CPU Capping at 20% and not overheating

[andpeterson]

Hi all,

This is my first post to the forums! So hear goes.

 

I just upgraded my PC from an i5-6600k to an i7-7700k and I have been getting weird lagging issues since I upgraded it. I decided to run cinebench for fun to see how my CPU was stacking up and the result was abysmal, never thought I'd see a i7-7700 outperformed by a i5-3317. 

My issue is that my CPU is throttling at about 19% as shown in the attachment and avg CPU temps hove around 29°C

 

If it matters the software I'm currently running includes:

A browser with more tabs than Linus could ever imagine

Control Panel

Windows Settings

Corsair Link (for checking CPU temp)

Windows Explorer

Google Hangouts

and the 64-bit version of Windows 10 pro and all its bulls***t along with it.

 

My current build:

i7-7700k

Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO

MSI - Z170A XPOWER GAMING TITANIUM EDITION (flashed to the 7A16v14 update with support 7th gen processors)

Corsair Vengence RAM (tbh i don't remember the model as it was a last minute purchase so I could finish my PC)

 Samsung 960 EVO 250GB M.2 (OS Drive)

WD Black 2TB 7200RPM

GALAX - GeForce GTX 1070 8GB HOF

Corsair - 860W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX PSU

 

Does anyone know why I'd be throttling at 19%?

 

[Brett_Bst]

can you post a picture of your bios page showing core clocks and cpu speeds

[Brett_Bst]

also have you checked to make sure which bios your on as it has the duel bios switch ? and make sure the slow mode switch has not been moved by mistake

[andpeterson]

As requested

[andpeterson]

I'll dig around in my BIOS for a bit for a slow mode. I had never heard of it before so I'll see what i come up with

[done12many2]

3 minutes ago, andpeterson said:

I'll dig around in my BIOS for a bit for a slow mode. I had never heard of it before so I'll see what i come up with

 

You don't have one.

 

Have you cleared your CMOS yet?  If not, please do and then recheck your default clock speeds.  Don't change anything after you clear CMOS.  

[Ryujin2003]

Random question, but did you reinstall the operating system by any chance? Or did you order the operating system, just swapping out hardware?

 

Also, a friend, roommate, or even car could've played an awesome prank. Go into Advanced Power Options and check to make sure you don't have your maximum CPU utilization capped off.

[Brett_Bst]

7 minutes ago, done12many2 said:

 

You don't have one.

 

Have you cleared your CMOS yet?  If not, please do and then recheck your default clock speeds.  Don't change anything after you clear CMOS.  

err I think you find it does unless MSI website is lying, also its a switch not a bios thing, its by the buttons on the top right above the - button, a red switch so it  says 

also yh CMOS would be a good place to start

 

[Ryujin2003]

Just now, Brett_Bst said:

err I think you find it does unless MSI website is lying, also its a switch not a bios thing, its by the buttons on the top right above the - button, a red switch so it  says 

 

I thought that was for slow boot for "extreme" liquid nitrogen over clockers.

[Brett_Bst]

Just now, Ryujin2003 said:

I thought that was for slow boot for "extreme" liquid nitrogen over clockers.

it is, was making sure its not been moved by mistake

[Brett_Bst]

I would say its more software related due to the bios change, seems like its not actually updated all the bios settings 

[done12many2]

35 minutes ago, Brett_Bst said:

err I think you find it does unless MSI website is lying, also its a switch not a bios thing, its by the buttons on the top right above the - button, a red switch so it  says 

also yh CMOS would be a good place to start

 

 

Sorry about that.  I was glancing through the manual too fast.  Should have just searched "slow".

 

Doesn't seem like info is being updating very quickly so I guess we'll see if the CMOS reset or anything else helped.

[andpeterson]

Cleared the CMOS. Didn't fix the issue. Still bottlenecking at 20% about .8GHz. And to add more insult to injury Cinebench score dropped from 137 to 123

[done12many2]

Just now, andpeterson said:

Cleared the CMOS. Didn't fix the issue. Still bottlenecking at 20% about .8GHz. And to add more insult to injury Cinebench score dropped from 137 to 123

 

Did you ensure that the above mentions "Slow Mode" switch was in the correct position?

[andpeterson]

The slow mode switch is 2 pins on my mobo for a wire. Its not a switch. I'd rather not touch it if I don't have to

[andpeterson]

16 minutes ago, done12many2 said:

 

Did you ensure that the above mentions "Slow Mode" switch was in the correct position?

I guess I should be quoting posts. Shows my experience using forums.

 

Its 2 pins and currently they aren't connected. I'd figure that would mean they are disabled then. I wouldn't want to put effort into enabling it especially since its a more difficult process then anything else on my board

[andpeterson]

More terrible benchmarks. Still haven't found a solution to this sadly

[andpeterson]

4 hours ago, Ryujin2003 said:

Random question, but did you reinstall the operating system by any chance? Or did you order the operating system, just swapping out hardware?

 

Also, a friend, roommate, or even car could've played an awesome prank. Go into Advanced Power Options and check to make sure you don't have your maximum CPU utilization capped off.

Never touched my drives in the CPU install. All I did was swap out CPUs. Also none of my friends or roomates are sadly techy enough to do stuff in BIOS. The sad life I live surrounded by normies ;n;

[andpeterson]

I ran across this forum: http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2979256/6500-unstable-frequency.html

One of the posters recommended using Throttlestop to remove the cap on the CPU and it worked...

So for some reason my CPU is throttling due to thermals even though I'm getting temps around 29°C.

Idk what to do from here cause it would be unwise to use the PC without a temp fail safe. Anyone have any suggestions?

[done12many2]

55 minutes ago, andpeterson said:

I ran across this forum: http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2979256/6500-unstable-frequency.html

One of the posters recommended using Throttlestop to remove the cap on the CPU and it worked...

So for some reason my CPU is throttling due to thermals even though I'm getting temps around 29°C.

Idk what to do from here cause it would be unwise to use the PC without a temp fail safe. Anyone have any suggestions?

 

Go into Windows Power Options and reset all of your power plans (High performance, Balanced, and Power saver) to their default settings. 

[andpeterson]

1 minute ago, done12many2 said:

 

Go into Windows Power Options and reset all of your power plans (High performance, Balanced, and Power saver) to their default settings. 

Nope. Earlier I set my computer on High Performance power setting to see if that would fix it resetting all the settings to default didn't do anything either.

 

I'm debating disabling BD PROCHOT and setting up software to closely monitor CPU temps

[Ryujin2003]

5 hours ago, andpeterson said:

Never touched my drives in the CPU install. All I did was swap out CPUs. Also none of my friends or roomates are sadly techy enough to do stuff in BIOS. The sad life I live surrounded by normies ;n;

If you installed a new CPU, it's generally best to reinstall your operating system. Minor changes in the architecture can have big impacts in performance.

 

Advanced Power Options is in the OS where you pick power plans.

If you haven't already, clear CMOS by unplugging the PC and holding the per button for about 10 seconds to discharge some of the capacitors in the power supply, and then pulling the small battery off the MB, then hold the power button for about 10 more seconds to clear CMOS.

 

But I would look at reinstalling your operating system. If Windows is still setup to run your old CPU settings on your new CPU that can cause issues. Windows gets installed for the architecture it's on.

 

Ps:/edit: You can always go into driver manager and uninstall your processor drivers. That very well could be part of the issue. Again Windows expecting your old hardware.

[Brett_Bst]

I agree with others that it's more than likely the windows install causing issues and capping the cpu, its worth a try, maybe a re-flash on the bios with the new cpu installed could help as well.

[andpeterson]

I'm talking with Intel support right now to see what they say. They had me use their utilities. (They look pretty nice tbh).

I am sure now that my CPU is Thermal Throttling and the question is why. After talking to Intel if they don't fix it I'll reinstall Windows. I'll keep the thread informed with updates incase someone else comes into this issue later. For now I'm going into surgery and may not be able to do anything towards fixing this for a while. Thanks for all the help guys and I'll be updating as soon as I can.

[unclewebb]

Intel XTU is a nice looking program but it doesn't have any options to disable BD PROCHOT.  This stands for bi-directional processor hot.  It is a signal path to Intel CPUs and it lets other sensors on a motherboard signal the CPU which forces it to immediately slow down to 800 MHz.  It uses the same mechanism within the CPU that is used when a CPU is overheating.  That is why Intel XTU reports Thermal Throttling but in this situation, the CPU is not overheating at all.

 

This is a common hardware problem that affects many different MSI motherboards and it is usually related to the slow mode switch circuitry.  Either the switch is not set correctly or it shorts out or even if a switch is physically not there; the circuit can trip and it will send a signal to the CPU via the BD PROCHOT signal path which forces the CPU into thermal throttling mode.  If you open up the Limit Reasons screen in ThrottleStop, you will see BD PROCHOT lit up in red.  Using ThrottleStop to disable the BD PROCHOT signal path is the only solution for this problem.  If this is a new motherboard then you will need to return it.  Tech support and most enthusiasts have never heard about this problem.  It is not a software problem so re-installing or adjusting Windows will not fix it.

 

Most people get confused and they think BD PROCHOT and the regular PROCHOT are the same thing but they are not.  If BD PROCHOT is disabled, your CPU will still slow down to protect itself if it ever gets too hot.  Disabling BD PROCHOT only disables outside throttling signals to the CPU.  It cannot be used to block throttling signals within the CPU so your CPU will still be 100% safe and protected from overheating.

 

How about disable BD PROCHOT, closely monitor your temps and run a CInebench test and a CPU-Z benchmark.  Your scores will miraculously go way up.