Just what is the Clock rate that Intel's Power Gadget displays ?

[bxs]

Subject: Just what is the Clock rate that Intel's Power Gadget displays ?

The Intel's Power Gadget displays "Frequency IA <a single number> GHz" which is the frequency of what core ? The Processor is capable of running its CPU cores at different clock rates.

If a Mac has a single Processor with multiple CPU cores where each core's clock rate can be different, just what is the clock rate (Frequency) number that the Power Gadget displays ?

1. Is it the average of all the cores ? That is, the cumulative rates for all the cores divided by the number of cores.
2. Is it the clock rate of the core with the highest rate ?
3. If each core is running at a clock rate of say 3.0 GHz and there are 8 cores, then the cumulative clock rate for them is 24 GHz.

 

[h9826790]

My understanding is that display the highest core clock rate. e.g. When only one core in use, with Turbo Boost, that core can running significant faster than the rest of the idle cores. And Power Gadget should display that highest clock speed.

 

[bxs]

Subject: Just what is the Clock rate that Intel's Power Gadget displays ?

The Intel's Power Gadget displays "Frequency IA <a single number> GHz" which is the frequency of what core ? The Processor is capable of running its CPU cores at different clock rates.

If a Mac has a single Processor with multiple CPU cores where each core's clock rate can be different, just what is the clock rate (Frequency) number that the Power Gadget displays ?

Is it the average of all the cores ? That is, the cumulative rates for all the cores divided by the number of cores.

Is it the clock rate of the core with the highest rate ?

If each core is running at a clock rate of say 3.0 GHz and there are 8 cores, then the cumulative clock rate for them is 24 GHz.

I've tried to correlate what the Power Gadget displays with the Activity Monitor's Windows->CPU Usage which shows each core's use as well as the hyper threading but I found there's no concise correlation.

I can run my 3.5 GHz MP6,1 6-core system (has Turbo Boost up to 3.9 GHz) such that the Power Gadget displays a 3.63 GHz for Frequency but the Activity Monitor's Window->CPU Usage barely shows any core above 50%. See attached screen shot.
[doublepost=1515265886][/doublepost]OK.... I believe I'm getting a little closer to understanding things now.

I cranked up Instruments

/Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Applications/Instruments.app

and configured to use just one core on my MP6,1 and the PowerGadet displayed a Frequency of 3.9 GHz which is what I would expect as that's the max Turbo Boost.

 

[bxs]

OK.... I think I'm now getting somewhere with this. I experimented on my 3.5 GHz MP6,1 6-core that has a max Turbo Boost of 3.9 GHz.

Using Instruments (/Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Applications/Instruments.app) to control the number of active cores and no Hyperthreading I can get Power Gadget to display various Frequencies while a single process runs using 100% CPU.

6 cores - Varies between 3.60 to 3.68 GHz
5 cores - Varies between 3.59 to 3.66 GHz
4 cores - Steady at 3.7 GHz
3 cores - Steady at 3.7 GHz
2 cores - Steady at 3.7 GHz
1 core - Steady at 3.9 GHz (max Turbo boost)
[doublepost=1515273592][/doublepost]More stuff.... on my late 2013 3.5 GHz 6-core MP6,1 with a max Turbo Boost of 3.9 GHz.

Using Instruments (/Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Applications/Instruments.app) to control the number of active cores and no Hyperthreading I can get Power Gadget to display various Frequencies while a various number of processes running using 100% CPU.

With single process using 100% CPU

6 cores - Varies between 3.65 to 3.68 GHz
5 cores - Varies between 3.65 to 3.68 GHz
4 cores - Steady at 3.70 GHz
3 cores - Steady at 3.70 GHz
2 cores - Steady at 3.70 GHz
1 core - Steady at 3.90 GHz (and will sometimes will fall off to 3.70 GHz)

With two processes using 100% CPU

6 cores - Varies between 3.60 to 3.62 GHz with occasional spike to 3.40 GHz
5 cores - Varies between 3.60 to 3.62 GHz with occasional spike to 3.40 GHz
4 cores - Steady at 3.70 GHz
3 cores - Steady at 3.70 GHz
2 cores - Steady at 3.70 GHz
1 core - Steady at 3.70 GHz

With three processes using 100% CPU

6 cores - Steady at 3.60 GHz
5 cores - Steady at 3.60 GHz
4 cores - Steady at 3.70 GHz
3 cores - Steady at 3.70 GHz
2 cores - Steady at 3.70 GHz
1 core - Steady at 3.70 GHz

With four processes using 100% CPU

6 cores - Steady at 3.60 GHz
5 cores - Steady at 3.60 GHz
4 cores - Steady at 3.70 GHz
3 cores - Steady at 3.70 GHz
2 cores - Steady at 3.70 GHz
1 core - Steady at 3.70 GHz

With five processes using 100% CPU

6 cores - Steady at 3.60 GHz
5 cores - Steady at 3.60 GHz
4 cores - Steady at 3.60 GHz
3 cores - Steady at 3.70 GHz
2 cores - Steady at 3.70 GHz
1 core - Steady at 3.70 GHz

With six processes using 100% CPU

6 cores - Steady at 3.60 GHz
5 cores - Steady at 3.60 GHz
4 cores - Steady at 3.70 GHz
3 cores - Steady at 3.70 GHz
2 cores - Steady at 3.70 GHz
1 core - Steady at 3.70 GHz