Multiplier throttling (from x50 to x47) with 4 cores active (2600K @ 5GHz) CPU-Z

niemion · Jun 7, 2011, 10:45 AM

VIDEO

When under load the reported multiplier of my 2600K in CPU-Z will vary between 47 and 48 (some times all the way down to 42). This happens when temps are below 70c (as seen in the video above). This is with all power saving features disabled, but the result is the same with them enabled.

Reducing the worker count in a Prime95 blend session, to three, two or one, will fix the problem, and CPU-Z will show a multiplier of 50. This is equivalent of setting a lower core number in the BIOS which has the same effect.

Any suggestions? (See all hardware specs in profile)

ASRock Z68 Pro3 (Bios ver. 1.30)
Intel Speedstep [Disabled]
Hyper Threading [Disabled]
Active Processor Cores [All]
Enhanced Halt State (C1E) [Disabled]
CPU C3 State Support [Disabled]
CPU C6 State Support [Disabled]
Package C State Support [Disabled]
CPU Thermal Throtling [Disabled]

Software used
CPU-Z 1.57.1
AIDA64 1.70.1431 Beta
Real Temp 3.67
Prime96 26.6 build 3

cadaveca · Jun 7, 2011, 02:11 PM

Over-current protection is kicking in, sounds like.

newtekie1 · Jun 7, 2011, 02:14 PM

Is turbo enabled? This sounds like turbo behavior.

niemion · Jun 7, 2011, 02:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cadaveca

Over-current protection is kicking in, sounds like.

How can I fix that? I'm under 1.5v so it's a little silly.

Turbo, isnt that the setting listed as speedstep above?

Sasqui · Jun 7, 2011, 02:28 PM

Doesn't thermal throttling do the same thing? Temps???

Edit: I see thermal throttling is disabled... doesn't the core decide that no matter what?

niemion · Jun 7, 2011, 02:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sasqui

Doesn't thermal throttling do the same thing? Temps???

Edit: I see thermal throttling is disabled... doesn't the core decide that no matter what?

CPU Thermal Throtling is disabled. Temps are 70c as seen in the video posted in #0.

newtekie1 · Jun 7, 2011, 02:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by niemion

Turbo, isnt that the setting listed as speedstep above?

Yes, but it very well could be a bug in the BIOS that still raises and lowers the multiplier based on the original turbo bin settings.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sasqui

Doesn't thermal throttling do the same thing? Temps???

Edit: I see thermal throttling is disabled... doesn't the core decide that no matter what?

Trottling usually bottoms out the multiplier right away, it doesn't slowly decrease it, but they might have changed that in SandyBridge. And his temps aren't that bad.

Law-II · Jun 7, 2011, 02:37 PM

Hi

It is do do with heat; clock it down a bit and open up the fsb or get better cooling "H2o" with a tripple or quad rad and half inch tubing + good pump may offer a better solution to thermal throttling.

nb: when over clocking your CPU are you monitoring your core temps as anything over 65c may lead to long term damage

atb

Law-II

niemion · Jun 7, 2011, 02:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Law-II

It is do do with heat.

I don't think it's temperature related, as the throttling kicks in well before 70c.

newtekie1, I'm going to flash to an older BIOS to see if that does anything.

LordJummy · Jun 7, 2011, 02:46 PM

I don't think he needs to install a water loop just to keep his cpu from throttling. I think it's a BIOS bug possibly like newtekie1 pointed out. I had that happen once on my asus x58 board with stepping. I disabled it but it was still dropping multipliers during idle. I reset bios to defaults, rebooted, then turned it all off again and it worked after that. I don't know about that cpu though. 70c is not too hot. It doesn't sound like thermal throttling, but then again it wouldn't drop the multiplier for turbo/stepping in the middle of running prime95 on all threads.

Law-II · Jun 7, 2011, 02:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LordJummy

I don't think he needs to install a water loop just to keep his cpu from throttling. I think it's a BIOS bug possibly like newtekie1 pointed out. I had that happen once on my asus x58 board with stepping. I disabled it but it was still dropping multipliers during idle. I reset bios to defaults, rebooted, then turned it all off again and it worked after that. I don't know about that cpu though. 70c is not too hot. It doesn't sound like thermal throttling, but then again it wouldn't drop the multiplier for turbo/stepping in the middle of running prime95 on all threads.

Hi

Are you sure!; 5Ghz on air is to say a little uncertain

nb: noted re x58 bios settings - very interesting info

atb

Law-II

cadaveca · Jun 7, 2011, 02:59 PM

VRM heat, however, will cause OCP to kick in, and multi will drop. Designed into the boards boys, and that's a big reason why guys posting OC's over 5.5 GHz are using just 2 cores...and some manage to post with all four cores...not the differences in cooling for that...

Can't call something purposely designed a bug. Try throwing a fan over the VRM.

Sasqui · Jun 7, 2011, 03:12 PM

Noob question... is there anything as sophisticated as I/O error checking in Sandy Bridge? i.e. detects an error and drops the multi. My guess is probably not.

I'm assuming Prime is running on all 4 @ 5Ghz with no errors?

niemion · Jun 7, 2011, 03:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sasqui

I'm assuming Prime is running on all 4 @ 5Ghz with no errors?

Yes, no errors.

newtekie1 · Jun 7, 2011, 03:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cadaveca

VRM heat, however, will cause OCP to kick in, and multi will drop. Designed into the boards boys, and that's a big reason why guys posting OC's over 5.5 GHz are using just 2 cores...and some manage to post with all four cores...not the differences in cooling for that...

Can't call something purposely designed a bug. Try throwing a fan over the VRM.

Yeah, that is also a very good posibility.

niemion · Jun 7, 2011, 03:27 PM

As suggested at http://www.techreaction.net/forums/s...ad.php?p=30382 I tried 1) upping the core current limit, and 2) upping the speedstep core current limit before disabling speedstep. That does it!

Doing just 1) doesn't do anything.

Sasqui · Jun 7, 2011, 03:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by niemion

As suggested at http://www.techreaction.net/forums/s...ad.php?p=30382 I tried 1) upping the core current limit, and 2) upping the speedstep core current limit before disabling speedstep. That does it!

Doing just 1) doesn't do anything.

Nice!

Is the "core current limit" different from the "speedstep core current limit" ?

Sounds like the key is doing that before disabling speedstep...

cadaveca · Jun 7, 2011, 03:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sasqui

Nice!

Is the "core current limit" different from the "speedstep core current limit" ?

Sounds like the key is doing that before disabling speedstep...

Yes, there are two seperate current limits...long-term current limit, and short-term. Plus another....

From my ECS P67H2-A2 review:

Quote:

Originally Posted by ME

The CPU page allows us to manipulate "Turbo" settings in order to overclock. The "IA Core Current" option is most critical; with it set to normal, you may set clocks to whatever you wish, however, the CPU's multi will lower under load in order that the CPU's current consumption meets a pre-determined limit that will change from CPU to CPU.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ECS/P67H2-A2/6.html

niemion · Jun 7, 2011, 04:20 PM

On my ASRock Z68 Pro3 (Bios ver. 1.30) I have these options:

Turbo Boost Power Limit, a: short duration and b: long duration

As well as:

Core Current Limit

I have set all three to 200, and no more throttling for me.

cadaveca · Jun 7, 2011, 04:25 PM

Don't forget to monitor VRM temps.

niemion · Jun 7, 2011, 05:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cadaveca

Don't forget to monitor VRM temps.

¨

How? With my tongue?

My BIOS only tells me CPU and one MOBO temp.

cadaveca · Jun 7, 2011, 05:11 PM

hahahha!

Use your finger. Touch the heatsink after about an hour of prime load. If it feels more than 60c or so(very hot), work or cooling it better.

I have seperate thermal monitoring device; monitoring board thermals is improtant when overclocked, IMHO. I think ASUS agrees, with thier Sabertooth line's longer warranty, and extended features.

niemion · Jun 7, 2011, 05:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cadaveca

hahahha!

Use your finger. Touch the heatsink after about an hour of prime load. If it feels more than 60c or so(very hot), work or cooling it better.

I have seperate thermal monitoring device; monitoring board thermals is improtant when overclocked, IMHO. I think ASUS agrees, with thier Sabertooth line's longer warranty, and extended features.

The four at the center upper edge of my board are untouchable. I think I can remember that they are indeed rated for untouchable temps though.

cadaveca · Jun 7, 2011, 05:51 PM

The thing is that the VRM area, if hot, will transfer that heat through the PCB to other components. Rather than take chances, I'd look at getting a fan blowing on them.

Of course, running cooler can lead to a longer life, too.

Jun 7, 2011, 10:45 AM	#1
niemion Join Date: Sep 2010 Posts: 80 (0.08/day) Thanks: 10 Thanked 6 Times in 5 Posts System Specs	Multiplier throttling (from x50 to x47) with 4 cores active (2600K @ 5GHz) CPU-Z VIDEO When under load the reported multiplier of my 2600K in CPU-Z will vary between 47 and 48 (some times all the way down to 42). This happens when temps are below 70c (as seen in the video above). This is with all power saving features disabled, but the result is the same with them enabled. Reducing the worker count in a Prime95 blend session, to three, two or one, will fix the problem, and CPU-Z will show a multiplier of 50. This is equivalent of setting a lower core number in the BIOS which has the same effect. Any suggestions? (See all hardware specs in profile) ASRock Z68 Pro3 (Bios ver. 1.30) Intel Speedstep [Disabled] Hyper Threading [Disabled] Active Processor Cores [All] Enhanced Halt State (C1E) [Disabled] CPU C3 State Support [Disabled] CPU C6 State Support [Disabled] Package C State Support [Disabled] CPU Thermal Throtling [Disabled] Software used CPU-Z 1.57.1 AIDA64 1.70.1431 Beta Real Temp 3.67 Prime96 26.6 build 3 Last edited by niemion; Jun 7, 2011 at 02:44 PM.

Processor:	i7 2600K @ 100x50 [5GHz] at 1.485v
Motherboard:	ASRock Z68 Pro3 (Bios ver. 1.30)
Cooling:	Scythe Mugen 2 in push/pull with stock fan 1300 RPM & Noctua NF-S12B FLX 1200 RPM
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Jun 7, 2011, 02:11 PM	#2
cadaveca My name is Dave Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: The Great White North Posts: 10,771 (4.14/day) Thanks: 4,486 Thanked 5,208 Times in 3,204 Posts System Specs	Over-current protection is kicking in, sounds like. __________________ Gadgets, Phones, Tablets, Cameras, TVs, HiFi...NextPowerUp -Only real men play games THIS way.

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Jun 7, 2011, 02:14 PM	#3
newtekie1 Semi-Retired Folder Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Indiana Posts: 17,751 (6.48/day) Thanks: 780 Thanked 5,115 Times in 3,706 Posts System Specs	Is turbo enabled? This sounds like turbo behavior. __________________ Rig1: System Specs. Rig2: A8-5600K@4.4GHz / AsRock FM2A75 Pro4 / 8GB Corsair DDR3-1600 9-9-9-24 / HD7560D / Samsung DVD-Burner / 1.5TB WD Green + 3x3TB WD RED in RAID5 Rig3: Athlon X2 4200+ / M4A79 Deluxe / 4GB G.Skill Pi DDR2-800 4-4-4-12 / GT430 / Sony DVD-Burner / 500GB WD Rig4: Phenom II x6 1605T @ 3.6GHz / Asus M5A99X Evo / 8GB PNY DDR3-1600 9-9-9 / GTX470 & GTX470 / Samsung DVD-Burner / 1.5TB Seagate

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Jun 7, 2011, 02:28 PM	#5
Sasqui Eligible for custom title Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Manchester, NH Posts: 6,060 (2.22/day) Thanks: 823 Thanked 909 Times in 742 Posts System Specs	Doesn't thermal throttling do the same thing? Temps??? Edit: I see thermal throttling is disabled... doesn't the core decide that no matter what? __________________ Heatware

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Jun 7, 2011, 02:37 PM	#8
Law-II Join Date: May 2011 Location: Mainland Britain Posts: 890 (1.20/day) Thanks: 716 Thanked 310 Times in 276 Posts System Specs	Hi It is do do with heat; clock it down a bit and open up the fsb or get better cooling "H2o" with a tripple or quad rad and half inch tubing + good pump may offer a better solution to thermal throttling. nb: when over clocking your CPU are you monitoring your core temps as anything over 65c may lead to long term damage atb Law-II

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Jun 7, 2011, 02:46 PM	#10
LordJummy Join Date: May 2011 Location: US of A Posts: 1,346 (1.82/day) Thanks: 352 Thanked 250 Times in 220 Posts System Specs	I don't think he needs to install a water loop just to keep his cpu from throttling. I think it's a BIOS bug possibly like newtekie1 pointed out. I had that happen once on my asus x58 board with stepping. I disabled it but it was still dropping multipliers during idle. I reset bios to defaults, rebooted, then turned it all off again and it worked after that. I don't know about that cpu though. 70c is not too hot. It doesn't sound like thermal throttling, but then again it wouldn't drop the multiplier for turbo/stepping in the middle of running prime95 on all threads.

System Name:	Workstation1 \| Asus G55VW-DS71
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Jun 7, 2011, 02:59 PM	#12
cadaveca My name is Dave Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: The Great White North Posts: 10,771 (4.14/day) Thanks: 4,486 Thanked 5,208 Times in 3,204 Posts System Specs	VRM heat, however, will cause OCP to kick in, and multi will drop. Designed into the boards boys, and that's a big reason why guys posting OC's over 5.5 GHz are using just 2 cores...and some manage to post with all four cores...not the differences in cooling for that... Can't call something purposely designed a bug. Try throwing a fan over the VRM. __________________ Gadgets, Phones, Tablets, Cameras, TVs, HiFi...NextPowerUp -Only real men play games THIS way.

Jun 7, 2011, 03:12 PM	#13
Sasqui Eligible for custom title Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Manchester, NH Posts: 6,060 (2.22/day) Thanks: 823 Thanked 909 Times in 742 Posts System Specs	Noob question... is there anything as sophisticated as I/O error checking in Sandy Bridge? i.e. detects an error and drops the multi. My guess is probably not. I'm assuming Prime is running on all 4 @ 5Ghz with no errors? __________________ Heatware

Jun 7, 2011, 03:27 PM	#16
niemion Join Date: Sep 2010 Posts: 80 (0.08/day) Thanks: 10 Thanked 6 Times in 5 Posts System Specs	As suggested at http://www.techreaction.net/forums/s...ad.php?p=30382 I tried 1) upping the core current limit, and 2) upping the speedstep core current limit before disabling speedstep. That does it! Doing just 1) doesn't do anything.

Jun 7, 2011, 04:20 PM	#19
niemion Join Date: Sep 2010 Posts: 80 (0.08/day) Thanks: 10 Thanked 6 Times in 5 Posts System Specs	On my ASRock Z68 Pro3 (Bios ver. 1.30) I have these options: Turbo Boost Power Limit, a: short duration and b: long duration As well as: Core Current Limit I have set all three to 200, and no more throttling for me.

Jun 7, 2011, 04:25 PM	#20
cadaveca My name is Dave Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: The Great White North Posts: 10,771 (4.14/day) Thanks: 4,486 Thanked 5,208 Times in 3,204 Posts System Specs	Don't forget to monitor VRM temps. __________________ Gadgets, Phones, Tablets, Cameras, TVs, HiFi...NextPowerUp -Only real men play games THIS way.

Jun 7, 2011, 05:11 PM	#22
cadaveca My name is Dave Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: The Great White North Posts: 10,771 (4.14/day) Thanks: 4,486 Thanked 5,208 Times in 3,204 Posts System Specs	hahahha! Use your finger. Touch the heatsink after about an hour of prime load. If it feels more than 60c or so(very hot), work or cooling it better. I have seperate thermal monitoring device; monitoring board thermals is improtant when overclocked, IMHO. I think ASUS agrees, with thier Sabertooth line's longer warranty, and extended features. __________________ Gadgets, Phones, Tablets, Cameras, TVs, HiFi...NextPowerUp -Only real men play games THIS way.

Jun 7, 2011, 05:51 PM	#24
cadaveca My name is Dave Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: The Great White North Posts: 10,771 (4.14/day) Thanks: 4,486 Thanked 5,208 Times in 3,204 Posts System Specs	The thing is that the VRM area, if hot, will transfer that heat through the PCB to other components. Rather than take chances, I'd look at getting a fan blowing on them. Of course, running cooler can lead to a longer life, too. __________________ Gadgets, Phones, Tablets, Cameras, TVs, HiFi...NextPowerUp -Only real men play games THIS way.

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