[SOLVED] Why my newly bought i7-13700k never runs its base freaquency at 3.4? It always run at 5.2-5.3 during idle and load?

[Djake]

I have recently bought and installed i7-13700k on asrock z690 steel.legend mobo, it never runs its BASE frequency like 3.4 or 4.5 something, rather it always runs 5.2-5.3 ghz frequency.

Can someone explain it to me, or there something issues on my cpu?

Thanks in advances for the help.

 

[Darkbreeze]

It's common with 12th and 13th gen parts, and it's almost certainly related to settings.

First, make sure you have the latest STABLE motherboard BIOS version installed. And by "stable", I mean not a "Beta" version.

Second, go to the product page for your motherboard and download/install the latest Intel chipset driver (.inf) available from there. Don't trust "Windows update" to get you the best drivers, or some third party "automatic driver updater/installer". You should ONLY EVER use the drivers that are available on the product page for your motherboard OR from AMD or Intel when it comes to anything related to onboard components or the chipset. After installing, restart and go into the BIOS.

In the BIOS make sure EIST (Intel enhanced speed step) is enabled and Intel speed SHIFT is disabled. Intel speed shift, in my experience on many generations (Since about 6th Gen) that have used Intel speed shift, it does not work properly. Intel speed STEP works fine. So I recommend an Auto or Enabled setting for EIST and disabled for Intel speed shift. Also, while in the BIOS, make sure that all of the C-state low power settings are set to either Auto or Enabled.

Then save settings and exit BIOS. Once back in Windows, go to the Windows power options and make sure the power plan is set to Balanced. With 12th and 13th Gen parts if you set it to performance it will never idle down to base clock or lower speeds as it should do. It will stay at or near AT LEAST the all core boost speed and in some cases max boost speed depending on other settings like power limits etc. In the advanced settings for the balanced power plan make sure that "Processor power management" is set to Min 5% and Max 100%.

Then restart the system. Download and install HWinfo, run it and choose the "Sensors only" option and then allow the system to sit still for a couple of minutes while watching the individual core utilization. It may take a few minutes for the system to settle down and see accurate fluctuations in core utilization depending on what background processes get switched on and off but you should definitely see a difference at this point.

 

[uWebb429]

@Djake
Intel CPUs never run at the base frequency unless Turbo Boost is disabled. They can change speed hundreds of times per second. Most monitoring software that samples the CPU MHz once every second may not provide an accurate look at what the CPU is really doing.

If you want to reduce power consumption, enable the C states in the BIOS. When a core enters the low power C7 state, voltage and MHz for that core drops to 0. It is impossible for monitoring software to report this correctly without forcing the CPU into a full speed active state. Use HWiNFO. It can accurately report if your idle cores are going into C7.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Intel CPUs never run at the base frequency unless Turbo Boost is disabled.

Totally not true. It completely depends on the configuration. I have configured HUNDREDS of Intel CPUs (Including i7-9xx (First Intel CPU with Turbo boost features) through 13th Gen parts) and ALL of them, regardless of whether Turbo boost features are enabled, or even if the CPU is overclocked, are capable of running not only AT the base clock speed, but WELL below it (To various degrees, depending on generation) when it is not necessary for a given core to be at a higher speed due to no load at the time or idle conditions. It has nothing (or very little) to do with the monitoring software AND it's the AMD platforms where zero % core states are in play. I have not seen any Intel platforms with zero % core state yet so long as the system is not in a lower sleep or hiberation state. On AMD, it IS a thing, but not that I've seen on Intel. I have also NOT seen any properly configured system that was unable to show the normal full range of 5-100% core utilization so long as the system was properly configured as I outlined above.

I do agree on using HWinfo, and no other monitoring utility other than Core Temp, for CPU monitoring on Intel and for the most part, on AMD as well. It's just more accurate, better supported and far more often kept updated than other utilities and does not tend to have the problems of misreporting some sensors like we often see with HWmonitor, Open hardware monitor and some others.

 

[Djake]

Guys thanks for the reply for my questions, i will try to follow your advice, lets see if it will works, i will give everyone updates later regarding my queries.thnks

 

[uWebb429]

it's the AMD platforms where zero % core states are in play

When an individual core enters the low power C7 state, it is disconnected from the internal clock and it is disconnected from the voltage rail. That means the voltage for that core is reduced to 0 volts. All Core i CPUs built during the last 15 years do the same thing when they enter the core C7 state.

are capable of running not only AT the base clock speed, but WELL below it

You are right. All Intel CPUs can run at any speed they like. This includes the minimum speed, the maximum speed, the base frequency and any speed in between the minimum and the maximum. The point I was trying to make is that during normal use, the base frequency is just one of many speeds that an Intel CPU can run at. There is nothing special about the base frequency. The only time the base frequency is ever important is if you disable turbo boost. Then the CPU will be limited to a maximum speed equal to the base frequency.

Some people have a misconception that when they are sitting at the desktop and not doing anything that the CPU should be sitting at the base frequency. They think that turbo boost should only be used when they are actively working on something. That is not how Intel designed their CPUs to work.

Intel CPUs since the 6th Generation include a feature called Speed Shift Technology. When Speed Shift is enabled, the slightest load is enough to quickly increase the CPU up to its maximum turbo boost speed. A fast, responsive CPU completes background tasks quickly. This allows individual cores to spend a bigger percentage of time in the low power C7 state. Intel and Microsoft finally realized that locking a CPU to 800 MHz was not such a good idea.

Speed Shift Technology can change the CPU speed 1000 times per second. Popular monitoring software that is sampling the CPU speed once every second is not able to accurately track these rapid changes. Some monitoring software will over simplify things.

The average multiplier (FID) and average speed that each individual thread and core is running at is vastly different compared to the consistent 800 MHz number that HWiNFO reports for all cores. The reality is that none of the cores are locked to 800 MHz. Cores that are rapidly entering and exiting C7 can fool a lot of monitoring software.

Same problem happens when a CPU is power limit throttling.

HWiNFO reports that all cores are running at 5000 MHz while all of the individual threads are reporting that the CPU is averaging just under 2900 MHz.

At other times during the same power limit throttling situation, HWiNFO reports that 4 of the cores are running at 5000 MHz while the other 6 cores are all locked to 800 MHz. The average CPU speed is still the same as above, just under 2900 MHz.

@Djake
Send me a message if you are interested in doing some CPU MHz testing. It would be interesting to see if all of your P cores really are locked to 5.2 GHz or 5.3 GHz. They should not be locked like this if you are using the Windows Balanced power plan and this plan is set to default settings.