I5 6600k at 4.1GHz idle reports show in HWMonitor with attached screenshot
I5 6600k at 4.1GHz idle reports show in HWMonitor with attached screenshot
Hi,
I have an i5 6600K (3.5GHz) with an Asus Z170A motherboard. I ran an auto tune for the CPU, which essentially asked if I was using it for daily tasks or gaming. It then inquired about the cooler type and told me I could get an extra 20% performance boost. I clicked OK.
I believe this was a variable overclock—it would increase speed when needed, like during games, but return to normal speeds when idle. According to HWMONITOR, it should reach up to 4.1GHz.
I checked HWMonitor and noticed two unusual points: the CPU core numbers listed are 0, 2, 4, and 6, which I hadn’t seen before, and the clock speed stays at 4.1 GHz even when idle, which was also unexpected.
SCREENSHOT AT BOTTOM
https://ibb.co/n8Mv85
Any suggestions on what might be happening? Should I reset my BIOS to factory settings? Thanks a lot!
Something is really glitched out, I've never seen monitoring software say core 0 2 4 6, it should be 0123. You've got the strangest bug I've ever seen.
Either way, don't overclock with software would be my recommendation. Use your max overclock from the AI, reset the BIOS, then manually overclock to that frequency the old school way.
I understand, it wasn't always referred to that way. The main clock wasn't consistently stuck at 4100MHz either. I'll restart the BIOS and try again.
I have reset everything, including my RAM to factory settings. HWMonitor still shows CPU cores 0,2,4 and 6. This is really odd and I haven’t encountered this problem elsewhere online. My CPU is now running at stock speeds. It has a "turbo boost" of 3.9 GHz, and when I check HWMonitor, it always shows all cores at 3.9GHz even when idle. I’m not sure if that’s normal, any suggestions on why my CPU stays at this speed? It should only increase when needed.
Consider updating your BIOS. It might mean your motherboard is malfunctioning.
The simplest method is to download the .CAP file from the Asus website, attach it to a FAT32 formatted USB drive, and flash it using the BIOS settings. Alternatively, you can download it online while in the BIOS, but be cautious as incorrect steps may damage your board.
I've been changing BIOS settings for years, more than a hundred times. I haven't ever damaged a motherboard. You'll only brick it if you do something extremely wrong, like turning off the PC while the BIOS is updating.
I use the website, but I've tried the internet through the BIOS several times and it never gets the latest version.
Sorry to keep bothering you Techy.... but...
If I’m going to flash my Asus Z170A board, I need to ...
- Visit the Asus website to locate the LATEST bios (.cap file).
- Save it and simply drag it onto a 4GB USB drive (does it require a FAT32 file system?). (Can I use any USB port as long as it’s not a front panel USB port?)
- Restart the board into BIOS, then reset it to factory settings.
- Open EZ Flash Utility 3 and select "Update from USB".
- Locate the .CAP file on the USB stick and click "Update".
-Hold on – sometimes you have to wait 2–3 minutes during the reboot after the update (I’ve even heard Asus Z170 boards ask you to repeat the process twice when updating to a brand new BIOS version).
Does that sound correct? Thanks in advance—it’s really appreciated.
It's not necessary to set the BIOS to factory defaults; the update will handle that automatically.
The system should work with FAT32 format.