Question I7-7700k at max frequency (4.5ghz) at idle

[amulsingh01]

As the title says, recently my CPU just sits at 4.5ghz at very low usage which causes my temps to rise and my cooler to run louder. As other forum posts have said, I have checked my power plan in Control Panel and it is at balanced. Any solutions for this?

 

[boju]

Is MCE enabled in the bios?

 

[mdd1963]

MCE (if even an option on your mainboard) will allow/cause it to turbo to 4.5 GHz on all cores under a heavy load, but it won't cause it to sit there all day even under no load...

Being in Performance mode in Windows' power plan will have it sit at max turbo, however...

Try Balanced power plan.....; even w/ MCE enabled (if a factor), it will turbo to 4.5 GHz on all cores (4.2 GHz all core stock) during gaming, and, ramp back down almost instantly to 800 MHz when loafing on the desktop..

 

[amulsingh01]

MCE (if even an option on your mainboard) will allow/cause it to turbo to 4.5 GHz on all cores under a heavy load, but it won't cause it to sit there all day even under no load...

Being in Performance mode in Windows' power plan will have it sit at max turbo, however...

Try Balanced power plan.....; even w/ MCE enabled (if a factor), it will turbo to 4.5 GHz on all cores (4.2 GHz all core stock) during gaming, and, ramp back down almost instantly to 800 MHz when loafing on the desktop..

My windows power plan is already at balanced though.

 

[amulsingh01]

Is MCE enabled in the bios?

I could not for the life of me, find an option for MCE in my bios. Could it be under another name?

 

[ilijadanil]

My windows power plan is already at balanced though.

Go to Change Plan Settings > Change advanced power settings > (Scroll down to and open) Processor power management > (Set) Minimum processor state at 5%

 

[boju]

I could not for the life of me, find an option for MCE in my bios. Could it be under another name?

Don't think it's that as pointed out earlier but if you search your board + multi core enhancement, im sure you'll get google images showing where.

 

[amulsingh01]

Go to Change Plan Settings > Change advanced power settings > (Scroll down to and open) Processor power management > (Set) Minimum processor state at 5%

The minimum state is already set to 5%

 

[ilijadanil]

The minimum state is already set to 5%

Then that means your CPU is overclocked. It is the only other state it can be at (if i am wrong, please someone correct me).
Have you installed some overclocking program or mess with the bios at all?

 

[amulsingh01]

Then that means your CPU is overclocked. It is the only other state it can be at (if i am wrong, please someone correct me).
Have you installed some overclocking program or mess with the bios at all?

Nope never. I never messed with any of the settings in the BIOS and it had been working fine up until now.

 

[ilijadanil]

Any software you might be using? Like motherboard software or some other hardware control software? If that's not the case then I am clueless, I can find out pretty fast if the computer was in front of me, but since that's not the case I can only give you suggestions.
Can you post a cpu-z screenshot as well too, it will be helpful.

 

[mdd1963]

Some malware will also eat CPU cycles, mining BItcoin/Monero, etc., for others....
Or, maybe a botched WIndows update screwed up a chipset driver....

If you set your BIOS to defaults, for sure that will /should remove any BIOS-instigated preset overclocks....

(Does task manager show any particular task associated with this activity?)

If it is botched update or malware...a quick nuke and pave/reinstall should restore things to like new in short order...

 

[amulsingh01]

Any software you might be using? Like motherboard software or some other hardware control software? If that's not the case then I am clueless, I can find out pretty fast if the computer was in front of me, but since that's not the case I can only give you suggestions.
Can you post a cpu-z screenshot as well too, it will be helpful.

I don't actually use any software but there is a bunch of Gigabyte apps related to the motherboard installed. I just uninstalled Realtek audio drives which had high CPU usage and it seemed to bring my clocks down a little, but they are jumping all over the place at idle.

 

[ilijadanil]

Check the task manager, what is using your CPU. It is just not possible to sit on idle at max frequency and without anything running if its not overclocked and no other settings applied to it. Check what is running in the background on your task manager so you can see what is the usage because of.
In the last case scenario, it can be faulty hardware, but to come to that is not so likely unless it is the age of the parts, excess physical force or something similar.