Question Specific Game Seemingly Downclocking My CPU? Weird Voltage and Clocks (HELP- Long Post)

[The Guy From The Thing]

ok, someone please help, I've gone to Reddit twice, Linus Tech Tips Forums, and scoured multiple other places but not only have I not received any real answer, I can't find anyone with the same issue. basically what happens is a specific game (Monster Hunter World) seems to 'downclock' my 5800x CPU in some way, I believe. my CPU does have Eco Mode 65w and I've tried running it at both 100% and 99% power to see if it has some affect, which it doesn't, this still happens

I notice that while I'm on missions, the voltage on both the SVI2 TFN and Vcore will fluctuate like crazy and drop very low before spiking back up

https://imgur.com/a/4S8UN03

View: https://imgur.com/a/4S8UN03


the 'spikes' are my normal gaming voltages which are 1.2v-1.4v; the low points are 0.9-1.0v, going as low as 0.95 in this case. that's even lower than my idle voltages, which are 0.96-1.1v; my Core Clocks during this will also go down as low as 2,500mhz, when they are normally 3,700-4,100mhz

just recently, the SVI2 TFN voltage went down to a min 0.938v and the Core Clocks were down to a min 1,700mhz, which are the lowest I've ever seen either of them. like I said, it's a fluctuation, they don't lock at these speeds or voltages, but rather go up and down. I've played other games like Elden Ring to check those voltages and they've been perfectly normal, in the 1.2-1.4v range

furthermore, when I'm back in the hub world of Monster Hunter World, the voltages return to a normal number in the 1.3vs and the clock speeds are back to normal as well. I do NOT experience sudden frame drops or performance issues in the game either, which I feel like I would if the speed and voltages were dropping this low

PSU is a seasonic with 1000w so it's capable to handle it, and my GPU does not exhibit any strange behavior either (it receives up to 90% Core Usage when playing, so it is being utilized as well)

if anyone is familiar with this game, or can at least infer from this information, is this simply an issue with how the game engine handles the CPU? I've only been able to find posts about high CPU usage; mine is pretty high as well when playing, around 60-80%, but I cannot find anything about the game seemingly downclocking my cpu. it doesn't seem to affect my performance but it's really confusing me

 

[Aeacus]

if anyone is familiar with this game, or can at least infer from this information, is this simply an issue with how the game engine handles the CPU? I've only been able to find posts about high CPU usage; mine is pretty high as well when playing, around 60-80%, but I cannot find anything about the game seemingly downclocking my cpu. it doesn't seem to affect my performance but it's really confusing me

Here's one idea about what is going on:

CPUs, for the most part, adjust their frequency based on the actual load. If load is high, CPU frequency increases up to the max turbo speed. If there is little, if any, load, CPU frequency drops.
For example, my i5-6600K has base frequency of 3.5 Ghz, with turbo up to 3.9 Ghz. But if there isn't any load on my CPU, the frequency drops as low as 0.8 Ghz.

As far as what is going on with your CPU; based on what you said:

and my GPU does not exhibit any strange behavior either (it receives up to 90% Core Usage when playing, so it is being utilized as well)

90% GPU utilization means that GPU is working as hard as it can and CPU is waiting behind GPU. So, when CPU has to wait until GPU finishes it's computes, CPU frequency also drops down in the mean time. And reducing CPU voltage is one way to do it. Another way is lowering CPU multiplier. (Intel CPUs usually lower multiplier to get lower frequency.)

There is no impact on gaming performance since game is held back by your GPU.

All-in-all, IMO, what you see, is normal behavior and you shouldn't worry about it.
Though, if you were to upgrade your GPU (or reduce in-game graphical settings and/or resolution), GPU has to work less, making CPU to work more. <- You could try that and see if your CPU frequency also drops, when you play with e.g low graphical settings.

 

[The Guy From The Thing]

Here's one idea about what is going on:

CPUs, for the most part, adjust their frequency based on the actual load. If load is high, CPU frequency increases up to the max turbo speed. If there is little, if any, load, CPU frequency drops.
For example, my i5-6600K has base frequency of 3.5 Ghz, with turbo up to 3.9 Ghz. But if there isn't any load on my CPU, the frequency drops as low as 0.8 Ghz.

As far as what is going on with your CPU; based on what you said:

90% GPU utilization means that GPU is working as hard as it can and CPU is waiting behind GPU. So, when CPU has to wait until GPU finishes it's computes, CPU frequency also drops down in the mean time. And reducing CPU voltage is one way to do it. Another way is lowering CPU multiplier. (Intel CPUs usually lower multiplier to get lower frequency.)

There is no impact on gaming performance since game is held back by your GPU.

All-in-all, IMO, what you see, is normal behavior and you shouldn't worry about it.
Though, if you were to upgrade your GPU (or reduce in-game graphical settings and/or resolution), GPU has to work less, making CPU to work more. <- You could try that and see if your CPU frequency also drops, when you play with e.g low graphical settings.

interesting, thank you. you're the first person to present at least a guess on what could be happening.

everything you said makes logical sense, although Elden Ring also puts the GPU Core Load under 90-99% and the CPU doesn't seem to do any of this. so it could be a combination of what you described, and the game's engine



typically under any other gaming load, my main CPU voltage (SVI2 TFN) will be 1.2-1.4v like I said. and my Vcore tends to be a lot more fluctuating, ranging from 1.1v to 1.4v.

usually the Vcore sits in the 1.2v range but it likes to drop to 1.1v (1.184 is a number it really seems to like) on fair occasion, which I assume is okay? I know Ryzen is designed to handle UP to 1.5 but I wouldn't want to face issues with any of the voltages dropping too low, especially since I don't have any kind of overclock active or anything

 

[Aeacus]

usually the Vcore sits in the 1.2v range but it likes to drop to 1.1v (1.184 is a number it really seems to like) on fair occasion, which I assume is okay?

Looks normal to me, especially since you don't experience any strange issues (e.g BSoD).

CPUs do well with lower voltages, heck they even sleep at sliver of voltage consumption (C6, C7, C8 sleep states).