apu Only two of four cores fully utilised

[Davyie]

Hi everyone,

 

Quite new here, apologies if this has been answered in another post, however, a quick browse and search yielded no results for me.

 

I have an AMD A8-6600K APU, 4.09GHz OC. I have noticed that only cores 0&1 were ever fully utilised, i.e. Able to reach 100% under full load whilst cores 2&3 never went above 70%.

 

I have restored default BIOS config to undo any OC inc. resetting CMOS and this peculiarity persists.

 

I am assuming cores 0&1 are the physical cores with the other two as logical, yet I am unable to discover why they should be constantly under 70% utilisation when taxing the CPU with heavy loads.

 

Any light shed on this would be appreciated.

 

Thanks, D.

 

 

Full System Specs:

• MOBO - Gigabyte F2A68HM-HD2
• CPU - AMD A8-6600K 4.09GHz OC
• RAM - 8GB DDR3 1600MHz single channel
• GFX - Palit Systems, GTX 750 2GB DDR5
• SSD - San Disk Extreme Pro 250GB
• HDD - Seagate barracuda 1TB
• PSU - 500W unknown brand (I.k.r *facepalm*)
• OS - Windows 10 Pro 64 bit

 

Edited December 6, 2017 by Davyie
Addition of Operating System Specifications

[bobthemac]

What are you classing as heavy loads, maybe the software you are using isn't optimised for multicore that well. Have you tried running cinebench that can usually max all cores. Your CPU is also a straight quad core there are no logical cores or hyper threading as stated here https://community.amd.com/thread/214836

[Davyie]

Wow, fast reply dude. Thanks!

 

I game and stream from that same rig. I play various games from Deus ex to Elite D. Using OBS studio to capture and stream the game, overlays, and HTTP streams like bit bosses, donations, subs, music, usually amazon or iTunes. Along side the aforementioned I have streamlabs, discord and or skype and other web browsers with live stream playback.

 

I haven't run cinebench yet to be honest. I will do that today and post results.

 

Thanks, D.

[NelizMastr]

1 minute ago, Davyie said:

Wow, fast reply dude. Thanks!

 

I game and stream from that same rig. I play various games from Deus ex to Elite D. Using OBS studio to capture and stream the game, overlays, and HTTP streams like bit bosses, donations, subs, music, usually amazon or iTunes. Along side the aforementioned I have streamlabs, discord and or skype and other web browsers with live stream playback.

Kudos to you, as this system is very underpowered nowadays. This is an old Bulldozer architecture APU with Core 2 Duo IPC. 

[ImNotThere]

try reinstalling windows

[Davyie]

Addendum,

In regards to it being a quad core, it shows only two physical and 2 logical cores in CPUz as well as Taskman. Does that mean anything?

[bobthemac]

It's down to how the cpu shares its resources see the link https://community.amd.com/thread/214836

[Davyie]

1 minute ago, ImNotThere said:

try reinstalling windows

I have on many occasion, it has not made any difference I'm afraid.

Thank you though

[ImNotThere]

Just now, Davyie said:

I have on many occasion, it has not made any difference I'm afraid.

Thank you though

then try cinnebench and see if all cores are used

[Davyie]

2 minutes ago, NelizMastr said:

Kudos to you, as this system is very underpowered nowadays. This is an old Bulldozer architecture APU with Core 2 Duo IPC. 

Thanks man! It's not easy but with both cpu and gfx OC its doable. With around 20-30fps on last years games. Mass Effect: Andromeda runs around 30fps low/med gfx (no streaming though, gaming only).

[Davyie]

3 minutes ago, bobthemac said:

It's down to how the cpu shares its resources see the link https://community.amd.com/thread/214836

Ah yes that makes sense now, thanks dude!

[Davyie]

3 minutes ago, ImNotThere said:

then try cinnebench and see if all cores are used

I will do. I will post results when I have them.

Thanks, D.

[Davyie]

Ok, so here are my cinebench scores with screenshots during and at the end with Idle usages as well.

[Davyie]

Just now, Davyie said:

Ok, so here are my cinebench scores with screenshots during and at the end.

As you can see, cores 2 & 3 only utilise about 50% with the clock speed not even approaching the base speed.

Thanks, D.

[ImNotThere]

16 minutes ago, Davyie said:

As you can see, cores 2 & 3 only utilise about 50% with the clock speed not even approaching the base speed.

Thanks, D.

could you download hw monitor for me?

 

about halfway through the run, note down the cpu temperatures and the VRM temperatures, when i say cpu temps i mean all core temps, 1 2 3 and 4 (0, 1, 2, 3 it may be layed out this way) and the packet temperature, also the vrm temperatures

[Davyie]

10 minutes ago, ImNotThere said:

could you download hw monitor for me?

 

about halfway through the run, note down the cpu temperatures and the VRM temperatures, when i say cpu temps i mean all core temps, 1 2 3 and 4 (0, 1, 2, 3 it may be layed out this way) and the packet temperature, also the vrm temperatures

I would, however HW Monitor is not showing the VRM or MOSFETs, nor the individual CPU cores, only package temps. 
 

Thanks, D.

[ImNotThere]

do you have a 32 bit os or a 64 bit?

[Davyie]

3 minutes ago, ImNotThere said:

do you have a 32 bit os or a 64 bit?

64 bit. Windows 10 Pro. 

I lookedup the product information on the CPU (http://products.amd.com/en-us/search/APU/AMD-A-Series-Processors/AMD-A8-Series-APU-for-Desktops/A8-6600K-with-Radeon™-HD-8570D/61) 
And from that I can see the supposed "Max Temp" is 74 deg. I am thinking that it could be throttling, but one would assume thermal throttling would take place on all cores not just 2, right? 

Thanks, D.

[ImNotThere]

although that said 92 degrees is wayy too high, seems like it is thermal throttling, one quick google search shows that people experience downclocking at around 80 degrees

[ImNotThere]

Just now, Davyie said:

64 bit. Windows 10 Pro. 

I lookedup the product information on the CPU (http://products.amd.com/en-us/search/APU/AMD-A-Series-Processors/AMD-A8-Series-APU-for-Desktops/A8-6600K-with-Radeon™-HD-8570D/61) 
And from that I can see the supposed "Max Temp" is 74 deg. I am thinking that it could be throttling, but one would assume thermal throttling would take place on all cores not just 2, right? 

Thanks, D.

not necessarily, a cpu will only throttle untilit is safe again, its a shame you cant see all core temps but the package temp suggests that its downclocking, what cooler are you using?

[Davyie]

Just now, ImNotThere said:

not necessarily, a cpu will only throttle untilit is safe again, its a shame you cant see all core temps but the package temp suggests that its downclocking, what cooler are you using?

True...I think the cooler is stock lol, it was already attached to the CPU. Couldn't afford aftermarket, this thing was built almost cannibalistically, The thermal paste was replaced only last year. Also even at idle the clock frequencies are split also. Screen shot below.

[Davyie]

ok so I used the and software to remove the OC. Upon restart temperatures reached a staggering 111*C

I have reset the CMOS and restored optimized defaults, turned cool and quiet function off to increase fan speed at all times.

will run another hw monitor and cinebench.

[ImNotThere]

1 hour ago, Davyie said:

True...I think the cooler is stock lol, it was already attached to the CPU. Couldn't afford aftermarket, this thing was built almost cannibalistically, The thermal paste was replaced only last year. Also even at idle the clock frequencies are split also. Screen shot below.

its worth a try, replace thermal paste and look into a cheap aftermarket cooler

[ImNotThere]

32 minutes ago, Davyie said:

ok so I used the and software to remove the OC. Upon restart temperatures reached a staggering 111*C

I have reset the CMOS and restored optimized defaults, turned cool and quiet function off to increase fan speed at all times.

will run another hw monitor and cinebench.

could be worth looking into an upgrade there, you seem to know what youre doing with ocing? perhaps try lowering the voltage on stock clocks to produce less heat

just lower the voltage in small increments until its unstable, like testing ocs

Edited December 6, 2017 by ImNotThere

[Davyie]

22 hours ago, ImNotThere said:

could be worth looking into an upgrade there, you seem to know what youre doing with ocing? perhaps try lowering the voltage on stock clocks to produce less heat

just lower the voltage in small increments until its unstable, like testing ocs

When it comes to software OCing, I trust it to a certain extent. Using the ET6 AMD program. I haven't really done BIOS OCing SO I havent messed around with Voltages and stuff. But I'm sure Ive watched enough of linus's videos to give it a try Besides,m dual bios, whats the worst that could happen haha. 
Ive included screenshots of current bios settings, so if you could let me know which things to alter I would be very grateful