[SOLVED] i7-4790K runs SLOW with Intel speedstep enabled... what to do?

alexb75

Distinguished
Oct 12, 2004
287
0
18,790
I've had this PC with Asus Z97 Pro and i7-4790K for sometime... it always seemed quite not upto task and "snappy" as the CPU should have been, it's running off an SSD, DDR3-2133 CL9 memory, and now overclocked to 4600 MHz, on Windows 10 Pro.

So, after trying various things and seeing that CPU on CPU-Z is almost ALWAYS running at 800MHz, and even running benchmarks, it was either slow to throttle up, or didn't fully (hence benchmark scores were always lower than they should have been), I went into BIOS and disabled Intel SpeedStep, and OH BOY, PC has COME ALIVE... it's so fast and amazing, I am shocked. Website, apps, games, etc... load up in an instant, everything is faster including file transfer, unzipping a folder, video encoding, etc...

BUT, the CPU is now always running at 4.6GHz, with core voltage of 1.29V... so it's not efficient to run like this.

Question is, can I somehow enable Side Step BACK and tweak it so it runs faster? or is it some driver, BIOS, etc... that's causing the slow ramp-up of the CPU? Any settings, or power options in Windows I can change to make this better? The difference is MASSIVE, so I really don't wanna go back running a 4.6GHz CPU in 800MHz, even running basic apps, as the CPU boost just makes everything so much better!

Thanks!
 
Solution
Changed to Max Performance, and now it's always staying at 4.6GHz, just like disabling the side step, my cinebench score also jumped to 908, from 837... so I guess it's the power options controlling this, now, what I love to be able to do is to enabled a Balanced power control, BUT, have it react faster to CPU demand... is there a way?
Try and get the latest Intel chipset drivers. You may also want to tinker with the advanced settings of the balanced power plan and see if there isn't anything about power state switch delays...

alexb75

Distinguished
Oct 12, 2004
287
0
18,790
What bios version is your motherboard on? Does your frequency increase from 800mhz when running a stress test on the cpu?

I have the latest BIOS, in terms of stress tests, frequency does increase during the stress tests, but it's SLOW to ramp up, and sometime the frequency goes up and down while it's running, hence ALL my benchmarks were significantly lower running it with Side Step enabled, vs. disabled!
 

alexb75

Distinguished
Oct 12, 2004
287
0
18,790
Just ran Cinebench, without side step, I get 922 score, WITH it enabled, I get 831, when watching CPU-Z, it starts off at 800 MHz, and slowly it bumps up, but takes like 1/3rd into the test to reach maximum frequency. Shouldn't it quickly go to 4.6GHz? What controls this step-up? Is it BIOS, Windows, or some Intel driver?
 

alexb75

Distinguished
Oct 12, 2004
287
0
18,790
Changed to Max Performance, and now it's always staying at 4.6GHz, just like disabling the speed step, my cinebench score also jumped to 908, from 837... so I guess it's the power options controlling this, now, what I love to be able to do is to enabled a Balanced power control, BUT, have it react faster to CPU demand... is there a way?
 
Changed to Max Performance, and now it's always staying at 4.6GHz, just like disabling the side step, my cinebench score also jumped to 908, from 837... so I guess it's the power options controlling this, now, what I love to be able to do is to enabled a Balanced power control, BUT, have it react faster to CPU demand... is there a way?
Try and get the latest Intel chipset drivers. You may also want to tinker with the advanced settings of the balanced power plan and see if there isn't anything about power state switch delays...
 
Solution