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Is windows CPU power options a sham?

I'm trying to get my CPU to downclock under light workloads, and windows power options is being difficult. According to HWMonitor my cores barely downclock, even with just a browser open. They stay at 4697 most of the time, sometimes dipping to around 3500 or 2200, but never for more than a fraction of a second (I have the setting at 40% minimum power). The voltage also jumps all over the place, which I really don't know is safe or not.

 

So, is this an effective way to reduce my speeds? Is there something else going on that would be reducing my ability to downclock? Is it a waste of time to try to achieve this with an OC on my CPU at the same time?

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I do this for some of my laptops but I keep the maximum power the same as the minimum power so it stays consistent. It's been working fine for me but I've noticed that the performance isn't linear to the percentage that it'll be set at. It seems to be more logarithmic. For example, my laptop will have extreme difficulties video streaming playback at 49% and drop half the frames but at 50% it'll cut through it like butter. I haven't recorded the clock speeds after changing it but it does have an affect on performance. Not sure if this is the best way, but in a pinch it works.

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What CPU and mobo? On my G3258 that I have at 4.5GHz it will go down to 800MHz if it can. And likewise on my Latitude E4300 that's stock at 2.4Ghz, it will downclock all the way to 800MHz when it can.

 

I do notice that on my Pentium it rarely decides to downclock unless my system is sitting with Chrome minimized and me not doing anything whereas my laptop is a little less caring.

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8 minutes ago, tmcclelland455 said:

What CPU and mobo? On my G3258 that I have at 4.5GHz it will go down to 800MHz if it can. And likewise on my Latitude E4300 that's stock at 2.4Ghz, it will downclock all the way to 800MHz when it can.

 

I do notice that on my Pentium it rarely decides to downclock unless my system is sitting with Chrome minimized and me not doing anything whereas my laptop is a little less caring.

4790k, ASrock extreme 6

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