i7 stuck at 1.17ghz - Help!

[Kainev]

Hi Everyone!

I recently built a new computer, the processor is an Intel i7 5960x and motherboard is a Gigabyte X99 SOC-FORCE.

In the task manager, CPU-Z and the Intel Processor Identification Utility the reported clock speed is 1.17ghz. No matter what I'm doing whether it be 3D work in Maya, or playing a game the clock speed stays at 1.17ghz. I've tried putting my computer into High Performance mode which should force it to run at 3.0ghz however no change.

I updated my bios to the latest version as well.

Any help is really appreciated!

Cheers,
Kaine

EDIT: I'm using the Cooler Master Neptune 280L. The CPU temps when using Maya are between 22-35.

 

[rhysiam]

Is your performance actually suffering? It's possible just a reporting issue with the utilities.

Try a CPU benchmark like Passmark, or something else where you can easily compare your results and see where you sit. If you're actually limited to 1.17ghz your performance should be way, way below where you'd expect.

The reason I'm a little suspicious of the reported frequency is because a number of games would potentially struggle to run on that CPU at that frequency. Most games prefer 2-4 fast cores and don't benefit at all from more than 4. In that case you'd be limited to effectively a quad core 1.2Ghz CPU. You'd potentially be substantially slower than a pentium or celeron CPU. That would affect your gaming I'd expect.

 

[Kainev]

Hi Rhysiam!

Yes, performance is suffering. I only have one game installed which is pretty light as I'm not really a gamer. My other computer which has much lower specs is currently outperforming this PC when running Maya which shouldn't be at all possible. I'll download the benchmark and see how it goes.

 

[Kainev]

Finished running the PassMark software.. it says the average for my processor is 15995. Mine got 5841 -_-. The 5820k is outperforming my particular unit by 120% on their benchmarks haha.

 

[rhysiam]

Well that sucks!

Did you make any changes in the BIOS? It's worth doing a "Load factory defaults" in the BIOS. I know you said you updated it, this usually resets everything, but it's worth trying just to be sure.

I assume you have a good quality power supply? That's unlikely to be the cause but a dodgy PSU can cause all kinds of odd behaviour and you can't rule anything out.

If you're confident in your PSU, you could try using an OC guide to manually set your CPU to stock, or even a slight overclock. You could set your voltage somewhere high-ish but safe, like 1.25V, which should be more than enough for 3Ghz on all cores. If that works, then perhaps just OC your CPU? You've got a quality cooler and an unlocked CPU, if you want performance it's worth doing anyway. Here's a guide that looks okay, though there are heaps of others: http://www.technologyx.com/featured/beginners-guide-overclocking-intel-x99/

 

[Kainev]

I know! Haha

Nope, no changes in the BIOS, I'll try the the defaults though. Yeah it's Corsair AX760 which I was under the impression is supposed to be good but I'm not that knowledgeable in this.

I was planning on doing an overclock hence the cooler but I was trying to get the PC up and running 100% stable before changing anything. I might try disabling Speed Step just to see if it goes up to 3ghz (I'm not going to keep it disabled, just as a test).

I'll report back when I know more!

Cheers,
Kaine

EDIT: Okay so I reset the BIOS to defaults and no change, I then disabled Speed Step and it STILL runs at 1.17ghz. Without Speed Step that shouldn't be possible... I know you said I could try over clocking but this processor cost me $1600 AUD I should be able to get it to work 🙁 I called Intel earlier and they didn't really know, they just said call Gigabyte who don't have a contact number so I'm waiting on an email.

Anyone got any ideas?