C2D E4500 and variable multiplier

[Sid59]

i'm running stick 4500 c2d and in CPU-Z, the multiplier is fluctuating between 6 and 11. Normally i wouldn't think much about it but when it comes to CPU intensive apps / games, my computer is dog slow and i've pin pointed it to when the multiplier sits on "6" (when previewing CPU-Z)

6x 200 = 1100 mhz
11 x 200 = 2200 mhz

i'm sure you can see my frustration when i'm loading a game and it's stuck on 11000 mhz.

what's causing this? what can i fix?

OS - Vista Premium x64
MSI P35 Neo2-FR
4 gigs of gskill ram
8800 GT
corsair 450W

 

[DSF]

It's a power-saving feature implemented by Intel. When the load is light, the CPU's multiplier drops to 6. It's not supposed to down-shift when it's doing CPU-intensive work though. I would think gaming would be enough of a strain to hold it at 11.

By the way, 6x200MHz is 1200MHz, not 1100 or 11000.

Edit: I forgot to add that you can turn it off in the BIOS if you want. If you have an option in your BIOS to disable EIST, that's speedstep.

 

[Sid59]

Originally posted by: DSF
It's a power-saving feature implemented by Intel. When the load is light, the CPU's multiplier drops to 6. It's not supposed to down-shift when it's doing CPU-intensive work though. I would think gaming would be enough of a strain to hold it at 11.

By the way, 6x200MHz is 1200MHz, not 1100 or 11000.

Edit: I forgot to add that you can turn it off in the BIOS if you want. If you have an option in your BIOS to disable EIST, that's speedstep.

thanks for the reply. as you can see i was up late trying to write the post at 1AM PST with work the next day, so my math was slightly off.

Anyhow, I disabled the EIST in BIOS, upgraded the BIOS to current version and it's defaulting to lowest, 6, multiplier. I even checked the settings in vista and all of it is kosher.

Lastly, according to load, it should pump up the multiplier. I had prime95, games, nero and other programs open but the mutliplier still fluctuates and in most cases, stays at 6.

any help is welcomed.

 

[The-Noid]

No reason to turn EIST off unless you are hitting extremely high fsbs.

It saves power and is better for the environment...

 

[BlueAcolyte]

Well than did you manually set the multiplier in the BIOS?

 

[Sid59]

@ Yoxxy - noted and i turned it back on - having it off didn't do anything,

@ BlueAcolyte - you cannot mannual set the mutliplier, it's hardware locked.

my only other train of thought is a mobo jumper or the PSU isn't sufficient.

1x sata hdd
1x sata dvd drive
8800 GT
e4500
2x 120mm fans

 

[DSF]

It's pretty unlikely that your PSU isn't sufficient. What PSU are you using?

There should be another power-saving feature in the BIOS, labeled something like "C1E Enhanced Halt State." You could try turning that off as well as EIST and see what happens. C1E can also lower the multiplier to its minimum value of 6 I believe. Sorry I forgot to mention that earlier.

If that doesn't change things, then I dunno.

 

[Sid59]

thanks i'll try now. anyhow, Corsair 450W - http://www.corsair.com/products/vx.aspx

 

[imported_Prentice]

I was thinking of getting this at frys tomorrow for 118.99 with an ecs board. Hopefully this doesnt happen on all of them

 

[Tempered81]

nothing wrong with it, i used to run at full 9x multi 3.3ghz full time. but use the 6x with speedstep and it drops it to 2200mhz, less stress on my cpu i the long run, less heat, and i can't tell the difference. when i fire up some crysis, it just kicks it to 3.3ghz.

 

[Sid59]

to all .. especially DSF .. thanks for the support and ideas.

I finally realize one of biggest issues might be heat since i had initial probelsm with seating the HS+F. I noticed Speedfan reporting in excess of 80C, which suffice to say, is pretty hot and would cause the dip to 6 multiplier, especially on cpu intensive apps.

anyhow, i pulled the HSF and noticed the factory glue wasn't spreading and the HSF wasn't hot. i applied a nice thin layer of some spare arctic cooler and set the HSF proper. right now it's sitting at 40F and running prime 95 and the temp jumps but no where near the previous temp.

again thanks!


Regards,

Sid

 

[hans007]

the easiest way to turn that behavior off is go to the pwoer management in control panel in windows and take it off say "minimal power management" and turn it to no power managemt.

 

[DSF]

Originally posted by: Sid59

anyhow, i pulled the HSF and noticed the factory glue wasn't spreading and the HSF wasn't hot. i applied a nice thin layer of some spare arctic cooler and set the HSF proper. right now it's sitting at 40F and running prime 95 and the temp jumps but no where near the previous temp.

40F? Got your 'puter in the fridge?

 

[VirtualLarry]

Yeah, Intel TM2 (thermal monitor 2) can also cause the multiplier to get forced downwards, when the chip gets too hot. Looks like that is what was happening here.

 

[Jiggz]

Originally posted by: DSF

Originally posted by: Sid59

anyhow, i pulled the HSF and noticed the factory glue wasn't spreading and the HSF wasn't hot. i applied a nice thin layer of some spare arctic cooler and set the HSF proper. right now it's sitting at 40F and running prime 95 and the temp jumps but no where near the previous temp.

40F? Got your 'puter in the fridge?

I'm quite sure he meant 40C

 

[DSF]

Originally posted by: Jiggz

Originally posted by: DSF

Originally posted by: Sid59

anyhow, i pulled the HSF and noticed the factory glue wasn't spreading and the HSF wasn't hot. i applied a nice thin layer of some spare arctic cooler and set the HSF proper. right now it's sitting at 40F and running prime 95 and the temp jumps but no where near the previous temp.

40F? Got your 'puter in the fridge?

I'm quite sure he meant 40C

Yes, I'm quite sure he did too, hence the wink.