Underclocking AMD Phenom II X6 1055T

[TheMouse]

What can I do to lower the power usage of this CPU when I'm not running my power hungry multithreaded apps?

I have the 125 watt version and would love to get to use much less than that. Well, obviously it runs less than that at light load, but I mean comparable to a 65 watt or so.

Thx

 

[Rifter]

Doesn't cool N quiet drop multi/voltage under idle/light loads?

I know i had to disable it when i was running my 940BE overclocked but if you are running stock speeds C n Q should be doing that for you shouldnt it?

 

[bryanW1995]

for underclocking, please consult the sissy forum

 

[TheMouse]

Doesn't cool N quiet drop multi/voltage under idle/light loads?

I know i had to disable it when i was running my 940BE overclocked but if you are running stock speeds C n Q should be doing that for you shouldnt it?

C n Q does do that, but only to an extent. I'm pretty sure I can get it lower by underclocking.

The other thing is that I use the "Turbo Button" mode my ASUS motherboard to switch between stock (2.8 ghz) and 4Ghz. This requires me to disable C n Q.

I'd like to set the Turbo Button to switch between something even more efficient than stock and the 4ghz.

 

[Rifter]

for underclocking, please consult the sissy forum

nice

I must admit ive been thinking of under clocking alot lately but for a HTPC not my main rig.

I guess its just opposite of overclocking. lower voltage and clock speeds till its stable and still fast enough for what you need to do.

I think if you could make custom speedstep or C n Q profiles and set voltage/multis and when it switches profiles that would be ideal.

 

[Rifter]

C n Q does do that, but only to an extent. I'm pretty sure I can get it lower by underclocking.

The other thing is that I use the "Turbo Button" mode my ASUS motherboard to switch between stock (2.8 ghz) and 4Ghz. This requires me to disable C n Q.

I'd like to set the Turbo Button to switch between something even more efficient than stock and the 4ghz.

i see, I read this after my response above.

That does make sense, doesnt AMD make some software based overclocking software, can you have profiles setup with it? that might get you what you are after.

 

[TheMouse]

i see, I read this after my response above.

That does make sense, doesnt AMD make some software based overclocking software, can you have profiles setup with it? that might get you what you are after.

Thanks Rifterut. I'll look into the software. As you might be able to tell, I've been out of the game for a while. I've been using strictly laptops for too long. Boy have things changed since last time I put together a rig!

 

[bryanW1995]

easiest thing to do is to find out your ideal operating speed, then just keep dropping vcore until it loses stability. leave cnq enabled and it will drop even more when not in use.

 

[Rifter]

I think this is it

http://game.amd.com/us-en/drivers_overdrive.aspx?p=1

 

[TheMouse]

I came across this:

http://aspiregemstone.blogspot.com/2009/06/k10stat-amd-griffin-processor.html

Looks promising.

 

[fuzzymath10]

I leave my Q8200 at stock speed but reduced voltage from 1.28v to 0.98v. Idle temps are about 5C cooler which is substantial for a small case running all the time. You can tell when you've gone too far; at 0.96v I started getting BSODs. Then you just turn it back up a notch.

See how far you can take down the voltage without needing to adjust clocks. I was quite impressed at how much I could reduce mine.

 

[Jovec]

CnQ is .... underwhelming on the Thubans. 1.3v stock down to only 1.225v. Compare to x4s which go from 1.4v down to 1.0v.

Undervolting will lower your CnQ volts, but only by the same 0.075v You'd have to find some software that allows you to manually set the CnQ voltage if such software exists.

 

[JimmiG]

Must be very annoying having to manually switch between underclocked/normal modes depending on the workload. I had to do something similar with my Phenom I because of its broken Cool n Quiet, but with my Phenom II I just let CnQ do its thing - The CPU probably spends 80% of the time at 800 MHz and 0.96V. I've also seen it stop at an intermediate 2.x GHz for short periods. Has AMD really messed up Cool n Quiet yet again with the X6?