What is this thing called "GT frequency"

[zac14001]

Sup fellas.. i was exploring around in my bios when i was overclocking and i came across this thing called GT frequency.. I am curious as to what it means and what it does.. does it make coffee in the morning?

 

[DJDeCiBeL]

"GT Frequency" is the integrated graphics frequency of Intel CPU's. Also, from what I can tell, it seems to be the way ASRock, in particular, describes it in some of their BIOS's (I know Asus doesn't use that terminology in my P8Z68-V LE BIOS). If you don't use the iGPU, it's not really important.

 

[zac14001]

Best answer selected by zac14001.

 

[zac14001]

"GT Frequency" is the integrated graphics frequency of Intel CPU's. Also, from what I can tell, it seems to be the way ASRock, in particular, describes it in some of their BIOS's (I know Asus doesn't use that terminology in my P8Z68-V LE BIOS). If you don't use the iGPU, it's not really important.

ok, so i heard about this lucid virtu thing. so if i were to increase this and add on a graphics card, would it increase the performance? thanks for the reply. i was overclocking and i offset the voltage too high so it crashed lol.. now its at .065 and its running fine (at 4.2 ghz in 55 degrees celcius temps under full load)

 

[DJDeCiBeL]

ok, so i heard about this lucid virtu thing. so if i were to increase this and add on a graphics card, would it increase the performance?

Nah, increasing that wouldn't increase performance with Virtu I don't think.

What Virtu MVP does, mainly, is provide smoother V-Sync performance (less tearing), from what I know about it. That shouldn't really be affected by the iGPU frequency at all, I wouldn't think. It wouldn't give you more FPS, or anything (because it's V-Sync, obviously).

Also, if it's just normal Virtu and not Virtu MVP (Z68 instead of Z77), you'll actually have worse performance with Virtu enabled. Normal Virtu is kind of a fail in that department.

 

[zac14001]

Nah, increasing that wouldn't increase performance with Virtu I don't think.

What Virtu MVP does, mainly, is provide smoother V-Sync performance (less tearing), from what I know about it. That shouldn't really be affected by the iGPU frequency at all, I wouldn't think. It wouldn't give you more FPS, or anything (because it's V-Sync, obviously).

Also, if it's just normal Virtu and not Virtu MVP (Z68 instead of Z77), you'll actually have worse performance with Virtu enabled. Normal Virtu is kind of a fail in that department.

i have the z77 extreme4 so can i get virtu MVP?

 

[DJDeCiBeL]

i have the z77 extreme4 so can i get virtu MVP?

Yes (if the board is Virtu certified. You won't be able to install or use it if not), but as I said, it won't give you more FPS, just smoother gameplay with V-Sync enabled.

Edit: That board CAN be used with Virtu MVP. I just did a Google search to be sure.

Regardless, Virtu's main draw is the ability to be able to use the iGPU for Quick Sync (video encoding).

 

[zac14001]

Yes (if the board is Virtu certified. You won't be able to install or use it if not), but as I said, it won't give you more FPS, just smoother gameplay with V-Sync enabled.

Edit: That board CAN be used with Virtu MVP. I just did a Google search to be sure.

ok so it doesn't decrease performance or anything? does it stress the GPU more?

 

[DJDeCiBeL]

ok so it doesn't decrease performance or anything? does it stress the GPU more?

No, no more FPS, but not really any less either (like previous version of Virtu did). It doesn't stress the dedicated GPU any more at all (it actually takes some of the load off of it with V-Sync enabled, like I was saying). It DOES however stress the iGPU, since it's actually being used.

Honestly, you shouldn't even worry about using it at all, unless you want to encode videos with Quuick Sync. The gaming benefits are negligible.

 

[zac14001]

No, no more FPS, but not really any less either (like previous version of Virtu did). It doesn't stress the dedicated GPU any more at all (it actually takes some of the load off of it with V-Sync enabled, like I was saying). It DOES however stress the iGPU, since it's actually being used.

so the iGPU being the integrated graphics from the processor? also out of curiosity.. what is your ram setup and do you have an ivy bridge? z77 extreme4 mobo?

 

[DJDeCiBeL]

so the iGPU being the integrated graphics from the processor? also out of curiosity.. what is your ram setup and do you have an ivy bridge? z77 extreme4 mobo?

Yes, the iGPU is the integrated graphics on the CPU.

My ram setup is 8GB of G.Skill Ripjaws 1600 (2x4GB) in Dual Channel. And no, I have a 2500K with an Asus P8Z68-V LE board.

This board can only be used with a previous version of Virtu (not Virtu MVP), which actually causes worse gaming performance (even though it's supposed to help), so I've only ever used it to be able to use the Quick Sync feature of the iGPU for video encoding.

 

[zac14001]

Yes, the iGPU is the integrated graphics on the CPU.

My ram setup is 8GB of G.Skill Ripjaws 1600 (2x4GB) in Dual Channel. And no, I have a 2500K with an Asus P8Z68-V LE board.

This board can only be used with a previous version of Virtu (not Virtu MVP), which actually causes worse gaming performance (even though it's supposed to help), so I've only ever used it to be able to use the Quick Sync feature of the iGPU for video encoding.

o ok.. thanks for thhe helpd. do you overclock your ram? i'm still trying to settle in when the overclocking.. i just built it about 3 days ago. everything worked fine. i did it all by myself and i'm 15 so i overcame all the challenges. never saw the inside of a computer my entire life. and tbh, installing the ram was the most difficult thing.

 

[zac14001]

Nah, I don't OC the RAM. It's pointless anyway, since 1600 is PLENTY fast enough and is the "butter zone" for Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge CPU's. After 1600, the performance gains are microscopic (1-3%, even going from 1600 to 2133). Nothing you would ever notice or get any benefit from, so it's just not worth it.

o ok. i enabled xmp recently. should it increase overall performance?

 

[DJDeCiBeL]

Nah, I don't OC the RAM. It's pointless anyway, since 1600 is PLENTY fast enough and is the "butter zone" for Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge CPU's. After 1600, the performance gains are microscopic (1-3%, even going from 1600 to 2133). Nothing you would ever notice or get any benefit from, so it's just not worth it.

 

[DJDeCiBeL]

o ok. i enabled xmp recently. should it increase overall performance?

XMP is what the RAM is SUPPOSED to be running at anyway (since it even has a XNP profile), so what you did was just set it to it's normal rated stock speed.

Anyway, assuming you went from 1333 to 1600, the difference is VERY small. Honestly, 1333 RAM itself is plenty fast enough for almost anything, and 1600 is just gravy added on top.

Will you notice the difference? Almost definitely not, but you might as well use the RAM like it was intended to be used anyway (which you are, with the XMP profile enabled).

 

[zac14001]

XMP is what the RAM is SUPPOSED to be running at anyway (since it even has a XNP profile), so what you did was just set it to it's normal rated stock speed.

Anyway, assuming you went from 1333 to 1600, the difference is VERY small. Honestly, 1333 RAM itself is plenty fast enough for almost anything, and 1600 is just gravy added on top.

Will you notice the difference? Almost definitely not, but you might as well use the RAM like it was intended to be used anyway (which you are, with the XMP profile enabled).

ok.. sorry to get off topic but i just checked my frequency ATM, at it keeps saying its at 3400 MHz when i set it to 4200 MHz.. WTF?!?!

 

[DJDeCiBeL]

ok.. sorry to get off topic but i just checked my frequency ATM, at it keeps saying its at 3400 MHz when i set it to 4200 MHz.. WTF?!?!

I'm about to leave for a bit, so I'll get back to you when I get back, but I don't quite understand what you're saying there.

What CPU is it and what program are you getting the speed from?

 

[zac14001]

I'm about to leave for a bit, so I'll get back to you when I get back, but I don't quite understand what you're saying there.

What CPU is it and what program are you getting the speed from?

its an i5 3570k, i use core temp and the asrock extreme utility tuner. is it because its idling? i posted a new thread so if you know, perhaps you can post it there. basically, it reads that the cpu is at 2500 mhz then it switches back to 3400 mhz and back in forth in that spectrum.. weird..