rmvvwls

There have been a few threads recently with people asking about why their multiplier is dropping down to 6x in CPU-Z, and should they be worried.
I hope this thread clears things up.

Take my E7200 for example.
400fsb * 9.5multiplier gives 3.8GHz:


However, when it goes idle:


The reason for this is a thing called Intel Speedstep.
The processor drops the multiplier down to the minimum in order to use less energy. As soon as you do something like fire up a game, it bumps the multiplier up to whatever the maximum is set at.
This happens quite quickly, so you shouldn't notice the performance difference unless you're as fast as the computer.

Reasons you would want to do this:

• Power Saving.
  Practically all new Intel laptops have Speedstep enabled, in order to save power. This becomes very important on laptops when they're running off battery power.
  
• Over Volting.
  Soulthief brought up a good point, in that his processor is overvolted over stock, and he doesn't like the idea that it's got all that power running through it when it's running at reduced clock speeds.
  My argument against this is that so long as it is within safe limits, it shouldn't matter anyway. That is an argument for a different place though.

If you don't want it to speedstep, you have a couple of options;

• Install a folding client
  This would by far be the best option.
  See here for more info.
  
  
• Turn off speedstep
  God knows why you'd want to do this, but to turn off speedstep, you have to disable it in the bios.
  On my board, it looks like this:
  
  Retrieved: http://www.thetechrepository.com/showthread.php?t=41
  The correct option is the one highlighted. This will force the processor to stay at full speed all the time, but doing nothing with all that extra overclock power.

So I hope this clears it all up, and we can stop with the threads.

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M4DM4N

If only people used the search tool, or google for all that matters, but still good initiative rmvvwls +rep to you.

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To do list : Swap my old q6600 out of my gf pc for the e5200 .
Q9550 C1 @ 4ghz
E5200 R0 @3.75

SoulThief

Good guide!

The reason I turn off Speed Step is because my CPU runs on a higher voltage, if it keep switching down it only clocks down the Multiplier but doesn't touch the voltage, so I'm giving my CPU to much voltage.

Plus the sheer fact, I don't like it when my CPU keeps bumping up and down all the time.

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tusku

Good guide man. Actually, this should be a faq lol.

Reps for ya.

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rmvvwls

Actually, i was racking my brains to think of a reason, and that's a good one (the voltage).
I'll update the OP.

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luckii

voltage is the same reason y i dont do this. no reason to. if its idle, then its idle. same voltage anyways. nice guides for newbies to understand though.

vicious_fishes

for the love of all things that are holy and some things that aren't, someone please sticky this.

eflyguy

I have asked the mods multiple times (someone else posted a similar guide a few weeks ago). I can't understand their reluctance..
..a

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SoulThief

I agree, there's to many threads about asking why CPU-Z is showing 'invalid' readings after an overclock.

Keep in mind though.

1. Speedstep is designed to keep a longer life-span on your CPU by downclocking when it isn't needed.

2. It saves some energy and prolongs battery life in a laptop.

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It's your world, I just live in it.

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99.2% Outperformed!
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TRELOXELO

Nice guide man...thank u!

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