Why is my CPU clocking itself to 3.7?

[Deleted]

Hey guys,

I recently got a new PC but I didn't buy a CPU cooler with it because of budget reasons. So with the stock cooler, I decided I wasn't going to OC yet (even if it could handle it). I got the i5 2500k and the ASUS P8Z68-Pro board.

Now, my CPU is auto clocking itself to 3.7 (100@37), with me (90% sure anyway) doing nothing.

• I have set the BIOS back to default settings, and touched nothing - the OC is still present.
• I have checked the TPU switch, which is set to Default (off).
• I have AI Suite II installed, and I am pretty sure I haven't touched anything but this could be the cause.
• The BIOS shows CPU clock speed as 3300mhz, but when I get into windows and check CPU-Z it is up to 3700 (so could be software thing).
• The PC did used to be 3.3 about a week ago, but a few days ago I noticed the CPU temps were higher than usual and checked the clock. (I honestly don't think I have touched anything, but the situation seems to hint that I have changed 'something').
• The voltage is also (auto raised?) up to 1.312 which could be one of the causes of the extra heat.

If anyone could help that would be great, I just want it back to its standard 3.3 until I get a better cooler (and read up on OCing so I don't screw anything up). Its not a big deal with the OC, its not much, but still its getting to 65C in games and 50C idle (up from 30C idle).

Thanks in advance
Clampy

[taekvideo]

3.7ghz is the turbo speed... it does that by default, that's not an overclock, it's perfectly normal.
If the temps get too high it'll drop back to 3.3 on the fly.
65c is a perfectly safe and normal temp.

edit:
I think the temp of about 72c or so is where it turns off turbo boost and drops back to 3.3ghz.... it's not in a danger zone till 80ish so don't worry so much ^^

[Shaqu]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turbo_Boost

[Deleted]

3.7ghz is the turbo speed... it does that by default, that's not an overclock, it's perfectly normal.
If the temps get too high it'll drop back to 3.3 on the fly.
65c is a perfectly safe and normal temp.

edit:
I think the temp of about 72c or so is where it turns off turbo boost and drops back to 3.3ghz.... it's not in a danger zone till 80ish so don't worry so much ^^

Pretty much this right here, it's nothing to worry about. Interesting to think that a couple of short years ago a CPU that auto overclocked itself was unthinkable.

Anyway, if your worried about it, then you can normally either turn it off in the Bios, or if your on a laptop you can fiddle with the power options. But 65c is well within the thermal limits for the CPU

[refire]

I got a hyper 212 for 19 dollars at Fry's. I don't know how strict your budget is but I went from 55-60 C idles down to 28-31. On full load in BF3 it's not breaking 65 C. From what I've read and others have said, it's not much to worry about with your temps and I don't believe it will auto shut off til 96C but for 19 bucks it seems like lowering your temps by that much would be well worth it. I also have mine OC'd to 4.4 with those temps. Granted I imagine I messed up putting the stock cooler on when I was getting those high of idle temps but for 19 bucks lowering it by 30C it seems well worth it.

[Deleted]

Thanks for the info guys, I wasn't aware the Turbo was on by default which explains everything.

EDIT: and about the cooler, I had one in mind but for now I decided to go without. So I know what I am getting, just wanted to get the bare minimum to start with and add bits later on.

[Milkshake86]

65c is nothing near trouble area 80c and you should begin to be worried 90c time to turn off your pc 99c and as long as thermal shutdown is enabled your pc will powerdown itself (damage could have happened already) but not 100% that it did.

[Deleted]

Thanks for the info guys, I wasn't aware the Turbo was on by default which explains everything.

EDIT: and about the cooler, I had one in mind but for now I decided to go without. So I know what I am getting, just wanted to get the bare minimum to start with and add bits later on.

a 2500k is far from "bare minimum" ^^ It completely obliterates my AMD PII 965 in every single task.

[Deleted]

a 2500k is far from "bare minimum" ^^ It completely obliterates my AMD PII 965 in every single task.

I meant more,
You get the case, mobo, CPU, RAM, GFX card, PSU: and you can run the PC.
Then you can get HDDs, LEDs, CPU coolers etc etc, stuff that you don't need to run the PC but help make it better. The "bare minimum" is getting the PC up and running.