[SOLVED] CPU-Z score decreasing during stress test

Dylanblaha

Reputable
Jun 21, 2020
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4,510
It hovers around 2,490-2,500 but I left for about an hour and came back to see it running at 800. The CPU usage did not decrease from 100% while it was doing this. Is this a normal feature of the stress test? Or is there something wrong?
My processor is an i5 9400
 
Solution
I'd look at HWMonitor and monitor clock speeds across the 6 cores, the CPU should be capable of running about 3.8 GHz across all 6 cores for 30-60 seconds, and, if default Intel's 65W TDP is observed by the BIOS, clock speeds will decrease to closer to 2.9 -3.1 GHz... (Some mainboards may allow overriding the 65W TDP limit, effectively running the CPU closer to 95W at about 3.8 GHz sustained. If your cooling is better than Intel's stock cooling, which was known to be marginal for 8400 and 9400 CPUs, the boost duration time limits and TDP constraints can often be overridden within Intel's XTU application)

If you see clock speeds as low as 800 MHz, that could indicate either thermal throttling (which should only happen at 100C or above)...
I'd look at HWMonitor and monitor clock speeds across the 6 cores, the CPU should be capable of running about 3.8 GHz across all 6 cores for 30-60 seconds, and, if default Intel's 65W TDP is observed by the BIOS, clock speeds will decrease to closer to 2.9 -3.1 GHz... (Some mainboards may allow overriding the 65W TDP limit, effectively running the CPU closer to 95W at about 3.8 GHz sustained. If your cooling is better than Intel's stock cooling, which was known to be marginal for 8400 and 9400 CPUs, the boost duration time limits and TDP constraints can often be overridden within Intel's XTU application)

If you see clock speeds as low as 800 MHz, that could indicate either thermal throttling (which should only happen at 100C or above) or mainboard-induced VRM temperature throttling; observing the clock speeds and temps thru a 10 minute run will tell the tale,

WHen the score shows 800, click back on 'CPU' tab within CPU-Z, and observe current clock speeds. Odds are it is no longer at 3.8 GHz, I'd guess)
 
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