i3 4370 shows 3.72ghz instead of 3.8ghz in windows task manager

Tim_Point_O · Feb 24, 2015

My i3 4370 should run at 3.8ghz, but task manager shows it anywhere from 3.65ghz to 3.76ghz, but it's usually 3.72. CPU-Z shows 3.799ghz. This CPU has no turbo boost, so I'm not sure why the speeds vary at all. Any ideas?

Thanks for the help.

Karsten75 · Feb 25, 2015

But it does have Intel Speedstep that can adjust frequency down. and 3.799 is 3.8 for all intents and purposes.

Tim_Point_O · Feb 25, 2015

I had already tried disabling speedstep, and nothing changed. Even if speedstep was working, why would it drop frequency by only 100mhz?

And yes, I agree 3.799 = 3.8, but why does task manager never go above 3.74, even while running prime 95?

CPUz always shows 3.799, no matter if the computer is idle or running prime95. There's no speedstep kicking in.

Tim_Point_O · Feb 25, 2015

I guess my question is this: is CPU-Z correct, task manager wrong, and does it matter if there is a discrepancy between the two?

Tim_Point_O · Feb 26, 2015

Is this a unique problem? I haven't found anyone online that has had the exact same issue. I've seen incorrect speeds reported by task manager when people overclock, but my system is completely stock.

GhislainG · Feb 28, 2015

Is the bus speed exactly 100 MHz? Between us, you can't easily measure and notice a difference of .08 MHz. If you really need to know, then using a scope to check the frequency would be best.

Edit: The motherboard provides the base clock.

GhislainG · Feb 28, 2015

What are you running when checking it? Prime95 to keep it 100% busy?

DubbleClick · Feb 28, 2015

First: where is your problem? Even if task manager was accurate (it is not, you can trust cpu-z there) there would be no problem at all. 3.72 ghz instead of 3.8 would be caused by bus speed lower than 100mhz, but that speed difference would be like 0,5% at most, so why worry.

Tim_Point_O · Feb 28, 2015

Bus speed is 99.98 mhz, according to cpuz. And yes, prime95 was used to keep the cores at 100%.

Thanks for the help.

Tim_Point_O · Feb 28, 2015

I'll also add that when prime 95 was running, task manager showed 99% CPU usage, if that matters.

GhislainG · Feb 28, 2015

99% for Prime95 or for the CPU? What OS and is Hyper-V enabled?

Tim_Point_O · Feb 28, 2015

99% for the CPU. Windows 8.1 pro, hyper-v not enabled.

GhislainG · Feb 28, 2015

You're not losing much performance, but the issue may be caused by the bus speed that's slightly below 100 MHz. What motherboard do you have?

Tim_Point_O · Feb 28, 2015

Asus H97i-plus

GhislainG · Mar 1, 2015

In reviews they also report a 99.8 MHz BLCK. However the total system performance doesn't seem to be affected.

Tim_Point_O · Mar 1, 2015

So, should I go into the uefi and manually set the blck and bus to 100mhz, if possible? I think the blck has settings for 100 and 133, iirc.

GhislainG · Mar 1, 2015

100 actually is 99.8 on that motherboard. If the bus clock is more important than overall performance, then buy a different motherboard. First read reviews to make sure the BCLK is 100 or slightly higher. Overall system performance most likely won't be better, but you'll be more satisfied if it meets your goal. http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/6584/gigabyte-z97n-gaming-5-intel-z97-mini-itx-motherboard-review/index4.html That one has a 100.51MHz bus speed. Personally I wouldn't replace a very good motherboard because the bus speed only is 99.8 MHz.

Tim_Point_O · Mar 1, 2015

It seems odd that a motherboard wouldn't run a cpu at full speed. In my case, the difference is nearly 100mhz. They release entirely different CPUs with that much speed difference.

GhislainG · Mar 1, 2015

Why don't you use Intel XTU to monitor it? You'll see the reference clock, CPU temperature, utilization, frequency, number of active cores, etc.

Tim_Point_O · Mar 1, 2015

That's a good idea.

Tim_Point_O · Mar 2, 2015

Intel XTU shows 3.8ghz, solid, all the time. Everything looks good while running the benchmark. I'll just assume task manager is incorrect. Thanks to everyone who helped.

DubbleClick · Mar 2, 2015

Didn't I already say that?

Tim_Point_O · Mar 2, 2015

Yep, you did, but I didn't believe it until I had more than one utility contradicting task manager. XTU has built in benchmarking and real time monitoring, so I was more comfortable trusting it over cpuz.

i3 4370 shows 3.72ghz instead of 3.8ghz in windows task manager

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