Question CPU speed is way higher than it should be ?

[A.Doychev]

Hello! I have recently installed Windows 10 on an old PC and noticed something strange. Can someone please explain to me why task manager is showing that my CPU ( Intel Pentium E5200 with a base speed of 2.5 GHz) is running with a base speed of 15 GHz and current speed fluctuates well above 10 GHz. That is at idle with nothing running. Although core temps are at 40-ish degrees it feels rather unsafe. Not sure if I'm missing or not understanding something, but is there a way to limit CPU speed ?

 

[boju]

Have seen this before it's just a bug, your cpu isn't actually running that fast. Run cpuz.

 

[A.Doychev]

Is there a way to fix it and have task manger show the actual values ?

 

[boju]

Not that im aware of besides doing a reset. Does it do it in safe mode?

 

[uWebb429]

Pentium E5200

Windows 10 has had MHz reporting issues on older hardware for years. Most programmers no longer have access to a wide range of older hardware. Bugs like this are inevitable and difficult to track down.

CPU-Z and HWINFO are usually more reliable than Windows for MHz information.

 

[hotaru.hino]

Is there a way to fix it and have task manger show the actual values ?

Did you install/update the motherboard chipset drivers?

EDIT: I had a peek at what the current processor support for Windows 10 is, and anything before 3rd generation Core processors (e.g., Core i7-3770K) are not supported.

So you're technically running Windows 10 on an unsupported platform.

 

[CountMike]

Did you install/update the motherboard chipset drivers?

EDIT: I had a peek at what the current processor support for Windows 10 is, and anything before 3rd generation Core processors (e.g., Core i7-3770K) are not supported.

So you're technically running Windows 10 on an unsupported platform.

That's for Windows 11. W10 is fully supported since early "Core" intel CPUs. even ones like Intel® Core™2 Duo E7500
W11 only with 8th gen and up.

 

[Colif]

most people wouldn't complain if their dual core CPU was running at 15ghz

Task manager has never known how fast my last two CPU have been going either and is always wrong. Just ignore it...

finding chipset drivers for a computer that old that windows 10 would let you install is another problem. Unlikely they ever signed to work with win 10... I mean, they might have been but unlikely.

if it works now, don't break it

 

[hotaru.hino]

That's for Windows 11. W10 is fully supported since early "Core" intel CPUs. even ones like Intel® Core™2 Duo E7500
W11 only with 8th gen and up.

Look at the title of the page.

If you need another page: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/w...ed/windows-10-1511-supported-intel-processors (note build 1511 is the first major update)

 

[CountMike]

Look at the title of the page.

That has nothing to do with false frequency reading. Task Manager is known for such errors in all windows versions, most often with memory, it's capacity and speed, Just unreliable as also explained by it's original author Dave Plumber.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ve95Nh690l0

 

[hotaru.hino]

That has nothing to do with false frequency reading. Task Manager is known for such errors in all windows versions, most often with memory, it's capacity and speed, Just unreliable as also explained by it's original author Dave Plumber.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ve95Nh690l0

So there's this thing called the DMTF DSP0134 SMBIOS standard that OSes can use to gather detailed information about the system which includes, among other things, both the maximum and current CPU clock speed (it should be in section 3.3.5)

Wikipedia says that in 1999, Microsoft did start requiring OEMs implement SMBIOS to receive certification, whatever that means. However, given the pace at which hardware manufacturers and software developers update their things, I wouldn't put it past everyone to need a few years to actually start supporting it. And considering this doc from Microsoft, Windows started supporting SMBIOS since Windows XP SP2 & Windows 2003. I'm pretty sure Microsoft didn't ship a new version of Task Manager (considering Task Manager itself back then doesn't seem to show any version information about itself), and Dave left the company in 2003, so any input he has on Task Manager is limited up until that point.

In any case, there is a blurb on Microsoft's site that more recent versions of Task Manager may parse the SMBIOS information incorrectly, suggesting Task Manager now supports reading data from it.

Symptoms
When you view memory information in Windows Task Manager, the values that are displayed for reserved hardware and for speed may differ from what is reported in other sources. For example, Task Manager may show the memory speed to be higher or lower than the speed that is reported in the BIOS.

Cause​

This issue occurs because Task Manager parses the SMBIOS memory data incorrectly.

Workaround​

To work around this issue, use an alternative source to view memory information. For example, Resource Monitor displays the correct value of the hardware reserved memory and is included in Windows 7 and later versions.

Incorrectly parsing the data could be from a variety of reasons, but I'll leave it at that.

 

[CountMike]

So there's this thing called the DMTF DSP0134 SMBIOS standard that OSes can use to gather detailed information about the system which includes, among other things, both the maximum and current CPU clock speed (it should be in section 3.3.5)

Wikipedia says that in 1999, Microsoft did start requiring OEMs implement SMBIOS to receive certification, whatever that means. However, given the pace at which hardware manufacturers and software developers update their things, I wouldn't put it past everyone to need a few years to actually start supporting it. And considering this doc from Microsoft, Windows started supporting SMBIOS since Windows XP SP2 & Windows 2003. I'm pretty sure Microsoft didn't ship a new version of Task Manager (considering Task Manager itself back then doesn't seem to show any version information about itself), and Dave left the company in 2003, so any input he has on Task Manager is limited up until that point.

In any case, there is a blurb on Microsoft's site that more recent versions of Task Manager may parse the SMBIOS information incorrectly, suggesting Task Manager now supports reading data from it.

Incorrectly parsing the data could be from a variety of reasons, but I'll leave it at that.

It's still down to erroneous reading . not unsupported CPU or platform. Still happens to newer systems. There are other programs that have more accurate readings.

 

[Colif]

task manager as recently as a few years ago was reporting CPU usage wrong so it isn't something that you should rely on.

Better to use something like HWINFO that looks at the right measurements.

Process explorer if you want a better version of task manager though it won't show you CPU speed, just usage

 

[hotaru.hino]

It's still down to erroneous reading . not unsupported CPU or platform. Still happens to newer systems. There are other programs that have more accurate readings.

Ultimately the point is, if you're running an OS on unsupported hardware, you can't expect a fix for a problem associated with said hardware. If the board is reporting data that the application can't ever parse correctly because the application is newer than the hardware, then sure, Task Manager will never work here. But I'd rather throw in the towel based and note the discrepancy on that rather than try to go down a rabbit hole to attempt to fix it.

To me saying Task Manager is broken on unsupported hardware is like saying a car's speedometer is broken because it was hooked up to a sensor suite that it isn't compatible with.

task manager as recently as a few years ago was reporting CPU usage wrong so it isn't something that you should rely on.

From what I gathered, it's not that it reports it incorrectly, it's that it reports it in a metric that can be misleading.

Windows 10 Task Manager ‘% CPU’ skew – A Tale of Two Metrics

EDIT: My co-worker, Aaron Margosis, wrote his take on this issue, you can read about it here: Task Managers CPU Numbers Are All But Meaningless! Windows 10 Task Manager is often used by end users t…

illuminati.services

Task Manager’s CPU numbers are all but meaningless

When Task Manager tells you that overall CPU is 100%, you’d be led to believe that the system is working as hard as it can and has no…

aaron-margosis.medium.com

The problem with Task Manager is Microsoft doesn't seem to clearly document how it's gathering data.

 

[Colif]

They should ask Dave, but its probably changed since he wrote it. They might not know themselves.

I wish they would fix how it reports Ryzen CPU speed... it tracks clock speed, not effective clock. Its the old way of tracking speed. Only time it might be right is when I run cinebench 2024 and all cores are at full speed... I might check next time.

I mainly use task manager to check memory usage - I wonder if its accurate there? Probably as it has more control over memory management, its part of windows, not an "external" device.

 

[CountMike]

Ultimately the point is, if you're running an OS on unsupported hardware, you can't expect a fix for a problem associated with said hardware. If the board is reporting data that the application can't ever parse correctly because the application is newer than the hardware, then sure, Task Manager will never work here. But I'd rather throw in the towel based and note the discrepancy on that rather than try to go down a rabbit hole to attempt to fix it.

To me saying Task Manager is broken on unsupported hardware is like saying a car's speedometer is broken because it was hooked up to a sensor suite that it isn't compatible with.


From what I gathered, it's not that it reports it incorrectly, it's that it reports it in a metric that can be misleading.

Windows 10 Task Manager ‘% CPU’ skew – A Tale of Two Metrics

EDIT: My co-worker, Aaron Margosis, wrote his take on this issue, you can read about it here: Task Managers CPU Numbers Are All But Meaningless! Windows 10 Task Manager is often used by end users t…

illuminati.services

Task Manager’s CPU numbers are all but meaningless

When Task Manager tells you that overall CPU is 100%, you’d be led to believe that the system is working as hard as it can and has no…

aaron-margosis.medium.com

The problem with Task Manager is Microsoft doesn't seem to clearly document how it's gathering data.

Same happens with fully "supported". CPUs and RAM speed also in W11. My modern Ryzen is properly supported and recognized everywhere else , shows base frequency 3.6GHz although it boosts to 5GHz and RAM at 2133MHz although it's 3600MHz.
CPU-Z. HWinfo, Aida, Ryzen Master... all show correct and present values.

 

[Colif]

it has no idea. Only place I see base speed is in the header, its never run that slow according to windows, and normally never that fast according to hwinfo.

I don't get that ram thing, mine shows as 3200. So its bugs aren't consistent enough to nail down or they might have fixed it by now. Its clearly not a priority.