Re: CMOS battery removal - Any risk of losing motherboard updates?

[LinComp]

Guys please help me!

I have very recently assembled a new desktop pc. My new amd athlon 200ge cpu should be running at base speed of 3.2 GHz, but it does not actually run at its base speed of 3.2 GHz. While it does reach a speed of 3.2 GHz when it is required (such as heavy work etc), but it generally runs around 1.5 to 2.5 GHz and reaches up to 3.2 GHz only when the load requires it. I have no problem as such with this because my cpu speed is enough for most of my routine computer works which involve internet browsing, microsoft word etc, but I am upset because I purchased this cpu because I though it will give me a base speed of around 3.2, so if possible I want it to run at this speed. I had earlier assembled another pc with intel g4560 which has base speed of 3.5, and everytime I check in the task manager it gives 3.5 base speed only, I should have simply purchased it, I thought I can save few bucks so I purchased this amd cpu, but now it is not giving me the base speed around 3.2 GHz – as the company has promised.

Anyway, so I contacted amd company customer service, and they have replied me and asked me to remove the cmos battery and reset the bios and see what happens.

So I am planning to do so but before doing so I have few questions;

What if my motherboard seller may have bios updated this motherboard before selling to me? I read that sometimes the company or sellers “bios update” the motherboard so that the motherboard can become compatible with new CPUs that may have come to the market recently. So if the mother board had been bios updated then when I remove the cmos battery will I lose this motherboard update too? If that happens then I am worried I may not be able to run my pc, because my new amd Athlon 200ge cpu may not work

I am just curious, whether such problems can happen? Or the cmos battery removal is not going to touch such motherboard updates? I am not telling the seller or company have indeed updated the bios of my motherboard before selling it to me, I am only telling – if they have updated the bios before selling this motherboard to me – then if I reset the bios by removing and putting the cmos battery back – will I make the motherboard lose those updates, and will I be having using my computer?

Thank you guys very much!

 

[The Paladin]

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/amd-athlon-200ge-cpu,5923.html

 

[J_E_D_70]

Pulling the battery does not remove the current bios. However, you shouldn’t bother as the cpu is operating as designed. If you saw an intel cpu stuck at base clock, soneone turned off the power saving features in bios or windows power management. It changes states as fast as you change activities so theres no downside to leaving it like it is.

 

[LinComp]

Thanks J_E_D_70 for your help! Well the cpu is not operating as designed, it should work at base speed of 3.2 GHz, but it does not work at 3.2 Ghz base speed, while i may be okay with the lower speed too, but the whole purpose of purchasing this cpu is to enzoy the 3.2 GHz speed (psychological or emotional satisfaction at least that it runs at 3.2 Ghz)

 

[LinComp]

Thanks Paladin for your help! I did go through lot of such web sites before buying my new cpu, these sites do not answer my earlier question, could you please answer my earlier question? I Will appreciate it.

 

[The Paladin]

I am no expert with Amd, but with intel cpu's, they normally indicate a base and turbo speed, if the base speed (minimal it will do) isn't happening , in most cases one will test the motherboard (rare is the issue with the CPU) I have used a program and you can try and see if the problem is possibly a sensor that is bad on the motherboard... get https://www.techpowerup.com/download/techpowerup-throttlestop/ this program and then run it and only turn off BD prochot and see if the cpu stops acting weird. its a possibility, or check the windows power setting and make sure your CPU low and high are set to 100%

 

[LinComp]

Thank you "The Paladin" so much! I really appreciate it!

 

[J_E_D_70]

You misunderstand the terminology. Base clock is a term used to describe the clock speed it is guaranteed to hit under sufficient load. This is different than the boost clock that it can hit by running faster on fewer cores. The 200GE only has the base clock feature, no boost.

You can mess with cool n quiet in bios and windows power settings but that is changing the design to fit your perception.

 

[LinComp]

Thanks very much J_E_D_70 for this information. However, i respectfully disagree with your above points.

Base speed is the speed at which the cpu works even when there is no extra load. I have assembled two desktop pc so far, my first build was with intel cpu G4560 which has a base speed of 3.5 GHz. I have checked thousands of times the task manager of this pc and every time the task manager shows my intel cpu works at the base speed itself, each time i check the task manager it shows speed of my intel cpu is around 3.49 or 3.50, which is around its base speed. But my second pc build, which is with amd cpu Athlon 200ge has a base speed of 3.2 GHz, but in the task manager i generally see much lower speed, sometimes 1.5, sometimes 1.9, sometimes 2.6 GHz etc etc. It does reach the base speed of 3.2 too if required, but it generally works at below the base speed. This amd cpu is expected to work at its base speed of 3.2 irrespective of the load. And i have confirmed it with amd company too and they too think there must be some problem.


And if load is the issue then my computer-use is same with both my builds, i just use them for browsing, microsoft word, scanning my computers with malwarebyte and bitdefender etc etc basic works, these basic works do not need speed around 3.2 or 3.5, but still my intel cpu works at its base speed of 3.5 GHz. Why so? Whereas my amd cpu for the same set of tasks is working at a speed lower than its base speed of 3.2?


I had extensive cpu speed study before buying and I am 100% sure base speed definition is the minimum speed at which a cpu should work all the time, it may go up – if the cpu has boosting technology, or if someone over clocks it etc, but the speed should not go down below the company assured base speed. The base speed of my amd cpu Athlon 200ge is 3.2, and this means it should always work at least at 3.2, but not lower than this.

Please see, it is not that I cannot live with lower speed – especially considering the nature of my computer work, but it is certainly very hurting to me, because I was planning to buy the intel G4560 itself, but just to save some bucks I went for this amd cpu, also I wanted to see how amd cpu is different from intel, after doing heavy research only I purchased it, and I went for this amd cpu only because it has high base speed around 3.2, whether I require that much speed or not is a totally different issue. Anyway now I repent. I got nothing special form this amd cpu. I had to buy another 4 gb ram to satisfy its extra ram hunger. So my new pc has 8 gb now, where as my previous build works fine on 4 gb too. Of course I can run my amd cpu build too with 4 gb but when I open too many chrome and word pages sometimes I see my 4 gb ram started saturating so I bought another 4 gb.

And again it is not a big issue and I can live with this cpu’s lower speed, but it is emotional issues to me since I purchased it only because I was hoping it will give 3.2 speed. And also I know it is a technical issue and I am just trying to determine where is the problem and how I can fix it, so that I can start getting its speed around 3.2 all the time – because that is what the company assured.

 

[J_E_D_70]

If you don’t believe me maybe you would believe a technical editor here at Toms? This tech is still present on chipsets for both Intel and AMD:
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/processor-power-management,2453.html

Or this:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cool%27n%27Quiet
Your cpu uses this feature per:
https://www.game-debate.com/hardware/index.php?pid=2568&cpu=Athlon%20200GE%202-Core%203.2GHz

Or this:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpeedStep

If your intel never downclocks, it is misconfigured in bios or windows power management. Probably set to performance instead of balanced.

Or this: https://ark.intel.com/products/126684/Intel-Core-i7-8700K-Processor-12M-Cache-up-to-4-70-GHz- says my base clock is 3.7ghz. As it sits here at idle, its clock is 800mhz. Then it jumps up to 1.6ghz, 2.7ghz, or other amounts as windows background processes start and stop. As soon as I start a game it goes to 4.7 and stays there til I quit the game.

So if you want to use excess electricity, generate excess heat, and make your cpu cooler work harder, we can do that. What is the exact make and model of your motherboard? We’ll google the manual and find the setting to disable it.

You can also try it via windows power management. This says laptop but applies to desktops:
https://www.laptopmag.com/articles/use-maximum-cpu-power-windows-10

 

[LinComp]

I fully believe in you J_E_D_70, I was just discussing with you and expressing my concerns, my question was not at all about the power management or other issues, these issues I am very aware, all I was inquiring was about how I can get back my cpu speed around its base speed of 3.2.

“If your intel never downclocks, it is misconfigured in bios or windows power management. Probably set to performance instead of balanced” – yes, this is exactly the info I am looking for, all I am looking for performance and I really do not care about balanced or power management issues etc. I am okay even to lose my cpu or computer due to heat etc, but once something is assured to me, such as cpu base speed is 3.2 - then i want to get it around this speed only, if this is not the speed i get then they could have put it in their product brochure that they modify the speed as per the workload, so the number 3.2 is just the upper limit one can get etc etc, but they did not mention anything like that, that is why i was getting confused.

Everybody have a reason for which they buy something, agree? I buy computers or computer parts mostly keeping performance in my mind, but not other issues.

I appreciate your time and effort to help me, thank you so much, and sorry for the delay in replying since I was away from the computer for long time.

Once again thank you so much!

 

[J_E_D_70]

So... Did you change Windows power management to set upper and lower both to 100% and did it work? If not, still need the make and model of your motherboard to change it there.

 

[LinComp]

Thanks again! I checked it and mine shows it is already 100%, so unfortunately i am not having any scope there. And while i had posted my question here i was trying various things myself too, i changed my power management for "high performance" from the "balanced" and after i did that my baseline speed has improved, now it hardly goes to 1.5 GHz, rather it hovers around 1.9 to 2.2 GHz etc, and also more often it goes towards 3 GHz than before, so partially i am satisfied now because the baseline speed has improved significantly now. But it is still not 3.2 GHz that they had assured. Any way i have the option of removing and putting back the cmos battery that that amd company had advised. But at this moment i may just stop at this level, as mentioned previously too for my use the above speed of cpu is enough, so i guess i will not mess with cmos or bios etc, we never know what will happen when we try to change something.

I really appreciate for your help! Thank you so much once again!

 

[J_E_D_70]

Good to hear!