# High cpu freq, but no cpu usage

## McC0dy

All 4 cores on my Intel i5-2450M are always running on ~1100MHz without any workload. Top shows <1% cpu usage when all graphical interface and networking is turned off.

It still reaches around 60 degrees Celcius when idle, so the fan is always on and the battery life is limited.

cpu governor is powersave:

```

$ cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/cpuinfo_cur_freq

powersave

```

No errors or warnings from dmesg:

```

$ dmesg | grep cpu

[    0.000000] x86 PAT enabled: cpu 0, old 0x7040600070406, new 0x7010600070106

[    0.000000] setup_percpu: NR_CPUS:8 nr_cpumask_bits:8 nr_cpu_ids:8 nr_node_ids:1

[    0.000000] PERCPU: Embedded 27 pages/cpu @ffff8801dfa00000 s79296 r8192 d23104 u262144

[    0.000000] pcpu-alloc: s79296 r8192 d23104 u262144 alloc=1*2097152

[    0.000000] pcpu-alloc: [0] 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 

[    0.067840] cpuidle: using governor ladder

[    0.067841] cpuidle: using governor menu

[    0.947124] [drm] GART: num cpu pages 262144, num gpu pages 262144

[    0.951430] radeon 0000:01:00.0: fence driver on ring 0 use gpu addr 0x0000000040000c00 and cpu addr 0xffff8801d79e0c00

[    0.951432] radeon 0000:01:00.0: fence driver on ring 3 use gpu addr 0x0000000040000c0c and cpu addr 0xffff8801d79e0c0c

[    0.952893] radeon 0000:01:00.0: fence driver on ring 5 use gpu addr 0x0000000000072118 and cpu addr 0xffffc90005032118

[    2.950953] Intel pstate controlling: cpu 0

[    2.950965] Intel pstate controlling: cpu 1

[    2.950973] Intel pstate controlling: cpu 2

[    2.950980] Intel pstate controlling: cpu 3

[   12.704741] radeon 0000:01:00.0: fence driver on ring 0 use gpu addr 0x0000000040000c00 and cpu addr 0xffff8801d79e0c00

[   12.704745] radeon 0000:01:00.0: fence driver on ring 3 use gpu addr 0x0000000040000c0c and cpu addr 0xffff8801d79e0c0c

[   12.706203] radeon 0000:01:00.0: fence driver on ring 5 use gpu addr 0x0000000000072118 and cpu addr 0xffffc90005032118

```

Let me know if you need my .config as well. Thank you.

----------

## Anon-E-moose

what does "cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/scaling_available_frequencies" show

----------

## McC0dy

```

cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/scaling_available_frequencies 

no such file or directory

```

But min and max freq is set:

```

$ cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/scaling_min_freq 

800000

$ cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/scaling_max_freq 

3100000

```

----------

## Anon-E-moose

What does this return "zgrep CPU_FREQ /proc/config.gz"

----------

## McC0dy

 *Anon-E-moose wrote:*   

> What does this return "zgrep CPU_FREQ /proc/config.gz"

 

'/proc/config.gz' does not exist

But  from my .config i get:

```

$ cat /usr/src/linux/.config | grep CPU_FREQ

CONFIG_CPU_FREQ=y

CONFIG_CPU_FREQ_GOV_COMMON=y

# CONFIG_CPU_FREQ_STAT is not set

# CONFIG_CPU_FREQ_DEFAULT_GOV_PERFORMANCE is not set

# CONFIG_CPU_FREQ_DEFAULT_GOV_USERSPACE is not set

# CONFIG_CPU_FREQ_DEFAULT_GOV_ONDEMAND is not set

CONFIG_CPU_FREQ_DEFAULT_GOV_CONSERVATIVE=y

CONFIG_CPU_FREQ_GOV_PERFORMANCE=y

CONFIG_CPU_FREQ_GOV_POWERSAVE=y

CONFIG_CPU_FREQ_GOV_USERSPACE=y

CONFIG_CPU_FREQ_GOV_ONDEMAND=y

CONFIG_CPU_FREQ_GOV_CONSERVATIVE=y

```

----------

## krinn

 *McC0dy wrote:*   

> All 4 cores on my Intel i5-2450M are always running on ~1100MHz without any workload.
> 
> It still reaches around 60 degrees Celcius when idle, so the fan is always on and the battery life is limited.
> 
> 

 

Don't look at your lower your cpu freq, but look why your cpu running ide@1100MHZ still do 60°C !

Some cpu, mb... have securities to protect the cpu, those securities should handle themselves the cpu speed to do their job.

So don't ask why your cpu cannot goes lower or higher that speed, ask why your cpu is that hot at just 1100mhz.

And you could try define any governor, as long as the cpu itself or the bios doesn't agree with your cpu temp, nothing should works until this is fix.

----------

## Anon-E-moose

I agree with krinn, that is rather hot for that freq. 

Is the cpu fan working?

Good airflow into and out of the case?

----------

## McC0dy

 *Anon-E-moose wrote:*   

> I agree with krinn, that is rather hot for that freq. 
> 
> Is the cpu fan working?
> 
> Good airflow into and out of the case?

 

Ok.

The fan is working, and airflow shouldn't be a problem since I cleansed the laptop recently. When in Windows it's cold and fan is off.

Temperature in Ubuntu is high as well, and like in Gentoo cpu usage is <1% - battery is dried out after 90min (vs 360min in Windows).

Full DynTicks is disabled as it should be:

```

$ cat /usr/src/linux/.config | grep CONFIG_NO_HZ     

CONFIG_NO_HZ_COMMON=y

CONFIG_NO_HZ_IDLE=y

# CONFIG_NO_HZ_FULL is not set

# CONFIG_NO_HZ is not set

```

----------

## Ant P.

I don't think it'd make that much of a difference, but do you have cpuidle_intel enabled? (dmesg | grep intel_idle)

Also is it one of those CPUs with integrated graphics? You might need the right drivers even if it's not in use to get it to power-manage that correctly.

----------

## McC0dy

 *Ant P. wrote:*   

> I don't think it'd make that much of a difference, but do you have cpuidle_intel enabled? (dmesg | grep intel_idle)

 

Yes, 'cpuidle_intel' appears to be enabled

 *Ant P. wrote:*   

> Also is it one of those CPUs with integrated graphics? You might need the right drivers even if it's not in use to get it to power-manage that correctly.

 

It has integrated graphics, the right driver is loaded (i915).

Thank you all for trying to help me. i appreciate it.

----------

## Anon-E-moose

what does "cat /proc/cpuinfo" show?

It's beginning to look like the thermal paste might either be dried out or not spread properly

----------

## McC0dy

 *Anon-E-moose wrote:*   

> what does "cat /proc/cpuinfo" show?
> 
> It's beginning to look like the thermal paste might either be dried out or not spread properly

 

Ok, but the temperature in Windows is much lower. Doesn't that make it linux-related?

here's my 'proc/cpuinfo':

```

$ cat /proc/cpuinfo

processor   : 0

vendor_id   : GenuineIntel

cpu family   : 6

model      : 42

model name   : Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2450M CPU @ 2.50GHz

stepping   : 7

microcode   : 0x28

cpu MHz      : 1321.777

cache size   : 3072 KB

physical id   : 0

siblings   : 4

core id      : 0

cpu cores   : 2

apicid      : 0

initial apicid   : 0

fpu      : yes

fpu_exception   : yes

cpuid level   : 13

wp      : yes

flags      : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx rdtscp lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts nopl xtopology nonstop_tsc aperfmperf eagerfpu pni pclmulqdq dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm pcid sse4_1 sse4_2 x2apic popcnt tsc_deadline_timer aes xsave avx lahf_lm ida arat epb xsaveopt pln pts dtherm tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority ept vpid

bogomips   : 4988.56

clflush size   : 64

cache_alignment   : 64

address sizes   : 36 bits physical, 48 bits virtual

power management:

processor   : 1

vendor_id   : GenuineIntel

cpu family   : 6

model      : 42

model name   : Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2450M CPU @ 2.50GHz

stepping   : 7

microcode   : 0x28

cpu MHz      : 1382.031

cache size   : 3072 KB

physical id   : 0

siblings   : 4

core id      : 0

cpu cores   : 2

apicid      : 1

initial apicid   : 1

fpu      : yes

fpu_exception   : yes

cpuid level   : 13

wp      : yes

flags      : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx rdtscp lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts nopl xtopology nonstop_tsc aperfmperf eagerfpu pni pclmulqdq dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm pcid sse4_1 sse4_2 x2apic popcnt tsc_deadline_timer aes xsave avx lahf_lm ida arat epb xsaveopt pln pts dtherm tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority ept vpid

bogomips   : 4988.56

clflush size   : 64

cache_alignment   : 64

address sizes   : 36 bits physical, 48 bits virtual

power management:

processor   : 2

vendor_id   : GenuineIntel

cpu family   : 6

model      : 42

model name   : Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2450M CPU @ 2.50GHz

stepping   : 7

microcode   : 0x28

cpu MHz      : 1083.886

cache size   : 3072 KB

physical id   : 0

siblings   : 4

core id      : 1

cpu cores   : 2

apicid      : 2

initial apicid   : 2

fpu      : yes

fpu_exception   : yes

cpuid level   : 13

wp      : yes

flags      : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx rdtscp lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts nopl xtopology nonstop_tsc aperfmperf eagerfpu pni pclmulqdq dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm pcid sse4_1 sse4_2 x2apic popcnt tsc_deadline_timer aes xsave avx lahf_lm ida arat epb xsaveopt pln pts dtherm tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority ept vpid

bogomips   : 4988.56

clflush size   : 64

cache_alignment   : 64

address sizes   : 36 bits physical, 48 bits virtual

power management:

processor   : 3

vendor_id   : GenuineIntel

cpu family   : 6

model      : 42

model name   : Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2450M CPU @ 2.50GHz

stepping   : 7

microcode   : 0x28

cpu MHz      : 1010.742

cache size   : 3072 KB

physical id   : 0

siblings   : 4

core id      : 1

cpu cores   : 2

apicid      : 3

initial apicid   : 3

fpu      : yes

fpu_exception   : yes

cpuid level   : 13

wp      : yes

flags      : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx rdtscp lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts nopl xtopology nonstop_tsc aperfmperf eagerfpu pni pclmulqdq dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm pcid sse4_1 sse4_2 x2apic popcnt tsc_deadline_timer aes xsave avx lahf_lm ida arat epb xsaveopt pln pts dtherm tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority ept vpid

bogomips   : 4988.56

clflush size   : 64

cache_alignment   : 64

address sizes   : 36 bits physical, 48 bits virtual

power management:

```

I notice that 'power management' is left blank for all threads, is it supposed to be like that?

----------

## Anon-E-moose

Odd, that process has two cores and 4 threads, ie it should show up as 4 processors, but I only see 3.

Do you have turbo enabled, in the bios?

I would look at all the bios that has anything to do with cpu and see if anything looks out of the ordinary.

----------

## McC0dy

 *Anon-E-moose wrote:*   

> Odd, that process has two cores and 4 threads, ie it should show up as 4 processors, but I only see 3.

 

Did you count from 0? I see 0,1,2,3  :Smile: 

 *Anon-E-moose wrote:*   

> Do you have turbo enabled, in the bios?

 

These are my options in bios:

'CPU power saving mode' enabled

'Hyperthreading' enabled

'EDB (Execute disable bit)' enabled

Seems ok doesn't it? I think I have already tried disabling all of them just to try it out, but without luck.

----------

## Anon-E-moose

 *McC0dy wrote:*   

>  *Anon-E-moose wrote:*   Odd, that process has two cores and 4 threads, ie it should show up as 4 processors, but I only see 3. 
> 
> Did you count from 0? I see 0,1,2,3 

 

 :Embarassed: 

----------

## Anon-E-moose

Where are you getting the 60C temp reading?

Edit to add: that particular CPU has a 100C max temp range.

If windows is much lower then it should be achievable under linux or close to it

----------

## McC0dy

 *Anon-E-moose wrote:*   

> Where are you getting the 60C temp reading?

 

From lm-sensors' 'sensors'. Here what it looks like when the temp is stable:

```
$ sensors

acpitz-virtual-0

Adapter: Virtual device

temp1:        +58.0 C  (crit = +99.0 C)

temp2:        +29.8 C  (crit = +99.0 C)

radeon-pci-0100

Adapter: PCI adapter

temp1:       -128.0 C  

coretemp-isa-0000

Adapter: ISA adapter

Physical id 0:  +60.0 C  (high = +86.0 C, crit = +100.0 C)

Core 0:         +59.0 C  (high = +86.0 C, crit = +100.0 C)

Core 1:         +60.0 C  (high = +86.0 C, crit = +100.0 C)
```

----------

## Anon-E-moose

I don't recognize those names.

what is the output of "/usr/sbin/sensors-detect" (only care about what it puts out at the end of what it found)

And post your sensors config file.

----------

## McC0dy

 *Anon-E-moose wrote:*   

> I don't recognize those names.

 

I got the impression that the 'coretemp-isa-0000' because of the 'Core 0' and 'Core 1'

 *Anon-E-moose wrote:*   

> what is the output of "/usr/sbin/sensors-detect" (only care about what it puts out at the end of what it found)

 

Is this it?:

```
Driver `coretemp':

  * Chip `Intel digital thermal sensor' (confidence: 9)
```

'sensors-detect' throws errors about modprobe loading module 'i2c-dev' that doesn't exist - anything to worry about?

 *Anon-E-moose wrote:*   

> And post your sensors config file.

 

Shouldn't it be located in '/etc/sensors.conf? It's not there.

----------

## Anon-E-moose

I believe the latest is "sensors3.conf"

I am running amd but this is the end of sensors-detect.

```
Now follows a summary of the probes I have just done.

Just press ENTER to continue: 

Driver `it87':

  * ISA bus, address 0x290

    Chip `ITE IT8721F/IT8758E Super IO Sensors' (confidence: 9)

Driver `fam15h_power':

  * Chip `AMD Family 15h power sensors' (confidence: 9)

Driver `k10temp' (autoloaded):

  * Chip `AMD Family 15h thermal sensors' (confidence: 9)

```

Everything between the "now follows" and the end is important.

But in your case you would have something like

'chip "coretemp"' somewhere at the beginning of the sensors config file.

And what does "grep CPUFREQ /usr/src/linux/.config" return. This is the freq driver, not the governor in use.

----------

## McC0dy

Ok. My '/etc/sensors3.conf' can be found at http://pastebin.com/Y0UekCma

This is the last output from 'sensors-detect':

```
Now follows a summary of the probes I have just done.

Just press ENTER to continue: 

Driver `coretemp':

  * Chip `Intel digital thermal sensor' (confidence: 9)

Do you want to overwrite /etc/conf.d/lm_sensors? Enter s to specify other file name?

  (yes/NO/s): yes

Done.

You should now start the lm_sensors service to load the required

kernel modules.
```

'grep CPUFREQ /usr/src/linux/.config' produces:

```
CONFIG_X86_PCC_CPUFREQ=y

CONFIG_X86_ACPI_CPUFREQ=y

CONFIG_X86_ACPI_CPUFREQ_CPB=y

```

----------

## Anon-E-moose

I would think the pstate driver would be the one you would want in the kernel (instead of acpi)

I believe that chip is a sandy bridge model.

This has a little more info about lm-sensors and actually talks a little about coretemp

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/lm_sensors

----------

