Paul wrote:
Don wrote:
I just installed Everest Ultimate monitor & diagnostic program, and
noticed that my Athlon 64 X2 5600+ (2800 MHz) is running at 1005 MHz
and the clock multiplier is at 5x instead of 14x. I went into the
Bios to the MB Intelligent Tweaker, and the CPU frequency, PCIE Clock,
and CPU clock ratio were all set on Auto, which supposedly optimizes
performance. Is this type of setup going to increase the ratio when
demand goes up?

I manually set the Frequency at 200 MHz and the multiplier at 14x, and
the temp went up by 22 degrees C and the computer didn't seem any
faster, so I reset back to Auto.

I'm running Vista Business 64 bit with 6 GB of RAM. If I want the
best performance, should I upgrade my cooling system and manually set
the freq and multiplier?

I've never messed with overclocking, because I use the computer for
research and mapmaking, and stability has been secondary to speed -
but I want all the speed I can reasonably expect.

Thanks,

Don

Cool N' Quiet is a technology similar to Intel EIST, that adjusts
the core frequency and Vcore voltage. I.e. 200 x 5 might be used,
if the OS detects no application loading. If you run something that
uses 100% CPU, then the multiplier will be adjusted to 200 x 14,
increasing the core frequency. The VID (which controls Vcore) is also
adjusted, to help the processor run at the new speed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cool%27n%27Quiet (AMD)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpeedStep (Intel)

If there is a Cool N' Quiet setting in the BIOS, you could
temporarily try disabling it, and see if the frequency reads 200 x 14
all the time.

Or alternately, you could run a program like the Prime95 torture test,
as a means to get the CPU loaded to 100%. This version will run a
thread per core. When prompted to register, answer "no", as all
you want is the Torture Test. The defaults are good enough for
initial testing. If an error is detected, the testing thread will
stop. No errors are acceptable, on a properly operating computer.
Once the CPU is at 100% load, Cool N' Quiet should set the
multiplier at 14.

http://www.mersenne.org/gimps/p95v256.zip

The purpose of Cool N' Quiet, is to reduce the operating
power waste, when the system is idle.

Paul

Paul,

That's exactly the kind of info I was looking for - thanks for the quick
response!

Don