Underclocking AMD Phenom II X6 1100T

[joomy2]

Thinking of buying this cpu but the 125watt rating is a bit much,
my motherboard [FONT=verdana,geneva]ASUS Crosshair IV formula. Would it be possible
to reduce the cpu`s power consumption down to 60 / 70 watts by
underclocking.
My main use`s are web surfing but occasional HD video editing so I want plenty of power when needed.
Any advice would be good.
Thanks
[/FONT]

 

[dorion]

You can use K10Stat or PhenomMSRTweaker to modify the voltages of its power states.

It might be easier to start with a 1055 if you're not going to use the overclocking abilities of the 1100.

Also web surfing with occasional HD video editing will probably keep you below the max power consumption most of the time.

 

[LoneNinja]

If you underclocking why buy the most expensive and fastest clocked X6 instead of a cheaper lower clocked model that already consumes less power? The 1055T is a 95W processor.

 

[podspi]

If you underclocking why buy the most expensive and fastest clocked X6 instead of a cheaper lower clocked model that already consumes less power? The 1055T is a 95W processor.

Not mine! I always wondered if I lost out by getting one of the earlier, more power-hungry models (besides the larger electricity bill, I mean).

 

[Zap]

Would it be possible
to reduce the cpu`s power consumption down to 60 / 70 watts by
underclocking.
My main use`s are web surfing but occasional HD video editing so I want plenty of power when needed.
Any advice would be good.

Do you already have the motherboard?

My suggestion is... buy Sandy Bridge. :whiste:

 

[joomy2]

Dorion,
a software sollutions not gonna do it, I use puppy linux 90% of
the time.

LoneNinja,
AMD cpu prices are not much different from one another thats the only reason, I was hoping with the Asus formula motherboard it
would allow me to temporarily underclock a x6 cpu so it uses very little power when I`m useing linux.

Zap,
Yes I`v allready got the mb, psu, case.

I`v got a x4 955 and my son`s got a Sabretooth mb, an i5 2500 with loads of ram and neither seems to be "blisteringly" fast.
Maybe a cheap ssd would improve this? He uses Windows7 so
that may be his problem.

 

[bryanW1995]

SSD has been by far my best upgrade for daily usage since going from an fx 55 to an e6750 in 2007.

The crosshair formula has plenty of bios overclocking/underclocking options. I would recommend keeping the cpu at stock speed and using traditional "overclocking" methods to drop the vcore to its lowest stable level. Voltage has much more impact on power usage than frequency, you might be able to get that ~ 30% or so drop without even having to actually underclock the cpu.

 

[darkswordsman17]

Dorion,
a software sollutions not gonna do it, I use puppy linux 90% of
the time.

LoneNinja,
AMD cpu prices are not much different from one another thats the only reason, I was hoping with the Asus formula motherboard it
would allow me to temporarily underclock a x6 cpu so it uses very little power when I`m useing linux.

Zap,
Yes I`v allready got the mb, psu, case.

I`v got a x4 955 and my son`s got a Sabretooth mb, an i5 2500 with loads of ram and neither seems to be "blisteringly" fast.
Maybe a cheap ssd would improve this? He uses Windows7 so
that may be his problem.

An X6 isn't going to improve things to "blisteringly fast". You'd be better off overclocking your current CPU than downclocking an X6.

How exactly are you measuring performance? If its general responsiveness then yeah SSD would be a lot more beneficial.

What GPUs do you guys have? That can play a pretty significant role as well, especially now with so many accelerated apps (including Windows itself).

 

[joomy2]

bryanW1995,
Hi Bryan, googled some of the things you said, yeah 30% drop sounds good,
) I think it`s some thing to do with my age, the older I`m getting the meaner I am about my electricity bills).

darkswordsman17
Hi, the X6 is for a new build so I can practice with bios settings with the X4 I`m currently using. I guess general responsiveness is
my idea of "fast", I suppose even with the best pc equipment a fast page refresh is only going to happen with fast web servers /
broadband connection.
I think my Gpu is a HD 4890, a huge monstrosity that, in winter months serves as part of my household heating.
I have a nice HD 5450 passively cooled to go into my new build.

 

[dorion]

Dorion,
a software sollutions not gonna do it, I use puppy linux 90% of
the time.

http://www.ztex.de/misc/k10ctl.e.html

From a glance at the front page this is probably way better than the Windows solutions anyways.

 

[joomy2]

Hi Dorion,
thanks for the link, I`m gonna try and use the Asus formula`s
bios settings to achieve underclocking, in the end I purchased an x4 955, it`s nearly half the price of an x6 1100.
see ya