[SOLVED] 9700k downclocking as low as 800mhz While in game ?

[indianajune1]

Hey guys , it’s not really an issue as much as I just want to know why !? So, in game or in bench mark like time spy my 9700k will down clock to stock speeds and 1.2ghz a lot and even as low as the energy saver speed of 800mhz. However in the cpu portion of time spy or if you run a cpu only benchmark like intel diagnostic tool it will run at 5ghz the whole time, so it must think it’s not needed and down clock unless usage is high enough ? This can be fixed by going into windows and turning power management from balanced to high performance so it’s not the end of the world , because I think that’s fine to do ( new to all this ) but my seven700 K never had this behavior so it’s bothering me lol. Any ideas ??? I should note that it did this when I first bought it and then I believe stopped so maybe it’s a bios update or something. The cpu is overcloked to 5ghz with a voltage of 3.500v, and avx offset of 0 , and an LLC of medium. Temperature never breaches 75 and it usually in the 50’s under load.

 

[Darkbreeze]

It's normal. I will do that normally if there are cores that are not needed or called to work because the load doesn't require or enforce it.

Here is my advice though.

Don't use balanced OR performance, as is. Set the power plan to performance and then go into the advanced plan settings and change the minimum processor power state to 8%. Leave the maximum state at 100%. Save settings and exit.

Go into the BIOS and make sure that all of the C-states are set to Auto or Enabled, and that Intel enhanced speed step (EIST) is enabled and that Intel speed shift is disabled. Save settings and exit BIOS.

Also, make SURE you have the MOST recent motherboard BIOS version installed as well as the latest chipset drivers from your motherboard product page.

 

[indianajune1]

Yours does it too ? I was thinking maybe it was a bios update now because it happens when I first bought the cpu an board and then seemed to resolve and run at 4.6 in game all the time unless in a menu screen or something. I did update the bios between that. When I overclocked it the other day I did update the bios again. What does setting minimum processor state to 8% do Out of curiosity out of curiosity ? But I will try it. As far as the bios , speed shift tech is set to auto , c states are auto , and I actually don’t see EIST but it’s set to watcher default is. I didn’t mess with the power management stuff even though my overclocking guide said to turn them off because I don’t see the point in having it run full speed all the time. Kinda why I don’t like turning on Pedro in power management but this is less of a big deal as I can just switch it back when I’m done. Btw thanks for the advice

 

[Darkbreeze]

Setting it to 8% allows it to downclock cores when they do not NEED to be under a full load, which is how the whole thing was designed to work in the first place. Running all cores at full speed all the time, even when it's not needed, doesn't gain anything for you except degrading your CPU prematurely in some cases. It literally takes MICRO-seconds for your CPU to go from 8% no load idle condition to 100% full load condition on any given core, so being at full speed on all cores at all times is pointless and beyond that, it's actually probably also detrimental because cores never get a chance to cool and you COULD end up with less performance in some circumstances if the system has to throttle any cores back due to heat.

Having a chance to cool when they are not needed allows cores to maintain longer boost periods without being throttled back during bursty or temporary loads or when many cores are active.

I'd bet 100% that your overclock of 5Ghz at 3.5v is the source of your problem. There aren't many samples out there that can handle that on all cores, and it takes an exceptionally good motherboard to accomplish it without problems.

I'd return everything to the stock speed and see if you still have problems with the system throttling under gaming conditions. If it's a game that only uses one or a few cores though, then there are GOING to be other cores that fluctuate between full and no load as Windows processes use and then release them.

What are your full hardware specs including motherboard, CPU cooler, case, number of case fans, case fan models and orientation/location of each case fan. Yes, all those things are important to know.

 

[indianajune1]

Setting it to 8% allows it to downclock cores when they do not NEED to be under a full load, which is how the whole thing was designed to work in the first place. Running all cores at full speed all the time, even when it's not needed, doesn't gain anything for you except degrading your CPU prematurely in some cases. It literally takes MICRO-seconds for your CPU to go from 8% no load idle condition to 100% full load condition on any given core, so being at full speed on all cores at all times is pointless and beyond that, it's actually probably also detrimental because cores never get a chance to cool and you COULD end up with less performance in some circumstances if the system has to throttle any cores back due to heat.

Having a chance to cool when they are not needed allows cores to maintain longer boost periods without being throttled back during bursty or temporary loads or when many cores are active.

I'd bet 100% that your overclock of 5Ghz at 3.5v is the source of your problem. There aren't many samples out there that can handle that on all cores, and it takes an exceptionally good motherboard to accomplish it without problems.

I'd return everything to the stock speed and see if you still have problems with the system throttling under gaming conditions. If it's a game that only uses one or a few cores though, then there are GOING to be other cores that fluctuate between full and no load as Windows processes use and then release them.
What are your full hardware specs including motherboard, CPU cooler, case, number of case fans, case fan models and orientation/location of each case fan. Yes, all those things are important to know.

Thanks for the detailed response. I did try it at stock and it is indeed still doing it on balanced then as well. Like I said I had this issue when I first built my pc and then it’s seemingly went away. I did upgrade the bios around that time and I did again when this started so I might try and roll it back when this tropical storm has passed. But I posted on gigabytes sub Reddit and of the people that responded did not have this issue with the same motherboard so idk. My specs are again a 9700k with an arous z390 master motherboard, an aorus 2070 super , 16gb of 3600mhz ram, evga platinum 750w pq PSU, all inside a phanteks enthoo pro case full size. an NZXT kraken x62 AIO cpu Cooler on top as exhaust , 140 mm phanteks PH-F140SP_BBK fan in back also exhaust , 2 noctua NF-p14 redux 140 mm fans up front as Intake And Right underneath them at the bottom another phanteks 140 mm fan that came with the case also as an intake.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Well, that is certainly a well suited configuration, so no complaints here about any of that in terms of it potentially being a problem based on insufficient performance or quality, or misconfiguration for that matter.

You did a brand new, CLEAN install of Windows when you built this system? So that no part of the OS is repurposed from a previous system OR a previous VERSION of Windows?

You've tried a clean install of the graphics drivers, using the DDU first to remove the existing or any previous graphics driver versions INCLUDING it's registry entries, which the DDU removes automatically?

Intel speed step (EIST) setting IS there, as seen at the following link which DOES include your board model. So I'd take another look to make sure EIST is ENABLED and I would DISABLE Intel Speed shift. So far I've not personally seen speed shift do anything except cause problems on the twenty or so boards I've worked with that have that feature. It is at least worth trying, since it is a simple matter to enable it again later if you need or desire to. I run my board with it off and it resolved all my issues with CPU running at full clocks on my Hero VIII, which, admittedly, is a few generations older than yours but the behavior has seemed to be the same on other much newer boards including some Z370 models I've worked on. Others seem to not have problems with it so............

worth a try anyhow.

 

[indianajune1]

Well, that is certainly a well suited configuration, so no complaints here about any of that in terms of it potentially being a problem based on insufficient performance or quality, or misconfiguration for that matter.

You did a brand new, CLEAN install of Windows when you built this system? So that no part of the OS is repurposed from a previous system OR a previous VERSION of Windows?

You've tried a clean install of the graphics drivers, using the DDU first to remove the existing or any previous graphics driver versions INCLUDING it's registry entries, which the DDU removes automatically?

Intel speed step (EIST) setting IS there, as seen at the following link which DOES include your board model. So I'd take another look to make sure EIST is ENABLED and I would DISABLE Intel Speed shift. So far I've not personally seen speed shift do anything except cause problems on the twenty or so boards I've worked with that have that feature. It is at least worth trying, since it is a simple matter to enable it again later if you need or desire to. I run my board with it off and it resolved all my issues with CPU running at full clocks on my Hero VIII, which, admittedly, is a few generations older than yours but the behavior has seemed to be the same on other much newer boards including some Z370 models I've worked on. Others seem to not have problems with it so............

worth a try anyhow.

Again , thanks for the help. Sorry I haven’t responded the storm left me without Internet for a few days. So the last time I would have done a clean instal was back in December when I bought the cpu and motherboard. I wanna say maybe there was one closer time but I guess maybe not looking at my Amazon purchases I wouldn’t have done it unless I had a reason to. I’ve heard of that software for uninstall and graphics drivers but I’ve never had a reason to use it and just let that up to clean installs. I left all of the power options alone when overclocking AO im not sure about EIST BUT I’m sure it’s set to auto. Speed steep I know is enabled. I want the cpu to go I to power save when not using it for longevity and degradation. Although I know most people seem to say it’s fine running full speed all the time too. I mean that’s the thing it’s not hard to do what I’ve been doing , which is switching it to High performance power option in windows High performance power option in window when gaming and then switching it back to balanced when I’m done. I believe that’s totally safe. I really just wanna know why because I don’t think this is normal behavior? I did notice In more CPU intensive games like battlefield five it will stay at 5 GHz almost all the time and I only say almost because if it did switch iI didn’t see it and I was watching closely. So even on balance power it’s only when the CPU thinks it’s not needed enough will it start to do this which is a power saver. I just don’t think it should be doing it anytime I’m in a full screen application. The other side to that is I do notice that if I switch to high performance are game about 150 points two times bThe other side to that is I do notice that if I switch to high performance are game about 100 points to time spy so it’s not , NOT having an impact. I didn’t borderlands three even believe is causing micro stutters but it could be something else. This is the overclocking God I used If you get a chance or just get bored maybe you can spot some thing I may have change that has an impact like thiIf you get a chance or just get bored maybe you can spot some thing I may have change that did it ? Although like I said I noticed this when I first got the chip and the board and then it seemingly one away so I don’t think it’s the over clock but who knows

 

[Darkbreeze]

Check to see that you have BIOS version F11c installed. If you don't, I would recommend that you update the BIOS to that version. If you do, I would recommend that you RE-flash the BIOS to that version, because it's possible you may have had a bad flash the first time around.

F11c directly addresses CPU vCore and power behavior, among other things.

After verifying that the BIOS is the latest version, I would download and install ALL of the following, because ANY of them may could be affecting the system behavior regardless of whether they would not SEEM to be relevant or not. These are all the latest versions SPECIFICALLY for your motherboard, and are what should be used. Windows native drivers should not be used.

Realtek HD audio driver: https://download.gigabyte.com/FileList/Driver/mb_driver_612_realtekdch_6.0.8945.1.zip

Intel serial I/O driver: https://download.gigabyte.com/FileList/Driver/mb_driver_614_serialio_30.100.2020.7.zip

Intel Z390 Aorus master chipset driver: https://download.gigabyte.com/FileList/Driver/mb_driver_632_infupdate_10.1.18383.8213.zip

Intel LAN driver: https://download.gigabyte.com/FileList/Driver/mb_driver_61_intel_25.1.zip

Intel WiFi driver: https://download.gigabyte.com/FileList/Driver/mb_driver_630_extensions_21.90.3.2.zip

Intel Bluetooth driver: https://download.gigabyte.com/FileList/Driver/mb_driver_607_win10_21.90.2.1.zip

Also, if you have ANY of the bundled Gigabyte applications installed like App center, Easy tune, Desktop smart fan 5, Smart backup, Gameboost, Xsplit or any other Gigabyte supplied utility or application other than the drivers I listed above, I would uninstall them and not put them back on again in the future.

 

[mdd1963]

In Balanced power plan, it should never go lower than base clock while under an all-core load, such as in gaming... (assuming no altered BIOS settings to induce unusually low clock speeds or sustained power levels...)