CPU at max frequency I7 2600K

[nirrtix]

I have an I7 2600K on an Asus Z77 motherboard. It is only overclocked to what the motherboard presets to optimal. My problem is that it sometimes says it is at max frequency and wants to know if I want to turn down the settings of the windows desktop when playing games like World of Warcraft (hardly a CPU intensive game.) What does it mean to be at Max frequency when it's CPU usage is fairly low most of the time? IS this bad for the machine?

 

[twelve25]

It means you are burning more power keeping it running at full speed when normally the Intel chips clock down to 1600Mhz when they are not being used much. So it's not bad for the CPU, it just might cost you a couple bucks more a month on your power bill.

One good thing about keeping it full speed all the time is that it doesn't have any delay in ramping up speed.

 

[nirrtix]

KK thank you.. that is what I thought it meant, but I was unsure.

 

[nirrtix]

Best answer selected by nirrtix.