Intel CPU Turbo mode?

[martinlest]

My CPU is an i7-4790K @ 4.00GHz (i.e. not overclocked). I use the PC to run X-Plane 11, pretty much exclusively (I have another PC for everything else), which quite often pushes the CPU to 100% use on all cores. My cooler deals with this nicely...

But according to my little CPU desktop gadget, the CPU usage, although it often dips well below 4.00GHz, never goes above it, into 'Turbo Mode'. When the CPU is working hard on all cores, I would expect to see the clock go up towards 4400MHz, but as I say, I have never seen that. I checked in the BIOS and the turbo option is definitely enabled.

The CPU moving up to 4.4GHz would make a difference to performance in X-Plane, so why do I only ever see the reported CPU clock go down from 4GHz and never up into the preset turbo clock?

Wondered about overclocking to 4.5GHz, but I am rather timid in such matters, fearful of getting something wrong and ruining the CPU! If anyone can do that, I can!

Thanks,

Martin

 

[iko22]

The processor wont do Turbo mode if the thermal temperature is too high. It also wont do turbo if the feature is disabled in BIOS.

 

[martinlest]

The temp. is fine - I monitor it and even at 100% core usage it rarely goes above 60 degs, usually lower. The feature, as I say, is enabled in the BIOS.

 

[iko22]

Turbo boost of 4.4Ghz is only acheivable on one or two cores. What gadget are you using to monitor the CPU usage?

 

[Megahertz07]

According to Intel, 4790K has a default 4.0G and a turbo up to 4.4G - Intel Coreâ„¢ i7-4790K Processor (8M Cache, up to 4.40 GHz) Product Specifications.
According to Asus, H97IPLUS Supports Intel® Turbo Boost Technology 2.0 - H97I-PLUS | Motherboards | ASUS Global


My suggestion is to install the latest BIOS and to configure it properly.

 

[martinlest]

I think that the 'All CPU Meter' is not registering any usage over 4GHz.. when I look in CPU-Z, I can see that the clock speed does indeed go over 4GHz. Sorry, probably a flase alarm?

 

[Megahertz07]

I use Open Hardware Monitor - Core temp, fan speed and voltages in a free software gadget
You can configure to show what you want.

 

[martinlest]

I may give it a try, thanks. I've used the All CPU Meter for years and am kind of used to it (and its easy-to-read graphic interface), but if it's not giving the full picture, probably time to move on! Does the Open Hardware Monitor use Core Temp?

 

[Megahertz07]

The main page of Open Hardware Monitor has a lot more info, divided in MB, CPU, Memory, disks etc.
There are two places that you can configure to show what you want: Tray and Gadget. On the image above you can see that on my tray it's only CPU package temp and on the gadget I've set to show more items.
You don't install. I've expanded under C:\Program Files (x86)\HardwareMonitor, executed (*.exe) and configured what to show and to start with windows (Options).