Overclocking and SpeedStep

Goksly · 2 Jun 2009 at 21:19

Hi,
I understand what speedstep does, but I'm confused as to why people recommend you turn it off? The CPU will jump to where it needs to be when testing reliability... so why exactly do people recommend you turn it off?
Cheers!

OzZie · 2 Jun 2009 at 21:29

It's just that the CPU clock speed/voltage is constantly adapting to the user, which can cause instabilities, especially if the board isn't great with voltage control.

PaulyD · 2 Jun 2009 at 21:34

Yep, voltage could drop too far when it kicks in causing issues at idle and boards with dodgy voltage control can have it jumping all about the place.

Rajveer · 2 Jun 2009 at 22:13

Hold on, why would voltage drop going to idle? On most boards you get a bigger vdrop when at load. E.g. at the moment my VID is 1.48750v, actual idle voltage is 1.424v and actual load voltage is 1.360v.

So as long as my CPU is stable on load, then it will be stable on idle, as voltage is higher at idle no?

OzZie · 2 Jun 2009 at 22:47

But with speedstep, you voltage should drop a significant amount when the system underclocks itself. My Q6600 goes to like 1.16v at 2.2ghz, then straight back to 1.475v at 3.4ghz.

Otherwise, depending on the board, it can reverse yeah.

Rajveer · 3 Jun 2009 at 00:44

Hmm yeah that makes sense, I guess that's the whole point in having speedstepping in the first place, lower voltage so less power. Wonder why my board doesn't decrease voltage when speedstepping kicks in :/