i5-12600k starts with P-core speeds set at 3.7Ghz

brendenjac · ‎07-16-2022

I have just built an i5-12600k on a Gigabyte Z690 UD AX motherboard, and on 50% of starts/reboots the P-cores are set to 3.7Ghz (as determined by AIDA64 and H/W Monitor). I am using the BIOS optimised defaults, with XMP enabled. No overclocking of the cores is enabled.

If I update the CPU BIOS settings to have two P-Cores running at 5GHZ, the system works fine, but after a couple of reboots will return back to 3.7Ghz.

A reboot will always set the P-core speeds back to the expected values.

Any ideas why this is happening?

Alberto_R_Intel · ‎07-18-2022

brendenjac, Thank you for posting in the Intel® Communities Support.

For this scenario, it is important to mention the Performance-core Base Frequency of the processor is 3.70 GHz. So it will be expected for the P-cores to show that value especially when the computer is starting or just rebooted:

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/134589/intel-core-i512600k-processor-20m-cache-up-to-4-90-ghz.html

When using an XMP profile for the memory RAM, please make sure that the profile is not exceeding what the unit actually supports which is Up to DDR5 4800 MT/s / Up to DDR4 3200 MT/s. Additionally, it is always recommended to use the computer at stock configurations with the default BIOS settings:

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000060130/processors.html

"AIDA64 and H/W Monitor" are third-party tools and the results showing while you use them might not be that accurate. So, in order to rule out a possible hardware problem with the processor, download, install and run the Intel® Processor Diagnostic Tool, it does an overall test on the unit and if it passes the test it means it is working properly:

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/15951/intel-processor-diagnostic-tool.html?wapkw=intel%20processor%20diagnostic%20tool

I looked at Gigabyte's website just to make sure your processor is fully compatible with the board, and it is. Accroding to the information there, the BIOS version on the board supported to properly work with the processor is "Since BIOS Version F4". Please make sure that is the version that is currently installed on the board:

https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/Z690-UD-AX-rev-1x/support#support-cpu

Based on that, we recommend to get in contact with Gigabyte's Support to reset the BIOS settings to defaults, to make sure the proper BIOS version is currently installed, and to verify that all the BIOS options, in general, are properly set for the optimal functionality of the processor:

https://www.gigabyte.com/Support

If by any chance the processor fails the Intel® Processor Diagnostic Tool test, please provide the following information:

When did you purchase the Intel® processor? (For warranty purposes)

Did you notice this kind of behavior with the P-Cores before on this specific machine?

If not, when did the issue start?

Did you make any recent hardware/software changes that might cause this problem?

Does the problem happen at home or in the work environment?

Please attach the SSU report so we can verify further details about the components in your platform, check all the options in the report including the one that says "3rd party software logs":

https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/25293/Intel-System-Support-Utility-for-Windows-?product=91600

Any questions, please let me know.

Regards,

Albert R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

brendenjac · ‎07-18-2022

Thanks for the response.

The problem returned again this morning, i.e. the CPU Speed is reported as 3.7GHz, with a minimum speed 0f 800Mhz

I have done some investigations and included a summary of my findings.

The two attachments are: 1) ssu, the report generated from the ssu utility, 2) clock speed problem.doc

The clock speed problem shows the results from H/W Monitor and CPUZ. Both show the clock speed for the P-Cores as 3.7GHz.

I have confirmed that the benchmarks (in CPUZ and AIDA64) are slower and that under 100% load the clockspeed is capped at 3.7Ghz. I run the Intel Diagnostic test and it passed, but it reported the speed as 3.64Ghz.

Could there by a problem with the CPU Bus multiplier, which seems to vary between 8 and 37.

Alberto_R_Intel · ‎07-19-2022

brendenjac, You are very welcome, thank you very much for sharing those details and the SSU report.

Perfect, the fact that the processor passed the Intel® Processor Diagnostic Tool test indicates that the processor is working with no hardware issues and confirms there is no issue with the CPU Bus multiplier. It is expected also for the tool to report a speed of 3.64Ghz since actually, as per specifications, the Performance-core Base Frequency is 3.70 GHz and the Efficient-core Base Frequency is 2.80 GHz.

Since "AIDA64 and H/W Monitor" are third-party tools the results they show might not be as reliable as when running the Intel® Processor Diagnostic Tool.

In reference to benchmarking, we are not able to comment on that subject and performance since, depending on the system specifications, the performance can be different even though the computers being used/compared have similar or equal specifications, due to the fact that the configuration for every system is always different.

Still, we will do further research on this matter, for us to be able to do that, please confirm the following:

Did you update the BIOS to the latest version?

Did you reset the BIOS settings to default values?

Please provide the Intel® PDT test results.

-Once the test is completed:

-Select "File"

-Then choose "View Results File"

-Save the file to your computer and attach it to this thread.

Regards,

Albert R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

brendenjac · ‎07-19-2022

Thanks again.

I am even more confused by the behaviour of the system now. I am using all default values and after Windows 11 returned from sleep mode all P cores were set to 5.1 Ghz. When I run the Intel XTU benchmark I received great results but the temperature hit 91C. Please refer to the screen shot below. According to Intel XTU the Max Turbo Boost is 4.9Ghz, so how does the CPU get to 5.02 (actually it hit 5.1)? I then rebooted and the system returned 4.9Ghz.

I don't seem to be able to find a stable clock speed. It either goes to 5.1Ghz, gets locked at 3.7Ghz, or runs with a turbo max of 4.9Ghz.

Alberto_R_Intel · ‎07-20-2022

brendenjac, You are very welcome, thank you very much for providing that information.

The T-junction of the Intel Core i5-12600K processor is 100°C. Any temperature result equal to or below that value is considered normal and expected for his unit:

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/134589/intel-core-i512600k-processor-20m-cache-up-to-4-90-ghz.html

Did you update the BIOS to the latest version?

Did you reset the BIOS settings to default values?

Please provide the Intel® PDT test results.

-Once the test is completed:

-Select "File"

-Then choose "View Results File"

-Save the file to your computer and attach it to this thread

Please attach the updated SSU report so we can verify further details about the components in your platform, check all the options in the report including the one that says "3rd party software logs":

https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/25293/Intel-System-Support-Utility-for-Windows-?product=91600

Regards,

Albert R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

brendenjac · ‎07-20-2022

Thanks.

BIOS is the latest.
I have attached the test results and SSU

Also, I have run some bench marks over the past two days, with the system returning from sleep and from a cold start. As you can see the results change. I am not making any BIOS changes (all set at default) , XTU changes or any other change. The CPUZ bench mark and the XTU benchmarks change all the time. On the second line the system restarted with all 6 P-Cores running at 5Ghz.

It seems I have a CPU that just likes to run at random speeds.

Date	P0	P1	P2	P3	P4	P5	Idle Power	Max Power	CPUZ Bench	XTU	XTU Bench
20/07/2022	4.9	4.9	4.9	4.9	4.9	4.9			6828	Optimise Off	5948
20/07/2022	5	5	5	5	5	5	10W	180W	7784	Optimise Off	6386
20/07/2022	4.9	4.9	4.9	4.9	4.9	3.7			6780	Optimise Off	5810
21/07/2022	4.9	4.9	4.9	4.9	4.7	5	10W	99W	6941	Optimise Off	5896

Alberto_R_Intel · ‎07-21-2022

brendenjac, You are very welcome, thank you very much for letting us know those updates and sharing the reports.

We will do further research on this matter, as soon as I get any more details, I will post all the information on this thread.

Regards,

Albert R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

brendenjac · ‎07-23-2022

Hi,

I have some more information to share. Today the CPU settings were unexpectedly changed to P-Core max 3.7Ghz. I have not made any BIOS or Overclocking changes.

I do want to make one point regarding benchmarking. Regardless of what benchmark tool I used I would expect similar results on my system when nothing is changing. However as the benchmarks show my system performance varies considerably. My CPUZ Benchmarks vary from 6013 (today) to 7784 (two days). I stress I have made no system changes.

Unfortunately I can't run the Intel XTU utility since it wont work with Hyper-V active.

My current thoughts are:

- The motherboard is faulty, i.e. it is somehow setting the maximum P-core speed

- The CPU is faulty

- Something in Windows 11 is limiting the CPU speed (I am using the High Performance Plan)

- All of the benchmark and monitor tools are wrong

Thanks

Alberto_R_Intel · ‎07-22-2022

Hello brendenjac, I just received an update on this matter.

After reviewing this case, we just wanted to confirm that it is pretty normal that the frequency is constantly changing, there is no way to fix the frequency to work at a certain speed only. All the configuration, software and hardware, affect the performance.

Additionally, as per the link below, the P-cores are mostly used with high-performance apps, so, as an option, you can test a game and check if the P-cores increase the frequency. If so, they are working as expected as the Intel® PDT is showing.

As long as you make sure that turbo boost is activated and you are not seeing errors, freezes, shutdowns, BSODs, etc on your computer, it is an indication that there is no issue with the processor and that everything is working properly on your system.

Regards,

Albert R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

Alberto_R_Intel · ‎07-25-2022

Hi brendenjac, Thank you very much for providing those updates and the picture.

Regarding your remarks about benchmarking, we do not comment on that subject since every computer works differently, the results are always different depending on the components being utilized or the tools used to do that measurement.

The tool that we rely on is the Intel® Processor Diagnostic Tool, when working with 3rd party tools, like in this case, the results might not be that accurate.

From our side, based on the fact that your processor passed the Intel® PDT test and there are no errors, freezes, shutdowns, BSODs, we considered there are no problems with the processor and it is working properly.

Still, based on your thoughts, one of the best ways to confirm if the problem is related to the processor or board, is by using your processor on a different board or use your board with a different processor, we understand this option is not always available:

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000057810/processors.html

In reference to the Windows* power options, the system should work fine with the default settings or as you mention with the "High-Performance Plan", as an option for this matter, you can always get in contact directly with Microsoft support for them to provide further insights on this topic:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us

It is important to mention that, if you do not have the option to swap parts, the processor has 3 years of warranty with Intel®. So, at this point, you can either get in contact directly with the place of purchase to replace the unit based on their warranty options or, you can always get in contact directly with your local Intel® Support department, making reference to this thread to replace the processor, by doing that we will be able to confirm if the issue was the processor or the board, it is very unlikely to receive two defective processors in a row.

Chat support:

http://intelsupportchat.force.com/icslivechat/ics_tech_processor_ww_english_Chat

For phone support, depending on your location, you will see the contact information on the links below:

EMEA contact information: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/contact-support/emea-contact.html

APAC contact information: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/contact-support/apac-contact.html

LAR contact information: https://www.intel.la/content/www/xl/es/support/contact-support/lar-contact.html

North America: Phone Number 1-916-377-7000, Monday – Friday 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM (Pacific Time).

Regards,

Albert R.

Intel Customer Support Technician