Need some answers regarding "High Performance Mode" in Windows 7

[futurefields]

In Windows 7, when you have the power plan set to High Performance (as opposed to Balanced or Power Saving), is the processor supposed to stay at it's full clock speed 100% of the time ie. even when idle on the desktop?

 

[lopri]

It may or may not.

 

[BSim500]

In Windows 7, when you have the power plan set to High Performance (as opposed to Balanced or Power Saving), is the processor supposed to stay at it's full clock speed 100% of the time ie. even when idle on the desktop?

There's a whole host of power saving features on modern CPU's & motherboards of which SpeedStep is just one. The power plan options in Windows controls just the Speedstep settings. If you set both to 5%, it'll lock it in at idle state (1600Mhz for Sandy & Ivy Bridge's / 800MHz for Haswell's). If you set both to 100%, it'll lock in in at max multiplier. The percentage / multipliers on my i5-3570 Ivy Bridge are as follows:-

5% = 1.6GHz
65% = 2.2GHz
80% = 2.6GHz
90% = 3.0GHz
100% = 3.4GHZ default up to whatever OC is set in BIOS.

That doesn't mean though that other features like C1/C3/C6 or core parking, etc, won't kick in even with both set to 100% (and that can vary from one board / brand to another). Nor does it explain why you're having continued problems with being stuck at 1.6GHz even at 100% load which could be a borked Windows install, malware, a bad driver (a bad release of Intel HD GFX drivers have caused such issues before as can iffy chipset drivers) or a recently developed hardware issue (possible CPU / motherboard fault). Until you do some more testing either by reinstalling Windows on your main HDD (or on a spare HDD) or running a Live CD and testing on that outside of your main install, it could be either.

PS: Speedstep and "Balanced" works perfectly for millions of people desktop & mobile. Your real problem isn't that your CPU isn't 100% when idle, it's that it's stuck at 1.6GHz under load.

 

[rgallant]

I did not want to run my 3770k at 4.6 [1.3v] all the time when the system was on ,but only on load nor at 1.6 during idle not being able to control the ramp from 1.6 to 4.6 to 1.6 every mil sec. with the auto / large voltage surge that brings -maybe depends on mb if any harm is done.

so I turned off the c states in bios ,left EIST active.
-maxed out the win 7 power plan your asking about.

-that gives me a 3.5 idle clock and a nice 1.175v vid I can live with vs 1.3v.
-under load ramps from 3.5 to 4.6 with 1.3 ish volts.
works fine for me and one of the reasons I moved from a oc 920 to oc ib. for better voltage control.

 

[Phynaz]

No.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I did not want to run my 3770k at 4.6 [1.3v] all the time when the system was on ,but only on load nor at 1.6 during idle not being able to control the ramp from 1.6 to 4.6 to 1.6 every mil sec. with the auto / large voltage surge that brings -maybe depends on mb if any harm is done.

so I turned off the c states in bios ,left EIST active.
-maxed out the win 7 power plan your asking about.

-that gives me a 3.5 idle clock and a nice 1.175v vid I can live with vs 1.3v.
-under load ramps from 3.5 to 4.6 with 1.3 ish volts.
works fine for me and one of the reasons I moved from a oc 920 to oc ib. for better voltage control.

Interesting. In some ways, I could prefer your speed-range over mine.

But I never had any problem with my SB K processor swinging between 1.6 and 4.6 Ghz. It's been running 24/7 -- nearly "365" -- for the last 3+ years. I periodically run a stress-test for a couple hours to assure that no degradation has occurred.

I chose to overclock the processor so that the drooped, load voltage never exceeds 1.35 to 1.37V depending on the clock setting, and 4.6/1.35 has been the one I've used for the last month out of several stable profiles.

I would be more worried about the unregistered voltage-spike that occurs in transition between severely-loaded and idle speeds, and I believe my self-imposed voltage limits are below a level of risk.

Further, the biggest spikes would only occur with severe load-testing -- as with LinX or Intel Burn Test. With several stress-tests toward perfecting and tuning an OC setting, that's not a lot of wear and tear if any occurs.

If the motherboard and processor handle the swings well -- from 1.6 to whatever -- I can't see how that would be a problem.

 

[Dufus]

In Windows 7, when you have the power plan set to High Performance (as opposed to Balanced or Power Saving), is the processor supposed to stay at it's full clock speed 100% of the time ie. even when idle on the desktop?

This question was already answered in your other thread.

If you set both to 5%, it'll lock it in at idle state (1600Mhz for Sandy & Ivy Bridge's / 800MHz for Haswell's). If you set both to 100%, it'll lock in in at max multiplier.

This depends on what p-states are passed from the BIOS to the OS and other CPU settings. IVB can also clock down to 800MHz. Unlike SNB / IVB, HSW is not so affected by C-States above C1 dropping the core clocks from waking up if set up properly. During idle with C1 or above the core clock is actually gated and not running at all. 0GHz.