CPU Core Frequency not increasing

[Nikkomara]

Hey there,

I'm currently running a i7 4770k 3.5Ghz that I OC'd to 4.0Ghz, and for the most part, it runs perfectly fine. OC resets itself when I restart my computer, which I take of care usually...

But last night, I forgot until I started playing Forza Horizon 3, and I changed the CPU's core to its OC values. I noted that now that framerate workaround of disabling core 0 in the program's core affinities caused my CPU to only run at 0.77Ghz, resulting in terrible performance, and back to normal when re-enabling it.

Now my CPU would not increase its idle core speed of 0.77Ghz when I start programs or games such as The Witcher and X-COM 2. This would result in less than optimal performance, with heavy framerate drops. I checked whether core affinities would improve or worsen framerate - with no changes.

Has anyone else encountered this problem, and if so, have they been able to solve it? Or have I just bricked my CPU and now have to get a new one?

 

[James Mason]

Well FH3 is a single core (core 0) game.

Restart the computer and check the BIOS, see what it says.

Check MSConfig (start > run) and see what it has to say about your CPU cores being enabled or not.

Reinstall windows before buying a new CPU, it's possible there is some hiccup preventing it from returning to normal function.

Maybe also download Intel Extreme (benchmarking/overclocking/something) Utility and see what it says about the CPU, and also try running a benhcmark in it to see what happens.

Check your Power Profile settings for minimum/maximum CPU usages.

 

[Nikkomara]

Well FH3 is a single core (core 0) game.

Restart the computer and check the BIOS, see what it says.

Check MSConfig (start > run) and see what it has to say about your CPU cores being enabled or not.

Reinstall windows before buying a new CPU, it's possible there is some hiccup preventing it from returning to normal function.

Maybe also download Intel Extreme (benchmarking/overclocking/something) Utility and see what it says about the CPU, and also try running a benhcmark in it to see what happens.

Check your Power Profile settings for minimum/maximum CPU usages.

Hey there, I've been trying out your solutions for the past hour:

1) My computer did not give any access to my BIOS nor give me access to UEFI hardware settings when I went into advanced start-up.

2) MSConfig says I have 4 cores available for use. Picking all 4 drops my core count to 2 in the Task manager window, however.

3) I was unable to reinstall windows as an error was stopping it halfway through.

4) The Intel Extreme Tuning Utility says that I pass my CPU stress test, with no issues. It pushes my CPU to it's OC values.

I find it strange that my settings for my OC have worked fine for the past month before this started happening. Any other ideas that you may have?

 

[James Mason]

Disconnect your SDDs/HDDs and try to get into the BIOS again, you'll have to press F8 or DEL or something (depends on mobo model, look it up) to access the bios. Advanced startup won't take you to the BIOS.

the speed of 0.77 makes me think your Base clock isn't 100mhz or your Multiplier is ... somehow less than 1.

 

[Nikkomara]

Disconnect your SDDs/HDDs and try to get into the BIOS again, you'll have to press F8 or DEL or something (depends on mobo model, look it up) to access the bios. Advanced startup won't take you to the BIOS.

the speed of 0.77 makes me think your Base clock isn't 100mhz or your Multiplier is ... somehow less than 1.

Got into my BIOS! Tried to check over my stuff inside there to see if anything had changed, and I couldn't tell a difference. Modifying values led to no difference in clock speed, and I even tried to revert to default settings.

If it helps, here's an image that currently shows my settings:

 

[James Mason]

sounds like speedstep is stuck, thats minimum mine goes to if its idle so could be a bios setting

 

[Nikkomara]

sounds like speedstep is stuck, thats minimum mine goes to if its idle so could be a bios setting

Fixed the speedstep, then took a look in my computer's power settings.

Turns out, it decided to switch to power saving mode for some reason, leading to my CPU being never utilized.