IDLE state real meaning

[Makku293]

What IDLE state really means?. What is the speed of IDLE in a system? Can its speed be 0.8 GHz or 3.5GHz?. Can IDLE's speed be establish? When Windows enters in a IDLE, when I have some open programs, but not using any of them or when none program is open and I just leave the system there without any kind of movement?. Please... I've got a mix of concepts here, so confused around here.

Regards

 

[Sedivy]

Well idle will differ on different systems depending on what they're for but for example as I'm typing this, I consider my computer as idle, by looking into task manager and seeing system idle process taking anywhere from 95-99 percent cpu, a good indication I'm not doing anything cpu intensive. I'm not aware of a set limit defined anywhere (though that doesn't mean there isn't one).

 

[parker_307]

What IDLE state really means?. What is the speed of IDLE in a system? Can its speed be 0.8 GHz or 3.5GHz?. Can IDLE's speed be establish? When Windows enters in a IDLE, when I have some open programs, but not using any of them or when none program is open and I just leave the system there without any kind of movement?. Please... I've got a mix of concepts here, so confused around here.

Regards

idle just means its not under load its just doing small basic tasks like keeping the os on or the computer on so its idle and not doing alot of work

 

[TMTOWTSAC]

The short general answer to basically all of that is yes.

The long answer is that modern processors have a range of options for idling and boosting, which they can adjust extremely rapidly as needed. They can run at a lower or higher frequency, shift C-states to use less power, park specific cores, leave some cores at lower speeds while boosting individual cores as needed, etc. The exact increments will vary from CPU to CPU and usually reflect adjustments to the clock multiplier, with 800 MHz being a fairly common minimum. Most of this is controlled automatically through your BIOS and power management settings.

So yes, your CPU might boost up to max speed for half a second while a program is loading, then immediately idle back down to minimum speed once it's done. It will increase or decrease speed as needed (often multiple times per second) in response to what you're asking it to do, and how many cores/threads are in use.

 

[Makku293]

What IDLE state really means?. What is the speed of IDLE in a system? Can its speed be 0.8 GHz or 3.5GHz?. Can IDLE's speed be establish? When Windows enters in a IDLE, when I have some open programs, but not using any of them or when none program is open and I just leave the system there without any kind of movement?. Please... I've got a mix of concepts here, so confused around here.

Regards

idle just means its not under load its just doing small basic tasks like keeping the os on or the computer on so its idle and not doing alot of work

What happens with its clock. It doesn't matter?

 

[Makku293]

The short general answer to basically all of that is yes.

The long answer is that modern processors have a range of options for idling and boosting, which they can adjust extremely rapidly as needed. They can run at a lower or higher frequency, shift C-states to use less power, park specific cores, leave some cores at lower speeds while boosting individual cores as needed, etc. The exact increments will vary from CPU to CPU and usually reflect adjustments to the clock multiplier, with 800 MHz being a fairly common minimum. Most of this is controlled automatically through your BIOS and power management settings.

So yes, your CPU might boost up to max speed for half a second while a program is loading, then immediately idle back down to minimum speed once it's done. It will increase or decrease speed as needed (often multiple times per second) in response to what you're asking it to do, and how many cores/threads are in use.

I'm asking cause my PC is freezing on IDLE. I thought the culprit was C-State, but I was wrong. So I started to think, what IDLE state really is... When the O.S. is w/o interaction w/ the user or whereas system has no open app. I don't get it yet, the system is still getting stuck on IDLE, but, I disabled C-State.

 

[TMTOWTSAC]

When you say stuck, do you mean unresponsive and have to reboot? Or stuck at 800 MHz? Incompatible PSU's that don't support Haswell and later C-States usually just cause a powerdown when they go to idle.

 

[Makku293]

When you say stuck, do you mean unresponsive and have to reboot? Or stuck at 800 MHz? Incompatible PSU's that don't support Haswell and later C-States usually just cause a powerdown when they go to idle.

Yes. Unresponsive, have to reboot and stuck at 800-900 MHz. This happens after I come back from the toilet for example.

Specifications:

Motherboard: Asus Sabertooth Z170 S (Revision 1.xx)
BIOS: 1902
O.S.: Windows 10 Pro x64 Build 1607 (Before) 1703 (Now)
CPU: i5-6600K 3.5GHz Skylake
HDD: WD Blue 1TB (WDCWD10EZEX-08WN4A0)
Socket: 1151 LGA
GPU: GDDR5 Gigabyte GTX1060 6GB G1 Gaming
RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 2133MHz 4GB x2
VM: 12288 MB (8192 * 1.5 on Initial Size and Max. Size)
PSU: EVGA SuperNova B2 850W (110-B2-0850-V1)

 

[TMTOWTSAC]

Once you reboot, does it get unstuck and run at its rated speed under load?

 

[Makku293]

Once you reboot, does it get unstuck and run at its rated speed under load?

Yes, it get unstuck. Yes, sometimes when is need it. Only this occur when I'm away for a while. In fact, I did a Prime95 under heavy load and everything went well. I just don't get it.

Thank You

 

[TMTOWTSAC]

Usually when a CPU goes to 800 MHz it's because it's idling, it's overheated, it's having power issues and reverting to failsafe frequency, the LN2 jumper is on, or the power management settings got changed. Crashing at idle but not load and getting stuck at 800 MHz after a reboot sounds like a power or temperature sensor issue to me.

Found someone with a similar issue that seems to have been related to an Intel overclocking utility, his machine didn't crash but after going into sleep mode it would be stuck at 800 MHz.

https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?topic=275121.0

 

[Makku293]

Usually when a CPU goes to 800 MHz it's because it's idling, it's overheated, it's having power issues and reverting to failsafe frequency, the LN2 jumper is on, or the power management settings got changed. Crashing at idle but not load and getting stuck at 800 MHz after a reboot sounds like a power or temperature sensor issue to me.

Found someone with a similar issue that seems to have been related to an Intel overclocking utility, his machine didn't crash but after going into sleep mode it would be stuck at 800 MHz.

https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?topic=275121.0

Well, it looks like is a clock issue. Am I right?

 

[TMTOWTSAC]

Well, it's a clockspeed issue yes. But probably not a problem with the actual clock, or you'd be seeing different numbers. It looks more like the system believes something is wrong (typically temperature or power) and is limiting the clockspeed for that reason.

 

[Makku293]

Well, it's a clockspeed issue yes. But probably not a problem with the actual clock, or you'd be seeing different numbers. It looks more like the system believes something is wrong (typically temperature or power) and is limiting the clockspeed for that reason.

At this moment when this occur, the temperature is fine.

 

[Makku293]

Well, it's a clockspeed issue yes. But probably not a problem with the actual clock, or you'd be seeing different numbers. It looks more like the system believes something is wrong (typically temperature or power) and is limiting the clockspeed for that reason.

Could be the thermal throttling that is causing this event?

Regards

 

[TMTOWTSAC]

If temps are fine it's probably not throttling unless the temperature sensor went bad. And it still wouldn't explain the freezing, if it believes the system is in danger it would do an emergency power shutoff. There might be something listed in the Event Manager to that effect, like an event ID 41. An electrical problem with the PSU or wall outlet/surge protector could also cause the system to clock down or freeze if the power delivery hiccups.

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/46250-63-random-restarts-critical-kernel-power-event-task

 

[Makku293]

If temps are fine it's probably not throttling unless the temperature sensor went bad. And it still wouldn't explain the freezing, if it believes the system is in danger it would do an emergency power shutoff. There might be something listed in the Event Manager to that effect, like an event ID 41. An electrical problem with the PSU or wall outlet/surge protector could also cause the system to clock down or freeze if the power delivery hiccups.

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/46250-63-random-restarts-critical-kernel-power-event-task

I had an emergency power off before, but it was a reboot emergency caused by the static of my socks without noticing, is already solved. About the Event Viewer, the only thing that is registered is the hard reset ("The system was shutting down correctly..." ) and a SQL issue around a permission, nothing else.

 

[Makku293]

If temps are fine it's probably not throttling unless the temperature sensor went bad. And it still wouldn't explain the freezing, if it believes the system is in danger it would do an emergency power shutoff. There might be something listed in the Event Manager to that effect, like an event ID 41. An electrical problem with the PSU or wall outlet/surge protector could also cause the system to clock down or freeze if the power delivery hiccups.

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/46250-63-random-restarts-critical-kernel-power-event-task

It's just get freeze right now!!!

 

[Makku293]

If temps are fine it's probably not throttling unless the temperature sensor went bad. And it still wouldn't explain the freezing, if it believes the system is in danger it would do an emergency power shutoff. There might be something listed in the Event Manager to that effect, like an event ID 41. An electrical problem with the PSU or wall outlet/surge protector could also cause the system to clock down or freeze if the power delivery hiccups.

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/46250-63-random-restarts-critical-kernel-power-event-task

There is a possibility that 800-900MHz are too low for IDLE processes?

 

[TMTOWTSAC]

800 MHz is standard for most modern processors. Do you have access to another known good PSU? A power issue is still a strong possibility.

 

[Makku293]

800 MHz is standard for most modern processors. Do you have access to another known good PSU? A power issue is still a strong possibility.

No, I don't. My PSU is stable as far as I know, I don't know if it's matter, but is almost new, since january. What can I do then?

 

[mdd1963]

I'd consider restesting with a single stick of RAM in required slot...; if it hard locks, try the other one...

Let's reset the BIOS to defaults, and reinstall chipset drivers...

Ensure Windows control panel /power plan set to "Balanced"....

 

[Makku293]

I'd consider restesting with a single stick of RAM in required slot...; if it hard locks, try the other one...

Let's reset the BIOS to defaults, and reinstall chipset drivers...

Ensure Windows control panel /power plan set to "Balanced"....

I did all of that and no results.

 

[TMTOWTSAC]

800 MHz is standard for most modern processors. Do you have access to another known good PSU? A power issue is still a strong possibility.

No, I don't. My PSU is stable as far as I know, I don't know if it's matter, but is almost new, since january. What can I do then?

Any component, new or used, can go bad. When did this problem start? Has it had this problem the entire time you've owned it? If it's a new problem, did you make any significant hardware or software changes? And are you running at stock speeds and voltages, or have you OC'd or manually set any of the values?

 

[Makku293]

800 MHz is standard for most modern processors. Do you have access to another known good PSU? A power issue is still a strong possibility.

No, I don't. My PSU is stable as far as I know, I don't know if it's matter, but is almost new, since january. What can I do then?

Any component, new or used, can go bad. When did this problem start? Has it had this problem the entire time you've owned it? If it's a new problem, did you make any significant hardware or software changes? And are you running at stock speeds and voltages, or have you OC'd or manually set any of the values?

The issues started to show up w/ the 1st mistake I made (Rebooted by static produced for my socks), after that, this event start to bodering me a few weeks later. I didn't make significant changes, and I'm running at stock speeds w/ C-State disabled, Turbo Boost enabled, SpeedStep auto and a minimum clock by 30% (1100MHz aprox.) setted in Balanced Plan. In a overall use, the system has a wished performance, nothing to say about it. In fact, I've performed a Prime95 at full for 5 hours, Hot CPU Tester Pro for 6 hours w/ a screen issue during the test, Memtest x86 for 10 hours, SFC /SCANNOW, HDD Scan/SMART, 3D Mark, and others tests. Despite all of this, no bad event or performance has appeared along the tests, the IDLE is the only scenario when this occur.