My mobo underclocks my CPU speed by default?

[Xpred]

Hey y'all. I just finished building a new system. The mobo is a Gigabyte GA-G31M-ES2L. I have updated to its latest BIOS. My CPU is an Intel C2D E7400 Wolfdale that should run at 2.8GHz (266x10.5). In the BIOS options, I can set the clock speeds, multipliers, etc. By default , the CPU seems underclocked at 2.0GHz running at 266x7.5. I can manually set the multiplier to 10.5 (the way it should be, right?), and it will go back to 2.8 GHz. I have reverted it back, but don't know why it was like this before.

The CPU speed in Windows seem to vary as well. As shown in CPU-Z, it seems to idle around 1.6 GHz which is part of the SpeedStep technology (CPU throttling when idling), I believe. But at full power (when intensive, e.g. playing video games, it jumps back up to 2.80 GHz). Before I made the switch, when it was intensive...it only revved up to 2.0 GHz as well. This made me think that it wasn't just the "throttling" Intel specifications, but rather that my CPU was indeed underclocked or not running at its suppose to. During startup, it showed 2.0GHz which made me think "why would it run at a lower speed even before Windows started...?" I guess the multipliers were different in the first place.

My question is then: why does the mobo underclock these values by default? Is it doing it on purpose to conserve energy or just a mere bug? I just found it overall strange that my mobo underclocks my CPU by DEFAULT. Hmm... not sure if it would have any consequences of switching back to its "normal" supposed-to-be config (@ 2.80GHz) rather than default.

 

[roid450]

I;m not sure what it is called on that Mobo but usually its a C1E function, in Advanced settings under CPU, look around, there's gonna be something about Throttling in there or Speed Step etc. Turn it off if you want constant 2.8 ghz. other than that, it's just a pwoer saving feature. I use it when I leave my PC overnight or for days downloading torrents etc...

 

[Xpred]

Thanks for clarification. I do see that under my BIOS options--it's definitely turned on.

What I meant was my MAX CPU speed (even when it shows during post-startup before Windows screen loads) showed "E7400 @ 2.00 GHz (266x7.5). When Windows, it throttled to 1.6 GHz (like it was suppose to due to C1E/SpeedStep/Throttling capabilities). At full power, it only went UP to 2.0 GHz.

I then knew that something was wrong. I delved further and found out that my multipliers were set at 266x7.5. Just the multiplier & CPU setting. No C1E was changed. By default, it was on at this speed. I don't know why. I changed it back to 266x10.5 (this is MAX setting without turning on the O/C function--makes sense, right? This is how it should have been, eh?). Now, the post-startup screen shows "E7400 @ 2.80 GHz (266x10.5)." Back to Windows, during full power...it jumped back up to 2.8 GHz! I then realized that my mobo was underclocking my CPU, and it was doing just that. Throttling or not, it was still at at a maximum of 2.0 GHz for an odd reason....

 

[toronado97]

My Gigabyte UD3P was underclocking my E5200 as well; ended up manually setting the FSB and multiplier. Barring that you might just try loading Optimized Defaults in your M.I.T portion of BIOS. Also, I'd turn off any CPU throttling mechanisms in BIOS such as the speedstep function, C1E, etc.

 

[Xpred]

I'm fine with speedstep and stuff like that. I actually prefer lower CPU speeds during idling or non-intensive things like just surfing the web...I was just originally concerned that my speed wasn't at its full potential (when it needed to be, e.g. for games). But now, everything seems to be good. The multipliers are set back the way it should be, and the full CPU speed is now allotted when it needs to be.

I just thought it was weird because I've never heard a mobo where it underclocked a CPU (or changed the speeds around for that matter).

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I keep seeing these observations arise on this forum -- exclusively linked to Gigabyte motherboards and Wolfdale cores.

I just bought a GA-EP45-UD3R mobo. Sometime in the next week or so, I'll be using it to rebuild a six-year-old file server.

Has anyone uncovered forum posts at the Gigabyte or other web-sites which provide insights to configuring the Wolfdale cores to the board?

I'm only guessing, with a choice of either an E6600 or E8400 CPU for this project, that I won't see these complications arise with the Conroe E6600.

 

[mdma35]

actualy MSI-P45-Platinum underclocks the FSB abit Q6600 2.4 stock shows in CPU-Z as 2.384 and FSB 400X9 gives me instead 3.6ghz 3.583 and FSB of 398mnz to get to 3.6 it needs 404mhz FSB so there is a board that underclocks the CPU

 

[VirtualLarry]

Gigabyte boards (?) by default have a lower multiplier set in the BIOS after a CMOS clear. You need to manually go in and set them back to max default multi of your CPU.