I5 6500 stuck at 800mhz and 8 multiplier

[Jking1314]

recently i started to have lower then 30fps in all my games, after a long investigation, i believe this is caused by my CPU, at first i found out that in all my games, even idle, my CPU frequency is stuck at 800mhz and CPU usage can easily goes up to 70~100 in game. After some research online, i tried many fixes and it seems to be able to un-stuck the 800 mhz lock and it did improve my fps back to normal with over 3000 mhz but it is still very unstable, it always jumps back to 800 mhz and it tend to stay at 800 mhz a lot before going back up, sometimes it will stuck at 800 for a while... any idea of the cause of this and a solution?

http://postimg.org/image/r3zbybsbb/full/

my PC spec :
WIn 10 Home 64
I5-6500 CPU 3.2GHz
1x DDR4 8GB ram
MSI Computer ATX DDR4 Motherboard Z170A GAMING M5

MSI Computer NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 GAMING 100 Million Edition OC 4GB GDDR5

1x SanDisk Ultra II 240GB SATA III SSD ( 124GB free of 223GB)
1x WD Black 1TB HDD ( 251GB free of 931GB)
1x HGST Deskstar NAS 3TB HDD ( 1.4TB free of 2.72 TB)
1x WD green 1TB HDD (471GB free of 931GB )
550W Power Supply

 

[Andrei-Florin Gogan]

Name and model of PSU ? Could you also give us some temperature examples on both idle load and full load?

 

[Jking1314]

Name and model of PSU ? Could you also give us some temperature examples on both idle load and full load?

it is a XFX Pro Core Edition 550W Power Supply. My CPU temp in idle is about 24~26

CPU temp in xcom 2: 26~28 with 800 mhz, 80% CPU usage and less then 15fps
in world of warship, CPU temp is 30~31, 40fps in lobby, drop to 20fps or less in battle with 80%+ CPU usage and 800mhz

 

[1LiquidPC]

GPU temps good as well? Latest UEFI? I have a Skylake build w/ an i5 6500 as well with a GTX 670. I haven't seen this FPS drop behavior myself.

 

[Jking1314]

GPU temps good as well? Latest UEFI? I have a Skylake build w/ an i5 6500 as well with a GTX 670. I haven't seen this FPS drop behavior myself.

sorry for asking but what exactly is UEFI? this is the first time i heard about this word, i kind of google it and found it is like a bios? but i am using MSI bios and it is up to date, also my GPU temp in idle is about 47ish, but in game (world of warship) i get a GPU temp around 56~60 without fan on ( i have the fan on auto) with 1114 mhz and only 15~25ish of GPU usage, as for my CPU i get about 30s temp, 800mhz only and 80~100% CPU usage in game

 

[1LiquidPC]

The UEFI is the modern BIOS. The names get thrown around together though. I just wanted to be sure you had the latest version. Have you tried clearing the CMOS/BIOS reset to see if that has any affect? It's quite odd what your describing, plus I've never seen my CPUs get near 80-100% load gaming. I think both my main system and my Skylake build playing Wither 3 hover around 55% or so. Your temps look fine though. I do know that older or less demanding games will stay at 800Mhz or so as this will be normal. I've seen this playing the original Dead Space for example. My CPU would barely go above idle speed, but it had no effect on framerates. Still, your FPS should be pretty consistent, but they're not. Have you tried older drivers if you already have the latest?

 

[Jking1314]

The UEFI is the modern BIOS. The names get thrown around together though. I just wanted to be sure you had the latest version. Have you tried clearing the CMOS/BIOS reset to see if that has any affect? It's quite odd what your describing, plus I've never seen my CPUs get near 80-100% load gaming. I think both my main system and my Skylake build playing Wither 3 hover around 55% or so. Your temps look fine though. I do know that older or less demanding games will stay at 800Mhz or so as this will be normal. I've seen this playing the original Dead Space for example. My CPU would barely go above idle speed, but it had no effect on framerates. Still, your FPS should be pretty consistent, but they're not. Have you tried older drivers if you already have the latest?

I just tried to reset my MSI bios with no affect, CPU clock still stuck at 800mhz

 

[Jking1314]

http://postimg.org/gallery/2v81o876a/369068e9/
So i realize that the main problem is that the core speed is stuck at 800mhz due to the multiplier is stuck at x8 and the core voltage is very low as well, i went to the bios and check the CPU ratio which is set to auto, so i set to 32 manually but with no result and the CPU ratio still stuck at 8, so I did more research and came across this thread http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2268535/processor-frequency-locked-800mhz-thermal-throttling-100-low-cpu-temps.html
on the second last post, chris_2100 said there is a slow button on MSI board which if turned on, it will set the core speed to 800mhz to prevent crashing from OC, so i try to switch it off but it is already off on the normal (default) setting, I tried to turn it on and off again but still with no result, later i did another CMOS reset, still nothing... core speed is still stuck at 800mhz, i am running out of option here, may have to send it to MSI RMA for repair...

 

[Andrei N]

When a processor is stuck at the failsafe frequency there are 2 possible issues: bad heat dissipation or power issues.
Now since the CPU voltage is automatically lowered when failsafe occurs you cannot know which of the two issues are causing the failsafe.
You can try disconnecting the storage disks and taking out the GPU.
Start your PC using the integrated graphics and run a prime 95 to fully load your CPU. Monitor the CPU status. If it's still at 800 MHz it's most likely a PSU problem.

 

[st3v30]

Did you try to change Power Options in Control Panel??
Maybe it is set to Power saver and it wont let CPU get above 800 Mhz.
Try to set to Balanced or High Performance and see will it resolve issue.
Also try to update BIOS to latest version.

 

[1LiquidPC]

Good point, st3v30, I forgot all about trying that, though I'm typing this on my i5 6500 build and I'm set to "Balanced". My CPU is jumping all over just browsing, ect. from 800mhz to 3500(Turbo).

 

[Jking1314]

When a processor is stuck at the failsafe frequency there are 2 possible issues: bad heat dissipation or power issues.
Now since the CPU voltage is automatically lowered when failsafe occurs you cannot know which of the two issues are causing the failsafe.
You can try disconnecting the storage disks and taking out the GPU.
Start your PC using the integrated graphics and run a prime 95 to fully load your CPU. Monitor the CPU status. If it's still at 800 MHz it's most likely a PSU problem.

sorry for the late reply but i had been busy, anyways i just tried your option, i disconnected all my storage disk except my main boot drive SSD and took out the GPU, then i ran prime 95, here is the stats
http://postimg.org/image/u7bzvs8xd/
CPU usage only cap out at 25% and still running at 800mhz only, so this means it is my PSU problem? if so, do you have any in mind that is good for replacement?

 

[Jking1314]

Did you try to change Power Options in Control Panel??
Maybe it is set to Power saver and it wont let CPU get above 800 Mhz.
Try to set to Balanced or High Performance and see will it resolve issue.
Also try to update BIOS to latest version.

I had already tried that power option before, it did bring my mhz back up to 3000+ for a while... then it starts to jump back down and stayed at 800 again... also my BIOS is up to date

 

[st3v30]

Enter BIOS and try Disable:
Intel(R) SpeedStep(tm)
CPU C states

Maybe that will help.

 

[Jking1314]

Enter BIOS and try Disable:
Intel(R) SpeedStep(tm)
CPU C states

Maybe that will help.

i can't find that option on my MSI bios, do you know where is it under at?

 

[st3v30]

It is under OC Mode-->CPU Features.Try to disable C States and Turbo Boost.
For more info look at your mobo manual page 62.

 

[Jking1314]

It is under OC Mode-->CPU Features.Try to disable C States and Turbo Boost.
For more info look at your mobo manual page 62.

I just tried to disable both C states and turbo boost and tested it, but the result is my CPU still stuck at 800mhz

http://postimg.org/image/azg9vo8vh/
http://postimg.org/image/96h4z0lbd/

 

[1LiquidPC]

Disable EIST, and C-States. Enable Turbo. In Windows, set your power mode to high performance. This should force your CPU to full speed 24/7.

 

[Jking1314]

Disable EIST, and C-States. Enable Turbo. In Windows, set your power mode to high performance. This should force your CPU to full speed 24/7.

just tried it, it is still stuck at 800mhz

 

[1LiquidPC]

Kind of at a loss by this point. I'm thinking it's a board or CPU problem. I have the same i5 6500 in a Gigabyte GA-Z170N-Gaming5 board and it operates normally from what I can tell, adjusting frequency high and low as needed. I didn't make any special adjustments in the UEFI either. I think the only settings I changed were for XMP and the CPU Fan profile if I recall.

The settings I suggested to try in my previous post are for my X99 build in my signature. I'm running at full speed all the time. One more thing to try, if you haven't tried this already. You mentioned having the latest UEFI already. When you reset it, did you do it from within UEFI to "reset to defaults" or whatever they actually call it? If so, maybe try removing the actual CMOS batter on your board for a few minutes. I've read that sometimes this is the only way to truly "clear" the CMOS, though I can't say how valid this is. Still, should be worth a try.

 

[Jking1314]

Kind of at a loss by this point. I'm thinking it's a board or CPU problem. I have the same i5 6500 in a Gigabyte GA-Z170N-Gaming5 board and it operates normally from what I can tell, adjusting frequency high and low as needed. I didn't make any special adjustments in the UEFI either. I think the only settings I changed were for XMP and the CPU Fan profile if I recall.

The settings I suggested to try in my previous post are for my X99 build in my signature. I'm running at full speed all the time. One more thing to try, if you haven't tried this already. You mentioned having the latest UEFI already. When you reset it, did you do it from within UEFI to "reset to defaults" or whatever they actually call it? If so, maybe try removing the actual CMOS batter on your board for a few minutes. I've read that sometimes this is the only way to truly "clear" the CMOS, though I can't say how valid this is. Still, should be worth a try.

i had already tried that option couple days ago, both removing battery on the board and resetting to default within the BIOS still does not fix the problem, on a older thread, "Andrei N" mention that it could be my PSU problem, is that possible? if so, it will be a cheaper fix then getting a new board or CPU, every hardware in this PC i built are only no more then maybe 6months old, however my PSU, which is a 550W and my case are old from a older build, so my PSU is about 4years old....... should i try to renew my PSU and see if it helps?

 

[1LiquidPC]

Do you happen to know if your PSU is "Haswell Ready"?

 

[Jking1314]

Do you happen to know if your PSU is "Haswell Ready"?

I'm not sure but i heard that as long as a PSU has a 24-pin ATX power connector and a 4 or 8 pin supplemental CPU power connector, it's Haswell-ready. Which mine does.

This may or may not be important but i remember before my CPU get stuck at 800mhz, from time to time i will hear a noise coming from the bottom back of the case where my PSU is, it kind of sounded like a fan blade hitting on something, but when i check, everything looked fine, it always last about 10 sec or so but since i don't what it is, what cause it and where is it coming from, so i just ignored it, now after my CPU stuck at 800mhz, i don't hear my PC making that noise anymore, i don't know is it really my PSU problem or is there a way to check, but should i still try and buy a new PSU to replace and see if it fixes the problem?

 

[1LiquidPC]

Haswell Ready PSU's required a specific very low idle voltage requirement I believe. Going forward, I think Skylake has the same requirement. However, I thought I read if your PSU wan't compliant, either your PC wouldn't turn on or wouldn't sleep correctly.

 

[Jking1314]

Haswell Ready PSU's required a specific very low idle voltage requirement I believe. Going forward, I think Skylake has the same requirement. However, I thought I read if your PSU wan't compliant, either your PC wouldn't turn on or wouldn't sleep correctly.

My XFX pro 550W PSU box only saids Radeon Crossfire Ready, so i guess it is not Haswell Ready? and are you saying that it is not likely to be my PSU problem? even it is over 4yrs old and something was making a weird noise inside my case b4 my CPU stuck at 800mhz but if it is not my PSU problem, then is there a way to identify what is causing the issue?