High Performance vs Balanced (aka SpeedStep)

[cloneman]

I noticed the other day my system felt tiny bit snappier than it usually does. I was encoding a video on handbrake, which uses 100% CPU power but on the "below normal" priority.

I'm hypothesizing that this scenario basically simulated what it's like to have SpeedStep off (always at full CPU Mhz/Volts, a.k.a, 100% CPU / High Performance power profile in windows).

 

Just wanted to hear from other people, do you feel the difference having the cpu clocked higher all the time? Is it a tradeoff worth making a desktop - or maybe somewhere in between?

[Altecice]

with rendering yes you do get a benefit for higher clock rate. I have my i7-4790k set to XMP profile. Meaning it says at its top raited turbo clock of 4.4ghz (from 4.0ghz stock) and things do render quicker. But for other things Im not so sure.

[cloneman]

I'm not too concered with speed of doing large tasks, but moreso with the speed of general usage, web browsing, scrolling, moving windows around, maybe gaming during cpu spikes (delay when switching to a higher clock speed?)

[mlbguy4life]

with rendering yes you do get a benefit for higher clock rate. I have my i7-4790k set to XMP profile. Meaning it says at its top raited turbo clock of 4.4ghz (from 4.0ghz stock) and things do render quicker. But for other things Im not so sure.

Maybee it's just me...., but i've never heard of a cpu being on a xmp profile, i always associate xmp with ram.

[SkilledRebuilds]

FYI - Future users and whatnot..

 

You can if you want create desktop shortcuts to the power profiles

Which is great in HTPC/Gaming rig situations.

 

Double click Performance, and that one kicks in, negating speedstep and enforcing minimum 100% Frequency. (W8 is automatic, W7 you can set manual targets)

Double click Power Saving, and that one kicks in the declocking/noise/heat saving speedstep.

 

 

How to - http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/21990-power-plan-create-shortcut-change-power-plan.html

[Altecice]

Maybee it's just me...., but i've never heard of a cpu being on a xmp profile, i always associate xmp with ram.

 

sorry I should have explained. My motherboard is an Asus Maximus VII Formula, It has set overclock profile settings (stock,xmp,4.6 and 4.8) When I say I set it to XMP I meant that it set the overclock profile to sit my RAM at XMP speeds but it also keeps my CPU on max turbo as a sortof 0.4ghz OC.

[Zolon]

I have intel Speedstepp deactivated in the BIOS, but only because i was having DPC latency issues with may DAC/AMP combo.

It feels a bit more reactive, and the rise in heatoutput and power consumption is still low, unlike with my old Phenom II, wich was running significant hotter in high performance mode.