Question Are CPUs expected to continuously run on Turbo, because mine doesn't seem to be able to ?

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Lieto

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Nov 2, 2014
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So I recently got 10600 with a stock cooler and it seems to be unable to handle being turbo boosted. Is it normal?
I even undervolted it with throttlestop to about -70mv on cpu and cache. It runs for around a minute at 4.4, overheats to 90C and throttles down to around 4.1 which seems to be a speed where it can comfortably sit around 80C

So my question is this - is it supposed to handle perma-boost and I installed something wrong or is it simply not expected to do it?
I mean surely if it was expected to be perma boosted the stock cooler would need to support this.

Do you think undervolting is helping in any way?
 
Lieto said:
So I recently got 10600 with a stock cooler and it seems to be unable to handle being turbo boosted. Is it normal?
I even undervolted it with throttlestop to about -70mv on cpu and cache. It runs for around a minute at 4.4, overheats to 90C and throttles down to around 4.1 which seems to be a speed where it can comfortably sit around 80C

So my question is this - is it supposed to handle perma-boost and I installed something wrong or is it simply not expected to do it?
I mean surely if it was expected to be perma boosted the stock cooler would need to support this.

Do you think undervolting is helping in any way?
Click to expand...
No, the stock cooler is designed to support the base 3.30GHz speed; that's why the cpu and cooler combo is sold with the cpu at that 3.30GHz speed. by default and turbo being an option. For those planning to use the turbo speed, especially all of the time, there are plenty of 3rd party coolers which will handle the turbo heat. If you're truly interested in using turbo speed all the time, just buy a better cooler.
 
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TAU is 56 seconds for the 10th gen so it will run at PL2, higher boost power, for 56 secs and then will go down to the sustained boost power of PL1, that is the correct way for it to work.

Since you only hit 90 degrees and the CPU is made for 100 you could move the PL2 up a bit and/or increase the TAU time.

Manny people opt to have TAU infinite and have both PL1 and PL2 at the same level so that the CPU always runs as fast as possible.
As long as you don't change anything else the CPU will still downclock if there is little load.
www.hardwaretimes.com

Intel 10th Gen CPU Power Consumption Explained: PL1, PL2, and Tau | Hardware Times

ne of the hardest things to determine about a processor is its load power consumption. That’s doubly true for Intel’s 10th Gen CPUs. While the marketed TDP is usually around 95-125W, under load, most high-end chips consume as much as 225W. The 10th Gen processors take it to another level, with...
www.hardwaretimes.com www.hardwaretimes.com
 
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dwd999 said:
No, the stock cooler is designed to support the base 3.30GHz speed; that's why the cpu and cooler combo is sold with the cpu at that 3.30GHz speed. by default and turbo being an option.
Click to expand...
That's also not completely correct, the right thing is
the stock cooler is designed to support the base 3.30GHz speed AT A VERY HIGH LOAD
Click to expand...
and even then the CPU will almost always still run faster than just base clocks at a very high load and at less demanding loads, like games, it will run full boost.
 
So actually, while in stress test it seemed to be throttling a bit, in actual games (i am suspecting) it's not loading all the cores that much so performance of undervolting seems to be positive and noticeable.

I am still considering buying a fan but idk. The fact that i'll likely upgrade from 10th gent to lga1700 at some point i probably wouldn't want to over invest now if i can help it.

For context, the main symptom i was trying to fight is that the game would usually start at stable 110fps but over-time drop to around 60-70 as the CPU temperature get close to 80-85. I've been playing for a while and it yet to hit 75C and the fps is holding in the 100s.
 
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We can't address the main symptom because we know just about nothing about your PC outside of the CPU or the games involved.

A fan that you buy now for 10th gen will now likely have an adapter for the current gen and that should also be compatible with LGA 1851, LGA 1700's successor.
 
Turbo will boost the performance of one or two cores if the workload is not high and the cooler is capable.
Stress testing is not your workload, it will push ALL cores.
For gaming, you may only see a handful of cores effectively active.
And, certainly a stock cooler is not very capable.
As a check, verify that the cooler has not come loose.
All 4 pushpins should be through the motherboard and locked.

What is the make/model of your case?
Unless it is very restrictive, why not buy a good tower type cooler now, and plan on using it in a future build.
Noctua maintains a list of suitable coolers for various processors.
Here is the list for the 10600:

Intel Core i5-10600 | CPU Compatibility | Noctua Compatibility Centre

Series: Comet Lake-S, Socket: LGA 1200
ncc.noctua.at ncc.noctua.at
Pick a cooler that would be good for your future processor upgrade.
 
DSzymborski said:
We can't address the main symptom because we know just about nothing about your PC outside of the CPU or the games involved.

A fan that you buy now for 10th gen will now likely have an adapter for the current gen and that should also be compatible with LGA 1851, LGA 1700's successor.
Click to expand...
Sure, this is what i have

i5-10600, MSI MAG B460M MORTAR WIFI, Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB (3000, running at 2666 for some reason idk), MSI GeForce RTX 2070 GAMING Z 8GB, 2x Samsung EVO SSDs, Win 10, 600W PSU

Trying to play Diablo4 at 3440x1440 at around high settings with DLSS enabled.

Actually I am somewhat lost again. I seem to continue getting a bit of stuttering even when CPU is at 70C. It runs well for the first 15 minutes at 100fps, then drops to 75 with occasional dips to 30.
 
Consider the possibility that you are thermal throttling.
Run HWmonitor.
It will display the current, minimum and maximum temperatures.
Look first at the minimum. It should be 10-15c. over ambient if your cooler is mounted well.

Look at the maximum temperature per core.
If you see 100c. in red it means that you have throttled.
It does not say for how long. It is normal to do this but only for a fraction of a second.
That is ok.
That core will lower it's multiplier until the heat issues is resolved.
That is when stuttering happens.

If you are fiddling with voltages, I would have no idea of the impact.
Best to leave such things on default.

You might also check to see if there are any relevant bios updates for your motherboard.
 
Hmm... I wonder if it's the GPU that is struggling. Not sure what "hotspot" means but 108C looks like a lot

image.png
 
Nothing really jumps out at me.
You are not throttling.
Graphics cards do run hot, but they are built to do so.
What is the make/model of your case and what is the fan arrangement?
A good free airflow is important for cooling.

How full are your ssd devices?
If a ssd approaches 90%full it will slow down and lose endurance.
 
Lieto said:
Sure, this is what i have

i5-10600, MSI MAG B460M MORTAR WIFI, Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB (3000, running at 2666 for some reason idk), MSI GeForce RTX 2070 GAMING Z 8GB, 2x Samsung EVO SSDs, Win 10, 600W PSU

Trying to play Diablo4 at 3440x1440 at around high settings with DLSS enabled.

Actually I am somewhat lost again. I seem to continue getting a bit of stuttering even when CPU is at 70C. It runs well for the first 15 minutes at 100fps, then drops to 75 with occasional dips to 30.
Click to expand...

A4PfY3XtVKdAWjkQD9uhLZ-970-80.png.webp


Can you test it with no DLSS and no raytracing? When trying to crack down on performance issues, you want to isolate things as much as possible, so no bells or whistles or tricks. Now, you said you were on High and not Ultra, but this was also done on an i9-13900K and a lower resolution (yours has a little more than a third more pixels)

You could use a proper cooler if you want to push your CPU, but I suspect that your issue is elsewhere. I wish you had started with the underlying problem so we could have gotten onto tackling it right away!
 
geofelt said:
Nothing really jumps out at me.
You are not throttling.
Graphics cards do run hot, but they are built to do so.
What is the make/model of your case and what is the fan arrangement?
A good free airflow is important for cooling.

How full are your ssd devices?
If a ssd approaches 90%full it will slow down and lose endurance.
Click to expand...
Case: Thermaltake S100 Micro-ATX Tower Case. Initial install was done by Overclockers UK which are fairly reputable around here, probably wouldn't majorly mess things up, but do let me know if i can check things.

SSD devices have at least 20-30% of space available but SSD with the system is fairly old, maybe 5-6 years. The game is installed on the other SSD though. All latest drivers and stuff.

>>> Can you test it with no DLSS and no raytracing?
Without DLSS its 45-55fps, With Dlss its 70-80 fps

The main thing that I think gives me pause is that when the system is cold it does run 30%+ fps for a like 15 minutes. The stuttering isn't big but the game doesn't feel as smooth all the time I guess is the best way for me to describe it.
 
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geofelt said:
Nothing really jumps out at me.
Click to expand...
Look at the maximum GPU Hot Spot temperature. 107.8°C will cause GPU throttling. The GPU will be forced to slow down. That is probably the main cause of any FPS drops while gaming.

@Lieto
Try logging your GPU temperatures and performance while gaming. GPU-Z works well for this. You might see the GPU MHz drop significantly at times when the temperatures are sky high.
 
uWebb429 said:
Look at the maximum GPU Hot Spot temperature. 107.8°C will cause GPU throttling. The GPU will be forced to slow down. That is probably the main cause of any FPS drops while gaming.

@Lieto
Try logging your GPU temperatures and performance while gaming. GPU-Z works well for this. You might see the GPU MHz drop significantly at times when the temperatures are sky high.
Click to expand...
So here is a log. It seems like even though the temperature is high at 107 the clock speed is stable (it goes down in the end because i alt-tabbed out). Considering that the fans are also at 60% I guess the gpu doesn't think its too hot, or does it?

image.png
 
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