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Is 798.3 Mhz Clock Speed Normal for G74sx

Retired
Not applicable
When idle, my clock speed in CPU-Z reads 798.3 Mhz. Is this normal? I thought Turbo boost was supposed to go from 2 Ghz to 2.8 Ghz?

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fostert
Level 12
This is perfectly normal: when the cpu isn't being taxed and is "idle" the EIST technology in the intel chips downclocks them to ~800 MHz. The moment you run something that uses one or more cores that will OC to somewhere between 2.3 and 2.7 GHz. I have never seen my G74 reach its full potential of 2.8-2.9 GHz in windows even when running prime 95 on a single core (reviews of the G74 also see this problem; see http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Asus-G74SX-3DE-Gaming-Notebook.56809.0.html) but my cpu freq. goes to 2.925 GHz under linux quite readily.
--
G74SX-CST1-CBIL, i7 2630QM 2GHz
32GB DDR3 RAM @1333MHz
GTX560M 3GB DDR5 (192 bit)
17.3" LED 1920x1080
Sentelic TP, BIOS 203
Debian Linux Wheezy (Testing) Kernel 3.2, NVIDIA 295.40

Retired
Not applicable
thanks for the quick reply. much appreciated.

fostert wrote:
This is perfectly normal: when the cpu isn't being taxed and is "idle" the EIST technology in the intel chips downclocks them to ~800 MHz. The moment you run something that uses one or more cores that will OC to somewhere between 2.3 and 2.7 GHz. I have never seen my G74 reach its full potential of 2.8-2.9 GHz in windows even when running prime 95 on a single core (reviews of the G74 also see this problem; see http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Asus-G74SX-3DE-Gaming-Notebook.56809.0.html) but my cpu freq. goes to 2.925 GHz under linux quite readily.


so, it's a "windows feature" not passing the 2.7barrier..

JRd1st
Level 12
Actually, its an Intel feature, I think. Most people would like their notebooks to use lless power when idling. Anyway, don't you wanna be "green"? Lol
Read the User's Manual for more info. 😄



G74SX-A1 BIOS 203
Intel 6230 WiFi/BT
LG E2350 LED LCD Monitor
Intel Series 510 120 GB SSD

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Latest nVidia Drivers

JRd1st on DeviantArt.com

JRd1st wrote:
Actually, its an Intel feature, I think. Most people would like their notebooks to use lless power when idling. Anyway, don't you wanna be "green"? Lol


Not sure how it would be an Intel thing limiting Windows to 2.7GHz while Linux gets the full boost? The CPU doesn't know or care what OS is running. 🙂
--
Yahooligan
ASUS G74SX-XR1 :cool:

JRd1st
Level 12
Because Intel made Turbo Boost. Isn't turbo boost what does the boosting?
Read the User's Manual for more info. 😄



G74SX-A1 BIOS 203
Intel 6230 WiFi/BT
LG E2350 LED LCD Monitor
Intel Series 510 120 GB SSD

Drivers, Apps and How To's
Latest nVidia Drivers

JRd1st on DeviantArt.com

Turbo Boost is based on ACPI, which is either implemented in hardware (i.e. BIOS) or software (i.e. OS). Since the G74Sx unfortunately does not implement this standard in BIOS, TB relies on software ACPI. Perhaps the Windows implementation is different than that in the latest Linux kernels: I had to upgrade to the 3.0 kernels to get the full 2.925 GHz in Linux, because the old stable 2.6.32 kernel did not even allow the CPU to clock beyond 2.0 GHz!
--
G74SX-CST1-CBIL, i7 2630QM 2GHz
32GB DDR3 RAM @1333MHz
GTX560M 3GB DDR5 (192 bit)
17.3" LED 1920x1080
Sentelic TP, BIOS 203
Debian Linux Wheezy (Testing) Kernel 3.2, NVIDIA 295.40