Core i5 2500k Turbo Charging problems?

[jayt101]

Hey everyone,

I think i'm having an issue with my turbo charging with my 2500k. I have never seen it go past 3.3Ghz when i open an application (like autocad) or when I game on it using cpu-z to take readings. I have cleared my CMOS so my bios is factory default. The power saving setting I have right now is on 'high performance' so I would assume that the turbo charger would kick in to 3.7Ghz when i use an intensive program or game. Does anyone know what seems to be the issue? Thanks.

EDIT: Oh, and one more note. I checked the bios setting and it says turbo charging is Enabled. Not sure why it never goes past 3.3Ghz though....I have a msi p67A-C43 mobo if that helps.

 

[tweakboy]

Cuz maybe its getting too hot...

the mobo isnt genius enough..

 

[jayt101]

^ Could that be the reason? I know its hot in my room (30C), but my core temps are hovering at 37-41C.....so i dont know if that could be the reason the turbo charging isn't working :S

 

[Soundmanred]

^ Could that be the reason? I know its hot in my room (30C), but my core temps are hovering at 37-41C.....so i dont know if that could be the reason the turbo charging isn't working :S

Protip - do not listen to Tweakboy. Ever.

Do you have Overspeed Protection turned on or off?
What are your Core Ratio Limits listed as?
You stated that the "Turbo Booster" option was enabled, correct?
How are you taking radings using CPU-Z? (current readings, or logs?)

 

[jayt101]

lol, noted!

Yes, I have Overspeed Protection currently on. But I thought this was needed in order for the cpu to throttle in case it gets to hot? I dont think 37-41C is to hot for a cpu, no?

I've attached an image of my core ratio limits:



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Turbo Booster is enabled and I am taking current readings of cpu-Z

EDIT:

I have another picture with my settings:



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

 

[cubeless]

1) get prime95
2) start prime 95
3) go to task manager / processes
4) right click on prime95 and click set affinity
5) uncheck all but one core
6) start prime95 torture test

see turbo work...

turbo only works if one (maybe 2) cores are engaged...

or maybe your intercooler is clogged or your wastegate needs adjusting... ;p

 

[jayt101]

Lol, i tried that and still the maximum core speed i see is 3.3Ghz. Turbo just doesn't want to turn on for some reason:S Could this be a heating issue of some sort thats throttling it back?

 

[Soundmanred]

Your temperatures aren't anywhere near high enough to throttle.

 

[jayt101]

Hmmm, so are there any other suggestions as to why my 2500k doesn't seem to be going past 3.3Ghz when running intensive apps? That is, why turbo doesn't kick in? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[MTDEW]

Ok, just taking wild guesses since im not familar with the MSi bios at all.
Overspeed protection maybe?
Or long and short power limits too low?
And maybe try turning power savings back to normal.

 

[jayt101]

Thanks for trying to help MTDEW. I'm not sure if I want to disable overspeed protection as this is what throttles my cpu when things get too hot (i think).

I'm not sure how to change the long and short power limits :S

When you say change the power savings back to normal, do you mean through the power options in windows? I"m not sure how i would change the power savings back to normal through the bios. Thanks for your input

 

[Mark R]

What software are you measuring the CPU speed with? I've tried loads and most don't detect the turbo speed. They just read 3.3, even when the CPU is clocked higher. However, it should only kick in when one-or-more cores are maxed. If a core is only running at 50%, the CPU won't turbo up.

I've tested the latest version of CPU-Z and it does appear to work correctly.

You can also afford to be a bit more generous with your power limits:
Try long duration power limit: 115 W
Long duration maintained: 5000
Short duration power limit: 135W

(ed - sorry didn't read your post fully).

 

[jayt101]

I haven't tried playing with the power limits as of yet, but I'm not sure how changing these will enable my turbo boost. Its weird because the ratio limit for 1 core is set to 37 and when I set prime to use only one core (through task manager) it still shows only 3.3 Ghz in cpu-z. Ugh, I think i may have a crappy mobo perhaps. Any other suggestions ?

 

[MTDEW]

Thanks for trying to help MTDEW. I'm not sure if I want to disable overspeed protection as this is what throttles my cpu when things get too hot (i think).

I'm not sure how to change the long and short power limits :S

When you say change the power savings back to normal, do you mean through the power options in windows? I"m not sure how i would change the power savings back to normal through the bios. Thanks for your input

We're only talking changing this stuff for testing to try and figure out your problem,Then you can go from there.

Disabling just overspeed protection and running a quick test isnt gonna magically make the cpu overheat if it isnt now.

You can try the settings Mark said, but dont change the Long duration maintained, just the long and short values.

Try long duration power limit: 115 W
Long duration maintained: 1000
Short duration power limit: 135W

Or you can just keep trying nothing as you are now.

 

[MTDEW]

Also, be sure you have latest cpu-z as Mark said and do you have speedstep enabled?
If not, enable it.
Does the cpu throttle down to 1.6ghz then jump up when stress testing as it should?

 

[jayt101]

Sry MTDEW, i'd love to try playing with the power limits but I am at work now so I cannot. I will give it a shot as soon as I get home from work though to see if that does anything . I'll have to check to see if i'm using the latest versions of cpu-z when I get home. Speed step is enabled and the cpu throttles down to 1.6Ghz when idling then jumps to 3.3Ghz when opening up something like AutoCad or playing Dirt 3. It just wont turbo boost to 3.4Ghz, 3.5Ghz,3.6Ghz or 3.7Ghz when using 4,3,2,1 active cores (at 100% even with prime) respectively.

 

[MTDEW]

That is good its throttling like it should, you didnt say, so i personally just wanted to know so we knew if your version of cpu-z was reporting the speed correctly and it seems like it is.

Its your pc and you should only do changes you're comfortable with.
But be assured, we're not gonna suggest or let you try any changes that will hurt your hardware.

My personal long and short power limits are both at 200 if that gives you some piece of mind.
So the suggested long and short are conservative and its just a test to see if its limiting the cpu power too much.
long duration power limit: 115 W
Long duration maintained: 1000
Short duration power limit: 135W

 

[jayt101]

Thanks MTDEW. I'll change the power limits when I get off work and report back. Personally, I'm comfortable with the 3.3Ghz and I'm pretty sure boosting it to 3.7Ghz wont have a significant impact when I play games. I'm just curious as to why it wont boost and it bugs me when things done work the way it should, lol. BTW, your pc is a beast! I'm hoping to upgrade to the 6950 or 6970 once BF3 comes out.

 

[MTDEW]

Believe me, we're curious also because it should be working with defaults.

Long[95] and short[118] are the correct defaults, so this is all just a shot in the dark, so to speak.
If none of these suggestions work, i guess you know what we'll suggest next...Updating to the latest bios/UEFI.

Im assuming when you said you loaded defaults(cleared cmos) , you left everything at defaults and didn't manually change anything in the UEFI.
No memory settings, power settings etc...etc... Nothing except maybe Just the boot order if needed.

And of course, we're assuming this was a clean install of windows with the new hardware and not just a mobo swap on an old Windows install with other hardware.
And all mobo drivers were installed and nothing flagged in device manager.

You also said you had power saving settings on high performance, im assuming that is in windows.
If so, check to be sure the min and max processor states are 100%, heck even try balanced too just to see what happens.

 

[yottabit]

On a side note, definitely turn on C1E support

Also you may want to check your Motherboard manufacturer's support section to see if there are any BIOS updates that fix errors in regards to turbo boost. I know I had an MSI motherboard (for my Core i5 750) that didn't support turbo with the BIOS version I received

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Ummm . . . . P67 chipset. Not much different from Z68. "Turbo."

I can only say that on my board's BIOS, there are no less than three places where "Turbo" can be enabled/disabled, and about the same number of places for adjusting CPU multipier(S) -- with a capital-S. There is a "Turbo" multiplier, which sets the "Turbo" speed on these SB "K" CPUs; and there is a "non-Turbo" multiplier.

I personally found on my ASUS Z68 board that I had the same problem as you at the start. Couldn't seem to make it ramp up to "Turbo" speed. Run PRIME95, it would just sit there at 3.4 or 3.5 [multi of ~34 or 35 (latter with the bCLCK adjusted up about 3 Mhz.) Then I could see that settings with these other "Multiplier" options in the BIOS were causing the CPU to run at the limited speed.

Also, I believe (BEE- LEEEVE) that you COULD or SHOULD be able to adjust the non-turbo multiplier from say -- 3.4 [multi=34] to 3.8 [multi= 38] so that the system would run at idle at 3.8, and then adjust the "Turbo" multiplier to -- say -- 4.5 [multi= ~45], so that it would run at 4.5 under load.

But no matter how I fiddle with these settings, it appears that the BIOS limits me to multipliers for non-Turbo only up to -- and not above -- the default value. This could be a feature that could be enabled by future BIOS revisions, or it's just the way OC'ing works with these CPUs. Even so, if you were to turn Turbo "OFF" and adjust the non-turbo speed upward, I believe you'd get just one setting for the CPU to run at both idle and load. I haven't done that yet, though. It will have to be a "specially prepared experiment." Which -- I haven't done yet -- because I like this Turbo over-clocking mode for the time being.

Ask me when I replace my VISTA with Win-7 and run some new stress tests. I have a worry that I won't be able to run my system at its current 4.53 Mhz (Turbo), without making me feel uncomfortable even just for the thermals.

 

[jayt101]

You know whats weird....I can't change the core ratios at all in the BIOS. I Thought all this was changeable by the user? Please correct me if i'm wrong.

 

[IntelEnthusiast]

Have you tried to download and install this http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&DwnldID=19105 and then set it to be always on top and see if you are boosting when you open up a game or something.

 

[bntran02]

You should not really have to do anything. I have the P67A-G43 which is just one step above your motherboard and mine performed correctly at default settings.

If I remember i'll go home and take some screenshots of my BIOS settings.

 

[MTDEW]

You know whats weird....I can't change the core ratios at all in the BIOS. I Thought all this was changeable by the user? Please correct me if i'm wrong.

I think on that board you have to use + and - minus to change those.
But im not sure, i just googled it and it came up as an answer for another Msi p67 board.

Try this, just load optimized defaults/save exit and start from scratch.