topic Re:Minimum processor state in power plan in Mobile and Desktop Processors

Minimum processor state in power plan

Rishav — Thu, 11 May 2023 11:34:04 GMT

Hi All

What will the minimum processor state do if we set to 5% in balanced power plan(Which is already set)

1. Will the CPU lower the Power & Voltage to 5% when its Idle?

2. Will it affect under heavy load. I heard setting the 5% min state will affect the performance regardless of 100% max processor state?

3. Will minimum processor state will be active when CPU will be under load for heavy application?

And in High/Ultimate power plan, Why the CPU min state is set to 100% by default.

1. Will power and voltage always be at 100% if the CPU is at idle?

I just want to know in details. When should we set min processor 5% and 100%? In which scenario? Do we really need min processor state to 100% (even while playing games)

I guess it will increase just electricity bill regardless of no performance boost

==============================================================================

MY BUILD: Core i7 9700K, Noctua Noctua NH-U14S Cooler with 2 Fans, MSI Z390 Ace, G.Skill F4-3200C16Q-32GTZR x 4 , Seasonic PRIME TX-850 , Colorful RTX 3080 Ti NB-V, Cooler Master MB500 RGB, SAMSUNG 860 EVO 500GB, WD Green 120GB, 5x Nocuta NF-A14 iPPC-3000 PWM , Gigabyte Force K83, Razer Death Elite, Windows 10 Pro.

Re:Minimum processor state in power plan

DeividA_Intel — Fri, 12 May 2023 17:51:13 GMT

Hello Rishav,

Thank you for the information provided

I will proceed to check the issue internally and post back soon with more details.

Best regards,

Deivid A.

Intel Customer Support Technician

Re:Minimum processor state in power plan

DeividA_Intel — Fri, 12 May 2023 21:09:15 GMT

Hello Rishav,

Thanks for your patience. I will respond to your questions:

1. Will the CPU lower the Power & Voltage to 5% when it is Idle?

A/ The default minimum processor state value in Windows 10 and 11 is 5%; however, Intel cannot confirm that will be a permanent number, it can fluctuate based on what your system is running (what is in the background)

2. Will it affect under heavy load? And, 3. Will the minimum processor state be active when the CPU will be under load for heavy applications?

A/ Numbers can vary and increase under a high workload.

4. Will power and voltage always be at 100% if the CPU is idle?

A/ There is no exact value that I can provide you for each processor. The processor has a few internal voltage regulations (FIVR, Digital Linear voltage regulator(DLVR) to support internal power rails. In each processor datasheet Technical Resources: Intel Core Processors there is a section called"electrical specifications" You can see average voltage ranges and specifications and understand how volts work on the CPU depending on different stages and based on Intel technology.

Bear in mind that these ranges will depend on system requirements and those are average based on tests, not necessarily exact values.

Datasheet: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/docs/processors/core/core-technical-resources.html

If you have any questions, please let me know.

Regards,

Deivid A.

Intel Customer Support Technician

Re:Minimum processor state in power plan

DeividA_Intel — Wed, 17 May 2023 20:48:48 GMT

Hello Rishav,

After checking your thread, I would like to know if you need further assistance.

If so, please let me know.

Regards,

Deivid A.

Intel Customer Support Technician

Re:Minimum processor state in power plan

DeividA_Intel — Mon, 22 May 2023 22:28:36 GMT

Hello Rishav,

I was checking your thread and see that we have not heard back from you.

I’m going to close your post, but if you need further assistance, please do not hesitate to create a new thread.

Regards,

Deivid A.

Intel Customer Support Technician

Re: Minimum processor state in power plan

caseyhunt — Tue, 16 Dec 2025 13:09:40 GMT

This is a good and detailed question.
In most cases, setting the minimum processor state to 5% does not negatively
impact performance under load because modern CPUs dynamically scale frequency
and voltage based on demand.

When the system is idle, a lower minimum state helps reduce unnecessary power
consumption and heat. As soon as a heavy task or game starts, the processor
quickly ramps up to higher states regardless of the minimum setting.

For normal usage, balanced power plans usually handle this well without manual
tuning, unless someone is troubleshooting specific power or thermal issues.