lower.

Ok onto the "issue". I have CPU-Z running and decided to test what multi number my CPU was running at most often. I have C1E, EIST, and virtualization enabled in the bios and it is working but kind of oddly. I started up some games (hellgate london) and other apps and to my suprise the multiplier was sitting at 6x instead of 7x 90% of the time. Very rarely it would jump to 7x for the 3.15Ghz clock. Is this common? I would have thought any time I was really using the system for games etc it would be running at full speed. I do like the idea of keeping speedstepping active cause i think its easier on the CPU when browsing the internet etc. So I guess i'm just wondering if there are any other factors other than CPU load that effects the multiple or if anyone has any suggestions as to why it isnt running at full speed when gaming.


Ryan

[Evilsizer]

try reflashing the board,load defualts... then try it agian... 6x multi should only be showing up when the comuter is idle. by all accounts if your gaming its suppose to be at 7x. never had a eist issue with my board when i was testing it out. other then that i would just disable C1E/EIST all together and be done with it.

[maxfly]

^^^i agree,speedstep only throttles the cpu speed.c1e doesnt work very well with a oced chip in my experience.i would disable c1e and call it good.

[Ryan T]

Ok well i cleared the CMOS and tried the system with all stock settings (cept my raid controller I had to turn that on). It was still staying at x6 (1.6ghz with stock FSB) in games! It would jump to x7 but only for split seconds. I disabled EIST and C1E and it was locked at x7. Then i put my overclock back on and still left EIST and C1E disabled it was again locked at x7 which was good. So i'm guessing either my BIOS are crappy or the OS is screwed up since it is dropping my multiplier when it shouldnt?

I did do a BIOS update a few days ago to the current version. I do think that the system behaved the same before the BIOS update though. I guess for now I will be keeping C1E and EIST disabled though. I would like to have some speedstepping if possible but not at the expense of my OC.



Ryan

[DSM4Life]

I like Speedstep (EIST) Why would you want to push your CPU 100% of the time when you dont need it ? All i see this doing is generating unnecessary heat.

[Ryan T]

Originally Posted by DSM4Life

I like Speedstep (EIST) Why would you want to push your CPU 100% of the time when you dont need it ? All i see this doing is generating unnecessary heat.

I don't want to the problem is the CPU will not go up to the proper multiple when gaming. Mine can be either 6x or 7x multiple. It stays at 6x 90% of the time when i'm playing games. The only time i see it hit 7x is on little second long jumps then it pops right back to 6x. I really wish it was working properly but i'm not gonna use it if i can't get the benefit of my overclock during gaming.

I did try EIST enabled with C1E disabled but the same thing still happened



Ryan

[hokiealumnus]

Try enabling both C1E & EIST and run Prime while running CPU-z. If it goes to 7x while priming, you know it's working properly.

The purpose of EIST is to drop the multi when the full power of the CPU is not needed. Most games out today aren't programmed to use the full potential of a quad-core CPU.

If priming runs the CPU at the correct multiplier, I'd guess that the apps you're running don't need the full power of the CPU all of the time. Hence, the multiplier stays dropped to 6x for a good portion of the time.

In addition, if you are alt+tabbing out of the game you're using in order to view CPU-z, the game essentially halts, for lack of a better word (at least this is the behavior displayed when I alt-tab out of DoD:Source). When that happens, it stands to reason your multiplier drops because the stress on the CPU is lessened.

To see if it's working as intended, just run Prime and watch CPU-z. If it goes to the correct multi then, it's working as it's supposed to and I wouldn't stress it.

[hUMANbEATbOX]

Originally Posted by hokiealumnus

In addition, if you are alt+tabbing out of the game you're using in order to view CPU-z, the game essentially halts, for lack of a better word (at least this is the behavior displayed when I alt-tab out of DoD:Source). When that happens, it stands to reason your multiplier drops because the stress on the CPU is lessened.

I'm guessing this is the issue, the rest of the post is good too.

Try running a game in a window. I run all Source games windowed, because I have a 21" CRT monitor that is square, and I want wide screen in Source games. Running in a window, I can have the portion of CPUZ sticking out in the top or bottom band (if you know what I mean) and can monitor CPU usage all the time via the taskmanager.

[Ryan T]

I was always running the game in windowed mode at 1024x768 so i could see CPU-Z and the game while I played.

As to the prme 95 it would stay at x7 during the small FFTs testing but in the blend test it was at 6x. I'm guessing cause it was testing RAM mostly.

So I guess the computer doesnt think it needs to run at full speed with hellgate london . It did seem to run faster when I turned off C1E and EIST but I really dunno if i wanna leave the CPU running full blast all the time. I wish there was a way to control speedstep and force it to lock at x7 when i'm gaming.



Ryan

[Evilsizer]

well no need to worry about the cpu running at 3.2ghz or what ever speed. its not like its core is being loaded if it just sits at the desktop. its either that your need to disable EIST/C1E and let crystalcpuid contol EIST manually for you. that way you can contol it the way you want.

[bing]

Have you try RightMark CPU Clock Utility (freeware) ?