Downclock Problem in Windows

[paraiso]

I have an Intel 6850K overclocked to 4.3GHz on all cores that has been running with no problems for long, however I suspect after some Windows updates I couldn't get it to reach these frequencies in Windows. The BIOS (Asus Rampage V Edition 10) keeps the correct settings, reports the correct voltages, everything seems to be OK but once in Windows it goes only to 3.8GHz. BIOS is adjusted to keep Asus and not Intel Turbo settings, however I believe this somehow changes in Windows and I get the core clock down to a little higher than stock.

The weird thing is that all voltages in Windows are the same as in BIOS and so is the RAM XMP profile - 3.2GHz. The only change is the core clock down to up to 3.8GHz (3.6 stock). Even Intel's default Turbo clock is 4GHz, not really certain why it goes to 3.8GHz. Asus has a Windows overclocking utility that I used to manually change the core clock back to 4.3GHz which however only worked until I restarted. Windows Power Manager is in a Balanced mode where CPU state is from 5 to 100% and I don't see a reason for the downclock there.

Also I deactivated Intel Turbo in-Windows settings and restarted and again the CPU core didn't rise above 3.8GHz. Shall I clear CMOS? What may be causing this behaviour? I used HWInfo and CPU-Z reporting the same.

 

[Buntz]

Try uninstalling windows update #KB4100347. It's the Intel microcode update. It fix the problem for me.

 

[paraiso]

Thanks a lot. After going through a nightmare of BIOS settings, resetting it and flashing it with the last version available from Asus (a beta) that didn't work, I was thinking I was having a serious hardware problem. Like defective MoBo or CPU.

The update would not uninstall although there was an uninstall option. In the end it worked but I couldn't say how. I tried a few times with no success (at least within Windows and its 'uninstall unsuccessful' messages), then went into console Troubleshooting at boot trying to list the drives and get the update cleared from there (although unsuccessful again). In the end after hours of trial and error, after restart it would let me uninstall it from Windows Update and now I have my CPU back to 4.4GHz. It was 4.3 but after playing a bit after the new BIOS flash, I managed to get it stable at 4.4.

Thanks once again. From reading quite a lot about the issue, it seems that MSI and Gigabyte have released BIOS updates about this Intel-Microsoft Spectre/Meltdown misunderstanding (also leading to unbootable systems, disappearing audio, driver issues, fluctuating performance and what not). EVGA and Asus are far behind and no one knows if they will do at all. I can't believe that such serious issues, however forcibly pushed onto users are left with no quality control whatsoever leaving thousands of them in the dark where they are...

 

[hititnquitit]

evga has a beta bios but wont have anything new for a week or so. good to hear you got yours figured out!

 

[Buntz]

It took me awhile to figure it out too.. End up doing a compete reinstall of Windows10. Had it working fine, then started updating Windows and the problem returned. I had no problem uninstalling the update using windows update. It uninstall the update the first time I did it.

 

[paraiso]

I am sorry to hear about the complete reinstall. I was lucky to only revert to the state without the update, although unfortunately I didn't either have a restore point or a back-up to use so I may have ended up the same way. After uninstalling the update however I made a full OS back-up image in case I was forced to install it again and I could not stop it.

There is a tool called "Windows Update MiniTool", you can download it from here, that will allow you to set certain updates as "hidden" so that these are not installed. Overall it provides an all-in-one tool that will let you manage any settings concerning Windows updates from one place. In my case, Windows pushed me to install the update again but requested restart (something that I set to ask before), then I uninstalled it before restarting and after restart it didn't appear back (or I was forced to install it again). Hopefully I am safe for the moment, but I will never install Windows update again without carefully reading what it contains while keep adding regular back-ups.