[SOLVED] i7-3770 is underclocking to 1.6GHz whilst gaming ?

[Python1803]

After playing games like Warzone for 10 minute, my cpu will start to under clock to 1.6GHz causing my FPS to drop significantly. Then after around 5 minutes after under locking, will go back to base and turbo speeds. I have checked the temps and nothing is going above 65-70°C, and I changed out my PSU to see if that was the issue but it wasn’t. I have also checked the bios to see if there were any problems and it stated that my CPU minimum speed was 1600MHz and the base speed and maximum speeds were 3400MHz. If anyone has a solution to my problem it would be appreciated very much.

Specs:

I7 3770
GTX 1650 4gb
16gb ddr3 1600MGHz
Not sure about motherboard
500w PSU
1TB HDD
240gb SSD

 

[Fix_that_Glitch]

What windows power setting are you using?

 

[Python1803]

What windows power setting are you using?

High performance

 

[Fix_that_Glitch]

What is your gpu usage % when gaming?

 

[Python1803]

What is your gpu usage % when gaming?

While playing Warzone my CPU is at anywhere from 70%-90% and my GPU is at 90%-98%.

 

[uWebb429]

Intel CPUs getting stuck at their minimum speed is a common problem. Try running ThrottleStop.

https://www.techpowerup.com/download/techpowerup-throttlestop/

Clear the BD PROCHOT box on the main screen and see if that fixes things. If this does not fix the problem, post some screenshots of ThrottleStop while this is happening.

 

[Python1803]

Intel CPUs getting stuck at their minimum speed is a common problem. Try running ThrottleStop.

https://www.techpowerup.com/download/techpowerup-throttlestop/

Clear the BD PROCHOT box on the main screen and see if that fixes things. If this does not fix the problem, post some screenshots of ThrottleStop while this is happening.

Thanks, I will try it now.

 

[Python1803]

Intel CPUs getting stuck at their minimum speed is a common problem. Try running ThrottleStop.

https://www.techpowerup.com/download/techpowerup-throttlestop/

Clear the BD PROCHOT box on the main screen and see if that fixes things. If this does not fix the problem, post some screenshots of ThrottleStop while this is happening.

It looks like it worked, many thanks for your assistance in this matter greatly appreciated 🙏.

 

[uWebb429]

It looks like it worked

The BD PROCHOT signal path allows other sensors on your motherboard to send throttling signals to your CPU. On older computers, some of these sensors go bad and can send throttling signals when there is no real reason to throttle.

Check your motherboard to make sure none of the heatsinks are plugged full of dirt. Your CPU temperatures are fine so I am guessing that it is just a sensor that has gone bad. As mentioned, this happens. Lots of motherboards end up in the trash because of this problem. ThrottleStop is an easy fix.

 

[Python1803]

The BD PROCHOT signal path allows other sensors on your motherboard to send throttling signals to your CPU. On older computers, some of these sensors go bad and can send throttling signals when there is no real reason to throttle.

Check your motherboard to make sure none of the heatsinks are plugged full of dirt. Your CPU temperatures are fine so I am guessing that it is just a sensor that has gone bad. As mentioned, this happens. Lots of motherboards end up in the trash because of this problem. ThrottleStop is an easy fix.

Ok, many thanks once again 🙏.

 

[SamirD]

The BD PROCHOT signal path allows other sensors on your motherboard to send throttling signals to your CPU. On older computers, some of these sensors go bad and can send throttling signals when there is no real reason to throttle.

Check your motherboard to make sure none of the heatsinks are plugged full of dirt. Your CPU temperatures are fine so I am guessing that it is just a sensor that has gone bad. As mentioned, this happens. Lots of motherboards end up in the trash because of this problem. ThrottleStop is an easy fix.

This is great insight! Thank you! Do you know if disabling speedstep will solve this issue too?

 

[uWebb429]

disabling speedstep

Disabling SpeedStep is the go to answer for every throttling problem. I cannot ever remember a time when disabling SpeedStep was necessary. Disabling SpeedStep can cause more problems than it ever solves.

BD PROCHOT and SpeedStep are two completely different things. If you have a flat tire on your car and the mechanic suggests that you replace the battery, find a new mechanic.

 

[SamirD]

My thought process was that if you disable speedstep, you simply avoid those faulty sensors from being used.

I typically disable speedstep on certain Dell systems to keep them running full throttle. If I want to save power, I'll turn the system off. But when it is on, it better be running 100% on.

 

[uWebb429]

SpeedStep and BD PROCHOT are not in any way related to each other. Disabling SpeedStep will not prevent the CPU from throttling when a broken sensor is sending a throttling signal directly to the CPU via the BD PROCHOT signal path.

 

[SamirD]

Gotcha. So the broken sensor is basically sending a throttle signal at all times so the only way to get around it is to counter it with throttlestop.

 

[uWebb429]

counter it with throttlestop

Using ThrottleStop to disable BD PROCHOT tells the CPU to ignore any throttling messages that are being generated outside of the CPU. Whether BD PROCHOT is enabled or disabled, the CPU will still be able to thermal throttle to protect itself if the CPU ever gets too hot.

disable SpeedStep

Many 8th Gen and newer computers enable Speed Shift Technology automatically. This feature was first available for Intel's 6th Gen CPUs but it took manufacturers a while before they started using it. When Speed Shift is enabled, having SpeedStep enabled or disabled does not make any difference. Speed Shift has mostly replaced SpeedStep as the CPU control method for Intel CPUs. Windows 10 is Speed Shift aware and will use this technology to control recent Intel CPUs as long as the BIOS has enabled Speed Shift.

Another thing to know abut SpeedStep is there are a lot of motherboards that have a SpeedStep setting in the BIOS but it does not actually do anything. Whether SpeedStep is enabled or disabled in the BIOS, when you boot up, SpeedStep will be enabled within the CPU no matter what you have selected. This has led to a lot of confusion. Users will swear that they have disabled SpeedStep but when you sample the CPU SpeedStep register, it is obvious that SpeedStep is still enabled.

That is one reason why you will read in forums that disabling SpeedStep was the magic cure for some users and not for others. SpeedStep never needs to be disabled. Older computers that have SpeedStep enabled can be adjusted to run at full speed all of the time. If that is the goal, you only need to use the Windows High Performance power plan. The default setting for this plan has the Minimum processor state set to 100%. That is what tells the CPU to run at full speed regardless of load.

There is no need to disable SpeedStep to lock the CPU to a fixed speed. That is just another internet myth. People like to screw around with the Minimum or Maximum processor state setting and then blame and try to disable SpeedStep to solve the problem.

 

[SamirD]

There was a Dell TSB about speedstep hence why it was necessary on those systems.

I hate these stupid power savings plans in the first place. They are akin to the throttling algorithms isps use to not give full bandwidth 'until needed', which rarely kicks in properly as well. I wish they all defaulted to 100% on and the one can decide if it needs to go to sleep, etc, versus the other way around.

If power is an issue, get a solar panel on the roof or turn it off when you're not using it.

 

[uWebb429]

Dell TSB about speedstep

Dell is the last company I would listen to about anything computer related. I just did a search for Dell and SpeedStep and found this post from February 21, 2021.

https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/...-precision-m4800-with-intel-speedstep-enabled

Dell's advice to set the Number of processors box to 4 is beyond stupid. This disables half of the CPU.

4th Gen CPUs support hyper threading. There are 4 cores and 8 threads. Intel and the Windows Task Manager refers to this as 8 logical processors. The Windows setting that Dell is telling their users to adjust controls the number of logical processors. When this Windows setting is set to 4, the CPU will be limited to 2 cores and 4 threads. That is 4 logical processors. Half the CPU is now disabled so multi-threaded performance will be cut in half. Great advice.

I hope you have not been following Dell's bad advice.

Anyway, this is way off topic. The original problem was solved long ago. Start a new topic if you have any questions.

 

[SamirD]

Well, they were right in their speedstep tsb because due to a bios error that will never be patched, the setting causes throttling. As always, ymmv. Great to learn about the existance of bad sensors in case I see the issue.