[SOLVED] How to get i7-9700 to maintain boost clock speed ?

tek3195

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Feb 7, 2021
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I have an Asrock Deskmini with an i7-9700 that will not stay even close to 4500 MHz on a long run at full load. It drops down to 3200 mhz and lower with scaling governor set to performance and temps in the low 60's. It has base speed of 3.0 GHz and boost speed 4.7 GHz and is supposed to be capable of 4500 MHz with 8 cores. However, on a 4 minute build it drops to 3200 MHz and on a 2 hour build of Lineage OS it kills PC when almost complete. I have tried it twice and both times I seen 98% complete and don't know at what point it shut down but only partial build in out directory after powering on. I have included output from turbostat if it helps. What have I got wrong ?

turbostat version 18.07.27 - Len Brown <lenb@kernel.org>
CPUID(0): GenuineIntel 0x16 CPUID levels; 0x80000008 xlevels; family:model:stepping 0x6:9e:d (6:158:13)
CPUID(1): SSE3 MONITOR SMX EIST TM2 TSC MSR ACPI-TM HT TM
CPUID(6): APERF, TURBO, DTS, PTM, HWP, HWPnotify, HWPwindow, HWPepp, No-HWPpkg, EPB
cpu6: MSR_IA32_MISC_ENABLE: 0x00850089 (TCC EIST MWAIT PREFETCH TURBO)
CPUID(7): SGX
cpu6: MSR_IA32_FEATURE_CONTROL: 0x00020005 (Locked )
CPUID(0x15): eax_crystal: 2 ebx_tsc: 250 ecx_crystal_hz: 0
TSC: 3000 MHz (24000000 Hz * 250 / 2 / 1000000)
CPUID(0x16): base_mhz: 3000 max_mhz: 4700 bus_mhz: 100
cpu6: MSR_MISC_PWR_MGMT: 0x00401cc0 (ENable-EIST_Coordination DISable-EPB DISable-OOB)
RAPL: 4033 sec. Joule Counter Range, at 65 Watts
cpu6: MSR_PLATFORM_INFO: 0x8080838f1011e00
8 * 100.0 = 800.0 MHz max efficiency frequency
30 * 100.0 = 3000.0 MHz base frequency
cpu6: MSR_IA32_POWER_CTL: 0x001c005c (C1E auto-promotion: DISabled)
cpu6: MSR_TURBO_RATIO_LIMIT: 0x2d2d2d2d2e2e2f2f
45 * 100.0 = 4500.0 MHz max turbo 8 active cores
45 * 100.0 = 4500.0 MHz max turbo 7 active cores
45 * 100.0 = 4500.0 MHz max turbo 6 active cores
45 * 100.0 = 4500.0 MHz max turbo 5 active cores
46 * 100.0 = 4600.0 MHz max turbo 4 active cores
46 * 100.0 = 4600.0 MHz max turbo 3 active cores
47 * 100.0 = 4700.0 MHz max turbo 2 active cores
47 * 100.0 = 4700.0 MHz max turbo 1 active cores
cpu6: MSR_CONFIG_TDP_NOMINAL: 0x0000001e (base_ratio=30)
cpu6: MSR_CONFIG_TDP_LEVEL_1: 0x00000000 ()
cpu6: MSR_CONFIG_TDP_LEVEL_2: 0x00000000 ()
cpu6: MSR_CONFIG_TDP_CONTROL: 0x80000000 ( lock=1)
cpu6: MSR_TURBO_ACTIVATION_RATIO: 0x00000000 (MAX_NON_TURBO_RATIO=0 lock=0)
cpu6: MSR_PKG_CST_CONFIG_CONTROL: 0x00000000 (UNlocked, pkg-cstate-limit=0 (pc0))
cpu6: POLL: CPUIDLE CORE POLL IDLE
cpu6: C1: MWAIT 0x00
cpu6: C1E: MWAIT 0x01
cpu6: C3: MWAIT 0x10
cpu6: C6: MWAIT 0x20
cpu6: C7s: MWAIT 0x33
cpu6: C8: MWAIT 0x40
cpu6: C9: MWAIT 0x50
cpu6: C10: MWAIT 0x60
cpu6: cpufreq driver: intel_pstate
cpu6: cpufreq governor: performance
cpufreq intel_pstate no_turbo: 0
cpu6: MSR_MISC_FEATURE_CONTROL: 0x00000000 (L2-Prefetch L2-Prefetch-pair L1-Prefetch L1-IP-Prefetch)
cpu0: MSR_PM_ENABLE: 0x00000001 (HWP)
cpu0: MSR_HWP_CAPABILITIES: 0x01091e2f (high 47 guar 30 eff 9 low 1)
cpu0: MSR_HWP_REQUEST: 0x00002f2f (min 47 max 47 des 0 epp 0x0 window 0x0 pkg 0x0)
cpu0: MSR_HWP_INTERRUPT: 0x00000000 (Dis_Guaranteed_Perf_Change, Dis_Excursion_Min)
cpu0: MSR_HWP_STATUS: 0x00000004 (No-Guaranteed_Perf_Change, No-Excursion_Min)
cpu0: MSR_IA32_ENERGY_PERF_BIAS: 0x00000006 (balanced)
cpu0: MSR_RAPL_POWER_UNIT: 0x000a0e03 (0.125000 Watts, 0.000061 Joules, 0.000977 sec.)
cpu0: MSR_PKG_POWER_INFO: 0x00000208 (65 W TDP, RAPL 0 - 0 W, 0.000000 sec.)
cpu0: MSR_PKG_POWER_LIMIT: 0x42020800148208 (UNlocked)
cpu0: PKG Limit #1: ENabled (65.000000 Watts, 1.000000 sec, clamp DISabled)
cpu0: PKG Limit #2: DISabled (65.000000 Watts, 0.002441* sec, clamp DISabled)
cpu0: MSR_DRAM_POWER_LIMIT: 0x5400de00140000 (UNlocked)
cpu0: DRAM Limit: DISabled (0.000000 Watts, 1.000000 sec, clamp DISabled)
cpu0: MSR_PP0_POLICY: 0
cpu0: MSR_PP0_POWER_LIMIT: 0x00000000 (UNlocked)
cpu0: Cores Limit: DISabled (0.000000 Watts, 0.000977 sec, clamp DISabled)
cpu0: MSR_PP1_POLICY: 0
cpu0: MSR_PP1_POWER_LIMIT: 0x00000000 (UNlocked)
cpu0: GFX Limit: DISabled (0.000000 Watts, 0.000977 sec, clamp DISabled)
cpu0: MSR_IA32_TEMPERATURE_TARGET: 0x00640e00 (100 C)
cpu0: MSR_IA32_PACKAGE_THERM_STATUS: 0x88280800 (60 C)
cpu0: MSR_IA32_PACKAGE_THERM_INTERRUPT: 0x00000003 (100 C, 100 C)
cpu6: MSR_PKGC3_IRTL: 0x00000000 (NOTvalid, 0 ns)
cpu6: MSR_PKGC6_IRTL: 0x00000000 (NOTvalid, 0 ns)
cpu6: MSR_PKGC7_IRTL: 0x00000000 (NOTvalid, 0 ns)
cpu6: MSR_PKGC8_IRTL: 0x00000000 (NOTvalid, 0 ns)
cpu6: MSR_PKGC9_IRTL: 0x00000000 (NOTvalid, 0 ns)
cpu6: MSR_PKGC10_IRTL: 0x00000000 (NOTvalid, 0 ns)
20.021052 sec
Core CPU Avg_MHz Busy% Bzy_MHz TSC_MHz IRQ SMI POLL C1 C1E C3 C6 C7s C8 C9 C10 POLL% C1% C1E% C3% C6% C7s% C8% C9% C10% CPU%c1 CPU%c3 CPU%c6 CPU%c7 CoreTmp PkgTmp GFX%rc6 GFXMHz Totl%C0 Any%C0 GFX%C0 CPUGFX% Pkg%pc8 Pkg%pc9 Pk%pc10 SYS%LPI PkgWatt CorWatt GFXWatt RAMWatt PKG_% RAM_%
- - 3514 93.35 3762 3002 95733 0 14287 15744 15590 5648 11545 49 10809 48 2084 0.04 0.70 0.91 0.47 1.41 0.01 1.99 0.01 0.34 3.11 0.35 1.14 2.04 55 55 86.78 350 750.03 99.20 12.73 12.52 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 57.09 56.01 0.23 2.19 0.00 0.00
0 0 3486 92.59 3761 3003 14720 0 1615 1770 2294 801 1585 4 1512 2 232 0.03 0.72 1.15 0.57 1.58 0.01 2.33 0.00 0.28 3.42 0.42 1.29 2.29 55 55 86.78 350 749.75 99.16 12.73 12.51 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 57.09 56.01 0.23 2.19 0.00 0.00
1 1 3521 93.39 3766 3003 9567 0 1997 1914 1696 677 1566 6 1393 6 351 0.04 0.66 0.77 0.46 1.68 0.01 1.74 0.01 0.48 2.96 0.35 1.39 1.91 54
2 2 3546 94.22 3761 3003 10627 0 1392 1627 1733 597 1204 4 1313 9 271 0.03 0.55 0.88 0.34 1.13 0.00 1.76 0.01 0.32 2.85 0.24 0.89 1.79 54
3 3 3480 92.49 3759 3002 16846 0 1594 2282 2302 935 1778 13 1131 5 125 0.04 0.83 1.05 0.69 1.92 0.02 1.99 0.02 0.21 3.38 0.53 1.59 2.01 54
4 4 3516 93.42 3762 3002 9037 0 2097 1960 1911 733 1375 4 1365 6 271 0.04 0.59 0.89 0.48 1.31 0.01 2.17 0.00 0.30 3.00 0.36 1.05 2.17 54
5 5 3524 93.64 3762 3001 12923 0 1926 2194 2166 734 1385 3 1240 3 208 0.04 0.78 0.89 0.49 1.26 0.00 1.88 0.00 0.23 3.16 0.36 1.01 1.84 53
6 6 3524 93.67 3761 3001 12913 0 1609 1839 1875 663 1354 3 1337 7 284 0.03 0.65 0.84 0.47 1.23 0.00 1.84 0.00 0.46 3.01 0.35 0.97 2.00 52
7 7 3515 93.36 3765 3000 9100 0 2057 2158 1613 508 1298 12 1518 10 342 0.04 0.79 0.80 0.31 1.20 0.01 2.22 0.01 0.45 3.12 0.22 0.96 2.34 51
 
Solution
I'm going to go out on a limb and guess if any manufacturer would likely try to stick to TDP design, it would be Asrock with that very small case, which would mean you'd likely see 30 seconds or so of peak turbo, then back down to near minimum base clock. The mainboard included is likely NOT one suited for 125-165 watt sustained loads...
to maintain boost speed, you need to oc.
which you can't do with that cpu, probably not that motherboard either

I am completely confused then. I would have thought that turbo boost would work the way it was supposed to. Under a load when needed as long as temperature is not an issue which in this case it is not. I think I should be able to get more than 3200 MHz from a processor with 4700 MHz boost and 4500 for 8 cores. Low 3000's just doesn't seem right. What is the point of multipliers if they won't work ?
 
The CPU will boost to 4.7ghz if you are stressing only 1 core of the CPU, maybe 2.

If stressing multiple cores, the CPU will turbo fairly high (but not all the way to 4.7) for a limited duration but after this limit expires, the CPU will drop its power consumption down to somewhere around the TDP or slightly above, which will cause clock speeds to drop.

This is expected behavior, and you won't be able to change it unless you would be able to unlock power and duration limits, which is unlikely in the case of a non K CPU in a sff machine.
 
The CPU will boost to 4.7ghz if you are stressing only 1 core of the CPU, maybe 2.

If stressing multiple cores, the CPU will turbo fairly high (but not all the way to 4.7) for a limited duration but after this limit expires, the CPU will drop its power consumption down to somewhere around the TDP or slightly above, which will cause clock speeds to drop.

This is expected behavior, and you won't be able to change it unless you would be able to unlock power and duration limits, which is unlikely in the case of a non K CPU in a sff machine.
Yeah, it says 4.5 GHz for 8 cores in the output that I posted. I understand that part but somewhere I seen it was dropping it down to less than 50W of power. Something is throttling it down and don't know what. It's not hot and from the different policies I've read it should not be doing that. I haven't seen anything yet that is supposed to throttle it to 3.2 GHz and less than 50W at 100% load on 8 cores. I'm wondering if this little motherboard is capaqble of handling it. How would I check the motherboard and power supply for issues ?
 
Could be VRM throttling.

You might be able to check the temp of the vrm in this software.

HWiNFO - Free System Information, Monitoring and Diagnostics
just booted into windows so will download and try yhat. Also I can change power and duration limits in bios but increase in duration is only up to 128 seconds, don't know what default is. Increasing power limit will cause it to shut down if set to high. Don't know what to set it to without risk.
 
Shutting off with too high of power limit set sounds like an overheating issue.
no it shuts down immediately, no time to heat up. That was when I put a high value that was invalid and the motherboard entered one automatically. It was some absurd number like 4250 which cant be wattage, or wouldn't think so anyway. But leaving it at AUTO since I dont know where to set it.
 
Could be VRM throttling.

You might be able to check the temp of the vrm in this software.

HWiNFO - Free System Information, Monitoring and Diagnostics
I used that and I ran XTU for the stress test because I am not familiar with a windows program to put full load on all cores like building with make in Linux. Building Android taxes all cores 100% load all the time. Anyways, immediately at start of test it shows Power Limit Throttling, Current/EDP Limit Throttling and Motherboard VR Thermal... so I'm assuming the VR throttling is what the last one is refering to. The VR part doesn't show on start of test, it comes up about a minute into it. HWInfo showed power range from 48W to 64W under full load. Does this sound like motherboard not having enough ass to carry the load or bigger problems ?
 
You will get more and better answers if you edit your initial post to eliminate the useless details.

Turbo is not intended to run all cores at higher multipliers the way overclocking can.
Turbo only applies to a few cores when load and thermal limits permit a temporary override.

Not much you can do about that except to pay attention to cooling.
What is your case and cooler?
If your idle temperature is much above 10-15c. over ambient there is an issue with your case or cooler.
 
You will get more and better answers if you edit your initial post to eliminate the useless details.

Turbo is not intended to run all cores at higher multipliers the way overclocking can.
Turbo only applies to a few cores when load and thermal limits permit a temporary override.

Not much you can do about that except to pay attention to cooling.
What is your case and cooler?
If your idle temperature is much above 10-15c. over ambient there is an issue with your case or cooler.
The case is a Deskmini and cooler is Noctua NH-L9i with a Scythe Kaze Flex 929225 PWM fan. It idles at 34C in Windows and 29C in Linux and max of 65C in either OS. I believe from some of the tests that the motherboard is the problem. It is claimed to support up to i9-9900 but I don't believe it has the balls to power 65W for any length of time. It runs great and benchmark is outstanding in userbenchmark, but put a real load and expect it to work and it's a different story. It is just not meant to do but so much. Oh well, time to put it up for sale and start on a full grown PC build.
 
Your case does not have great airflow.
Any cooler needs a good source of fresh air to let it do it's job.

See if you can take the case covers off and direct a house fan at the innards.
If that helps, find a case cooling solution.
Faster intake fans may be possible, but at the cost of more noise.
likely, just switching to a better cooling case will do the job.
 
I'm going to go out on a limb and guess if any manufacturer would likely try to stick to TDP design, it would be Asrock with that very small case, which would mean you'd likely see 30 seconds or so of peak turbo, then back down to near minimum base clock. The mainboard included is likely NOT one suited for 125-165 watt sustained loads...
 
Solution
I'm going to go out on a limb and guess if any manufacturer would likely try to stick to TDP design, it would be Asrock with that very small case, which would mean you'd likely see 30 seconds or so of peak turbo, then back down to near minimum base clock. The mainboard included is likely NOT one suited for 125-165 watt sustained loads...
I think you're on a decent limb there. I am beginning to see it that way exactly. In fact it's not suited for 65W under sustained load. It's a kick-ass little computer for normal tasks, but not with all 8 cores loaded 100% for any length of time, especially two hours of it. It was an attempt at a mini-workstation with too much mini and not enough station.