5820K CPU not drawing much power

[lloyd709]

I've just noticed that although all my 6 cores are maxed out and have been for about 10 minutes (doing some photogrammatry) Core Temp is showing that the processor is only drawing around 55 Watts of power and the average temp of each core is only around 65 degrees C. And to touch the heat sync on the processor is barely warm. Is this normal?

I thought that the processor under load should be consuming around 180W and the temperature of the cores would be a lot higher. I would have thought that if there was a problem then the cores wouldn't be showing 100% utilised.

 

[The Original Ralph]

1st, your cpu's TDP is 140 watts ( https://ark.intel.com/products/82932/Intel-Core-i7-5820K-Processor-15M-Cache-up-to-3_60-GHz ) , same as my 5960x, and that's the max it will draw depending on load and OCing

2nd, it depends on the program you're running on how much of a load it's putting on each core. You can go into task manager to see what the cpu load is, ie 55% or 100%

I do a lot of video rendering - some programs are core hogs, ie like as many cores as are available, the more the better, and will run them to 100% load - other programs, it doesn't matter how many cores, and it seems to run the cores available at 45-70% load, depending on the coding of the original video file. My 5960X is air cooled, and even when it's showing 99-100% load per core on all 8 cores, i generally see 63-65C max temps on each core

You can download RealTempGT (free utility) - it gives a decent small window, when minimized, running in the corner that shows cpu load and temps. If you decide to run it, be sure to do the sensor test, ie download prime95 vs26.6 and run it for 60 minutes or so - that will calibrate RealTempGT, and make sure you use vs 26.6, not the later versions.

If you want to monitor wattage the cpu is drawing, HWMonitor is a decent free utility

here's a shot of the RealTempGT running on the computer i'm on right now. That little "widget" to the right of it is a watt meter widget that came with my CyberPower UPS and is showing total wattage my system is drawing, ie display, PoE switch etc

https://imgur.com/a/5JJ8h

 

[lloyd709]

Thanks for getting back.

I'm fairly sure the stats I gave are correct (apart from the TDP) - that all my 6 cores are maxed out running at 100% (building a 3D model from photographs using PhotoScan - shown in Task Manager, Resource Monitor and CoreTemp) and that my power draw is only around 55W (processor only) and the average temperature is around 65 degrees C. My question is is this normal or do you think there is a problem with my system? (The link you gave takes me to a pic showing stats for an Intel 4790 processor showing a power draw of 105W for the complete system so I'm not sure how that compares to my 5820K with a power draw of 55W for the processor only).

 

[The Original Ralph]

the bottom link was only to show a screen capture of the minimized RealTempGT window showing cpu load and temps - the 4790 is the cpu in the computer i use to browse the web, - i didn't realize Core Temp was a monitoring utility

Using HWMonitor to watch watt draw, i just rendered a short video using HandBrake, that runs my cores up to 100% (keep in mind this is on the 4790 rig, with only 4 cores) - with cores at 100% load, watt draw ranged from 51W to 68W, ie fluctuated between 51 & 68 - it was never static.

the 65C temp is fine (and that is a good temp if your cpu is at 100% load) and indicates your cpu is working, and assuming you've got a decent cooler on it, i wouldn't worry on the watt draw - i've never had reason to look at watts until you posted about it

 

[The Original Ralph]

ANOTHER possibility occurred to me - if you download intel's Extreme Tuning Utility, XTU ( https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/24075/Intel-Extreme-Tuning-Utility-Intel-XTU- ) and install it, once running, if you clik on the icon of a small wrench in the upper right hand corner of the three main boxes or sections, and clik on each value to load, one of them will be the watt limit in your BIOS - i've never seen that value displayed in any of the BIOSs i've used, but i don't know your mobo - intel will display it in XTU and you can change the value from within windows - but it may be somehow your BIOS setting has it limited to 55 watts. If it is limited to 55, bump it up in small increments while watching your temps as you use it.

Once done, i'd suggest you un-install it - whenever i leave it installed, it seems to spontaneously change settings in my BIOS and cause conflicts

fwiw