# Does having speedstep or C1E enabled deduct from gaming performance?



## Black Panther (Nov 17, 2011)

So I'm using an E8400 for my gaming rig (please see rest of system specs below avatar).

I overclocked it, been stable for over a year now, from 3Ghz to 4Ghz.

Thing is that I browse the net a lot from this pc too, so I thought it was a pity to let the cpu hum at 4Ghz all the time. So I enabled Speedstep which reduces the multiplier to x6 when the cpu isn't under load. The effect is that while under load my CPU runs @ 445 BUS x 9 = 4Ghz, and while not under load it runs at 445 BUS x 6 = 2.67 Ghz.

My question is this:

*Does this setting affect my performance in-game?* *Or can I rest assured that my cpu is always running at 4Ghz while gaming?*

Thanks.


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## EarthDog (Nov 17, 2011)

You can rest assured that your CPU is always running at 4Ghz while *there is a load on it* gaming.


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## cadaveca (Nov 17, 2011)

only affects HDD performance on P67/Z68, will offer slower HDD performance when disabled in some situations. Otherwise, no worries.


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## qubit (Nov 17, 2011)

EarthDog is of course right. However, while running on the desktop, the CPU does slow down. and I believe that even doing things such as moving windows around, scrolling web pages etc probably doesn't speed it up. If someone can confirm this or unconfirm this, I'd be grateful.

I've got the E8500 CPU at 4.11GHz and I "want to get my money's worth" and have this sucker delivering 4 gigs the whole time and have that show in Windows Computer properties , so I have turned off all the power saving features in the BIOS. Result: the computer feels the same, CPU runs just a little hotter and I feel happier. 

It's possible that in certain scenarios in games should there be a glitch, then the power saving might kick in momentarily and cause hitches in the animation. I can't remember having seen this myself, though.


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## Frick (Nov 17, 2011)

qubit said:


> EarthDog is of course right. However, while running on the desktop, the CPU does slow down. and I believe that even doing things such as moving windows around, scrolling web pages etc probably doesn't speed it up. If someone can confirm this or unconfirm this, I'd be grateful.



Why would it speed up when doing that?


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## qubit (Nov 17, 2011)

Frick said:


> Why would it speed up when doing that?



Because it's processing something significant. However, I don't know the criteria for the various power saving states to kick in, so I'm not sure.


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## Tatty_One (Nov 17, 2011)

Browsing is not really significant in CPU terms, more like a yawn rather than a fully fledged cough


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## NdMk2o1o (Nov 17, 2011)

Frick said:


> Why would it speed up when doing that?





qubit said:


> Because it's processing something significant. However, I don't know the criteria for the various power saving states to kick in, so I'm not sure.



Qubit is actually right even doing mundane tasks such as web browsing, moving windows etc, it will fluctuate up, heck just moving your mouse about fast enough when power saving is enabled is enough to cause frequency spikes, though for the most part it will stay at a low frequency when undertaking simple tasks like that aside from a few spikes


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## Frick (Nov 17, 2011)

qubit said:


> Because it's processing something significant. However, I don't know the criteria for the various power saving states to kick in, so I'm not sure.



I don't think it even needs to speed up when doing that. It's significant yes, but it does not require a whole lot of CPU power.

---

-

I'll be danged. The CPU does speed up when dragging them around. First it goes to 2 Ghz and then to 3.2. Interesting.

EDIT: Moving the mouse around like crazy for a bit made it go to 3.2 as well.


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## qubit (Nov 17, 2011)

NdMk2o1o said:


> Qubit is actually right even doing mundane tasks such as web browsing, moving windows etc, it will fluctuate up, heck just moving your mouse about fast enough when power saving is enabled is enough to cause frequency spikes, though for the most part it will stay at a low frequency when undertaking simple tasks like that aside from a few spikes





Frick said:


> I don't think it even needs to speed up when doing that. It's significant yes, but it does not require a whole lot of CPU power.
> 
> ---
> 
> ...



Yes, that's right, I saw that too. So you can see why I want my 4 gigs the whole time!  It's a flipping desktop, I don't have to worry about the batteries running down, lol.


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## NdMk2o1o (Nov 17, 2011)

Frick said:


> I don't think it even needs to speed up when doing that. It's significant yes, but it does not require a whole lot of CPU power.
> 
> ---
> 
> ...



Told ya so 

But tbh in normal everyday usage it's really not significant and you'll find for the most part it doesn't make too much of a difference and general use will result in low CPU frequency


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## Mussels (Nov 17, 2011)

no, theres no difference. if its stable to have it on, leave it on - save some power and heat.


you're more likely to suffer performance problems from thermal throttling than you are from speedstep.


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## qubit (Nov 17, 2011)

Mussels said:


> *no, theres no difference.* if its stable to have it on, leave it on - save some power and heat.
> 
> 
> you're more likely to suffer performance problems from thermal throttling than you are from speedstep.



Oh, there's a difference all right - Windows reports a lower clock speed. Can't be having that!


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## Mussels (Nov 17, 2011)

qubit said:


> Oh, there's a difference all right - Windows reports a lower clock speed. Can't be having that!



no, windows doesnt. real time apps like CPU-Z do however.


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## qubit (Nov 17, 2011)

Mussels said:


> no, windows doesnt. real time apps like CPU-Z do however.



I have seen it show a slower speed, which damages my ego.


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## johnspack (Nov 18, 2011)

I'd say under core2 arch,  yes,  under i7 arch,  no.....


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## AsRock (Nov 18, 2011)

Never had a issue with the Maximus mobo and this giga mobo same deal thats with a E8400 and a Q9550.

If i remember right you can use Riva Tuner to monitor your CPU speed \ Usage in game.  And ATI Tray tool does for sure.


And no browsing the net don't speed it up.


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## Mussels (Nov 18, 2011)

AsRock said:


> And no browsing the net don't speed it up.



dragging a window around makes it speed up. it just slows down as soon as you're done.

edit: these speed changes can occur hundreds of times a second.


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## Red_Machine (Nov 18, 2011)

I always understood from BIOS descriptions that disabling SpeedStep put the CPU in it's slowest factory eco-power mode and would not clock up to its standard speed (i.e. 733MHz on my 1GHz Pentium III).  So I've always left it on.


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## imperialreign (Nov 18, 2011)

Mussels said:


> dragging a window around makes it speed up. it just slows down as soon as you're done.
> 
> edit: these speed changes can occur hundreds of times a second.



Correct.  It's even harder to see with quads.

I have run into the rare instance, though, when having C1E enabled led to a SYS crash - but these were usually with very heavy CPU tasks, where the application went into a brief idle mode, and then threw a massive load of work back at the CPU.  For example, some benchmarking apps.

It's rare, though.

But, when in game, it's a constant load, so there shouldn't be any worries at all.


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## slyfox2151 (Nov 18, 2011)

Red_Machine said:


> I always understood from BIOS descriptions that disabling SpeedStep put the CPU in it's slowest factory eco-power mode and would not clock up to its standard speed (i.e. 733MHz on my 1GHz Pentium III).  So I've always left it on.



things have well and truly changed since the P3 days 

this is not the case. it will run full speed.


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## Mussels (Nov 18, 2011)

Red_Machine said:


> I always understood from BIOS descriptions that disabling SpeedStep put the CPU in it's slowest factory eco-power mode and would not clock up to its standard speed (i.e. 733MHz on my 1GHz Pentium III).  So I've always left it on.



locks it to highest, not lowest - except for a few weird OEM systems where i;ve seen it the other way around (socket 478 era)


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## Red_Machine (Nov 18, 2011)

All of the systems I've seen with SpeedStep say it will lock the CPU to its "lowest performance state", which to me translates as "slowest".


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## AsRock (Nov 18, 2011)

Mussels said:


> dragging a window around makes it speed up. it just slows down as soon as you're done.
> 
> edit: these speed changes can occur hundreds of times a second.



Yes you are right.. Just checked it with CPU-Z.  But i don't tend to drag the window around if i am browsing the net.


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## slyfox2151 (Nov 18, 2011)

lol i thort all of the above info was common knowledge


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## imperialreign (Nov 18, 2011)

slyfox2151 said:


> lol i thort all of the above info was common knowledge



It might be more common knowledge if board manufacturers would actually put a decent description in the manuals of what specifically BIOS settings do . . . instead of leaving it to us OCers to figure it out ourselves


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