Processor Diagnostic Tool strangeness with/without overclock

[amous3]

These questions involves a W-7 64-bit PC with i5-2500K CPU, DH67CL motherboard (0156 BIOS), and 530 120 GB SSD, all genuine Intel; RAM is 16GB of Crucial Ballistix Tactical 1333. I downloaded the Processor Diagnostic Tool from intel.com (IPDT_Installer_2.8.0.0-1_x86_2.10.0.0.MP-1_x64.exe), installed it, and ran it. I have some questions.

1) When I start it, it complains "Version of IPDT is not latest version," thinks I have 2.10.0.0.MP-1 installed, and suggests that I instead download 2.10.0.0-1. But when I look in Control Panel, I have Intel Processor Diagnostic Tool 64bit 2.10.0.0-1 installed. What's up with that? I just start it with the "Ignore Message" option. If I select the "Download New Version" option, my browser is sent to the same intel.com page where I downloaded it in the first place, which is not helpful.

2) I ran it a number of times and every time it received a PASS:

- The first time I ran it I had some minor graphics overclocking with the Graphics Max Multiplier set to 30 as compared to its default of 22. The Detected CPU Frequency was 3.65 and "Temperature = 64 degrees C below maximum." It also warned, "The processor frequency could be affected by power management features." Okay, I thought that my graphics overclocking was limiting the CPU, so I went back into BIOS and pressed F9 to restore defaults. But since I have a sound card, I disabled the motherboard one in BIOS. - I rebooted and ran PDT again. This time the Detected CPU Frequency was 4.65 and "Temperature = 60 degrees C below maximum." The same warning message was present. - I rebooted and ran it again. Now the Detected CPU Frequency was 5.79, "Temperature = 55 degrees C below maximum," and the warning message was still there. - I went into BIOS, pressed F9 to restore defaults but did not disable motherboard sound, rebooted, and ran it again. The Detected CPU Frequency was 3.66 and "Temperature = 64 degrees C below maximum." The warning message was still there. - I rebooted, disabled motherboard sound in BIOS, and ran PDT again. This time the Detected CPU Frequency was 3.69 (as expected) and "Temperature = 64 degrees C below maximum." The same warning message was present.

The warning message appears to be useless. But the Detected CPU Frequency varies wildly. An i5-2500K should not exceed 3.7, so what's up with 4.65 and 5.79?

3) I cannot tell by my results if my mild graphics overclocking interferes with the CPU. Before all this I would have guessed that increasing the Graphics Max Multiplier from 22 to 30 would not be a factor. I ran IPDT two more times after setting Graphics Max Multiplier back to 30 and got 3.54/64 and 3.69/63, so I'm not convinced it is interfering with the CPU test. Any comments?

Based on the wildly varying Detected CPU Frequency values, I think Intel stopped supporting this product on Sandy Bridge and did not bother to include a warning to that effect, not to mention the bugs concerning versions and BIOS changes.

[Jose_H_Intel1]

Hi baroque-quest, your Intel® Core processor is still supported.

I find the clock speed results rather unusual; is it possible that only the processor (instead of graphics) was still overclocked during those tests?

I am not sure we would be able to replicate such issue if at the end you still got correct results after using the same settings in BIOS. What type of sound card do you have installed?

I would like to share this information with engineering as I can confirm the version detection issue you described in point number one.

[amous3]

This is a DH67CL board which I thought does not allow CPU overclocking. I did not even try to overclock the CPU, as 7.5 on WEI is okay. I did not change any settings other than Graphics Max Multiplier and disabling board audio (my sound card is Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium). I do not think it is relevant, but this CPU has a Noctua cooler which keeps the CPU below 30 degrees at idle.

I thought it was interesting that the Detected CPU Frequency only exceeded 3.7, the max for the turbo, when Graphics Max Multiplier was set to the default of 22. I ran it a few more times with graphics overclocking and it never exceeded 3.7.

By the way, this board has 0156 BIOS because I stupidly moved to 0146 and then was stuck there (or higher) according to what intel.com states. I moved to 0156 only to fix the Graphics Max Multiplier bug 0146 introduced. Is it really true that DH67CL cannot be reverted to 0132 BIOS? I'd love to go back to a BIOS only for Sandy Bridge.

[Jose_H_Intel1]

I am afraid is not possible to roll back to 0132 or earlier BIOS version:

"Due to structural changes in this BIOS version, once a board has been converted to this version or later, it will no longer be possible to downgrade the BIOS to version 0132 or earlier."

http://downloadmirror.intel.com/22273/eng/BL_0160_ReleaseNotes.pdf http://downloadmirror.intel.com/22273/eng/BL_0160_ReleaseNotes.pdf

I have informed the engineering department about the incorrect version identification.