PC Noob - I want to underclock my i7-4790k

[BaronVonCable]

Where do I start and how do I go about doing this? Want to lower power consumption and heat output while maintaining its outlandish computing power (compared to the uses I put it through).

 

[Eximo]

Pretty well will take care of itself there, if you leave it at the stock settings. It will only use power when it ramps up the clock. It should idle at practically nothing if you don't have Windows set to maximum performance.

If you want to see how low a voltage the stock settings are stable at:

Run something that loads your CPU, like Prime95, see what voltage it is running the cores at with CPU-Z or hardware monitor.

Set the voltage and frequency manually to about what you saw in the test. Start lowering the voltage until it stops booting. Raise it back up and see where you are at. You can also try turning off hyperthreading.

If you want to go really low, I have seen my i7-4770k run at 800Mhz at .8 volts or some such.

 

[BaronVonCable]

@Eximo... I want to keep hyperthreading on for the multi-application use that I will use. For game capture /w Fraps, streaming, and high-performance gaming. I basically want this high-end processor to be more power efficient while mostly maintaining its base performance. I want to drop it from 4.0GHz to 3.5Ghz... Typical Intel CPU speed from what I've seen.

 

[Eximo]

Same process applies. Hyperthreading requires a little more power then having it turned off.

Not really sure why you would take it below 4.0Ghz, should run that at a pretty low voltage already. Again something fairly easy to check. Disable turbo in the BIOS and see what voltage it sits at under load to give you your baseline.