After overclocking, two cores may perform slower than the other two.
After overclocking, two cores may perform slower than the other two.
I recently increased my Athlon X4 860K's clock to 4.3 GHz, but AMD Overdrive only activates two of the four cores at that frequency. The remaining two cores operate near 1.7 GHz even under stress tests. Adjusting the voltage in AMD Overdrive resolves this issue by bringing all cores up to full speed. Is there a method to achieve this without relying on Overdrive each time I start my PC?
Cool N Quiet doesn't need to be activated for optimal processor support. This could point to a problem with the BIOS or the Catalyst driver. It's recommended to run the Wagnard tools DDU, clear all AMD software, and then reinstall the AMD chipset drivers from the provided link. If you're using an AMD card, installing the latest AMD catalyst drivers is also advised. Cool N Quiet permits CPU core speed fluctuations, which might be unwanted if you're trying to prevent them. Setting the power profile to 100% on both minimum and maximum could override this, but you can leave it unchanged if preferred.
Consider accessing the control panel power settings, select the change plan profile option, then go to advanced settings and adjust the processor power management to set both minimum and maximum usage at 100%. Also, ensure the cooling policy in that section is activated instead of passive. I think switching the entire profile to "performance" should achieve the same result, but if other advanced configurations are in place you might prefer modifying only those specific parameters as described.
I recently increased my Athlon X4 860K to 4.3 GHz, yet AMD Overdrive only activates two of the four cores at full speed. The remaining two operate near 1.7 GHz even under stress tests. However, adjusting the voltage slightly in AMD Overdrive brings all four cores up to 4.3 GHz. Is there a method to run all four cores at maximum without constantly using AMD Overdrive each time I start my PC?
One reason is that you’re not operating in high performance mode, so the CPU multipliers aren’t fully utilized. Only when needed do they reach their maximum. You can also unpark your CPU cores. To do this, copy the registry entry below between the brackets: [0cc5b647-c1df-4637-891a-dec35c318583].
Select your start button.
In the search bar, type “regedit”.
Go to Edit -> Find -> Find next.
Paste the registry key without quotes, then click Find.
Once found, locate the keys on the right labeled MinValue and MaxValue.
Double-click each value and ensure both are set to ‘0’.
Close the registry editor and restart your computer.
Power on the machine again.
Core Parking should now be disabled.
Now all four cores will run evenly, you can verify by opening Task Manager, then Resource Monitor, CPU, and check if any core is marked as parked.
Darkbreeze :
Windows manages to park and unpark cores automatically when needed, particularly on newer systems, and does so quite smoothly. I haven't had to unpark cores on any operating system since Windows Vista. For certain games like Battlefield 4, it's crucial to do so (especially with multi-core CPUs), and I can confirm this by seeing performance improvements after unparking cores in titles such as BF4, Hots, Gta5.
I recently increased my Athlon X4 860K to 4.3 GHz, but AMD Overdrive only had 2 cores running at full speed. The remaining 2 were around 1.7 GHz even under stress tests. But adjusting the voltage in AMD Overdrive brought all 4 cores up to 4.3 GHz. Is there a way to run all 4 cores at full speed without constantly using AMD Overdrive each time I start my PC? Yes, Darkbreeze suggested switching to high performance mode in power options, which keeps the CPU running at maximum frequencies continuously.
I recently increased my Athlon X4 860K to 4.3 GHz, yet AMD Overdrive only activates two of the four cores at full speed. The remaining two operate near 1.7 GHz even under stress tests. When I adjust the voltage slightly in AMD Overdrive, all four cores reach 4.3 GHz. Is there a method to ensure every core runs at maximum without constantly using AMD Overdrive each time I start my PC?
One reason is that you’re not operating in high performance mode, so the CPU’s multipliers aren’t fully utilized unless needed. You can also unpark your cores, which distributes the workload evenly instead of concentrating it on just two. To unpark the CPU cores, copy the following registry entry between the brackets [ 0cc5b647-c1df-4637-891a-dec35c318583 ]:
Select your start button.
On the search bar type in “regedit”.
Go to edit->find->find next.
Paste the registry key but without quotes “0cc5b647-c1df-4637-891a-dec35c318583” and click find.
Once found, locate the keys on the right labeled MinValue and MaxValue.
Double-click each value and confirm they’re set to ‘0’.
Close the registry editor and shut down your computer.
Power it back up.
Core Parking should now be disabled.
Now all four cores are active. You can verify if a core is parked by opening Task Manager, then Resource Monitor, CPU, and check the right side for “cores are parked.”
Neither enabling high performance mode nor unparking the cores resolved the issue; I discovered it was due to AMD Cool and Quiet being disabled. Turning them on seems to bring all four cores up to full speed.
Cool N Quiet doesn't need to be activated for optimal processor support. This could point to a problem with the BIOS or the Catalyst driver. It's recommended to run the Wagnard tools DDU, clear all AMD software, and then reinstall the AMD chipset drivers from the provided link. If you're using an AMD card, installing the latest AMD catalyst drivers is also advised. Cool N Quiet permits CPU core speed fluctuations, which might be unwanted if you're trying to prevent them. Setting the power profile to 100% on both min and max could override this, but you can leave it unchanged if preferred. You're now all set.
Darkbreeze :
Cool N Quiet isn't necessary for full processor support. This might point to a problem with the BIOS or the Catalyst driver. It's recommended to run the Wagnard tools DDU, clear all AMD software, and then reinstall the AMD chipset drivers here:
http://support.amd.com/en-us/download/ch...s+8.1+-+64
After that, install the newest AMD catalyst drivers if you're using an AMD card. Cool N Quiet lets the CPU adjust core speeds, which could be unwanted if you're trying to avoid fluctuations. Setting the power profile to 100% on both min and max might override this, but you can leave it as is. Either way, good job resolving it.
I have the power profile at 100% min and 100% max, and the core speed only changes between 4.28 and 4.3 GHz during games, so it seems acceptable. Thank you for your assistance—I'll follow your instructions to check if I should keep Cool and Quiet enabled.