Weird Cpu boost frequency?

[Layon]

Hi i have start using EndeavourOs on my laptop (AcerNitro AN515-57) for 6 months now. And i just recently notice that the CPU frequency acting a bit weird.

Kernel:

linux 6.7.1.arch1-1 (I don't know why but there only 2 available cpufreq governors on this kernel: powersave and performance)
linux67-tkg-eevdf 6.7.1-273

CPU info:

~ $ sudo inxi -Ca 
CPU:
  Info: model: 11th Gen Intel Core i7-11800H socket: U3E1 bits: 64
    type: MT MCP arch: Tiger Lake gen: core 11 level: v4 note: check built: 2020
    process: Intel 10nm family: 6 model-id: 0x8D (141) stepping: 1
    microcode: 0x4E
  Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 8 tpc: 2 threads: 16 smt: enabled cache:
    L1: 640 KiB desc: d-8x48 KiB; i-8x32 KiB L2: 10 MiB desc: 8x1.2 MiB
    L3: 24 MiB desc: 1x24 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 3491 high: 4600 min/max: 800/4600 base/boost: 2277/5000
    scaling: driver: intel_cpufreq governor: performance volts: 0.7 V
    ext-clock: 100 MHz cores: 1: 4378 2: 4600 3: 1427 4: 2355 5: 2827 6: 4600
    7: 4600 8: 970 9: 4600 10: 4600 11: 4600 12: 4600 13: 1494 14: 4600
    15: 4600 16: 1015 bogomips: 73728
  Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx

When i’m gamming or run benchmark with cpu-x it boost to 4.2GHz. But when i’m writing this in firefox ( about 10-20 tab open) it boost to 4.6GHz on both kernel using the performance govenor (i’m plug my laptop into the wall anyway so powersave is not an option ).
The question is why it acting like this and isn’t it supposed to be the reverse (4.6GHz when gamming and benchmarking and the lower frequency when using firefox) and is this normal ?

[vlkon]

This is just a speculation but is it possible that a single core boost is 4.6 GHz but all cores boost is limited to only 4.2GHz?
There may be some thermal throttling or there is a power limit which is not enough for all cores boosting (who knows what OEM do to their products).

[Stephane]

can your report

cpupower frequency-info
sudo turbostat ( check  mode for line idle it sohlud be acpi or intel-pstate)
lscpu -ae 

[Layon]

~ $ cpupower frequency-info
analyzing CPU 4:
  driver: intel_cpufreq
  CPUs which run at the same hardware frequency: 4
  CPUs which need to have their frequency coordinated by software: 4
  maximum transition latency: 20.0 us
  hardware limits: 800 MHz - 4.60 GHz
  available cpufreq governors: conservative ondemand userspace powersave performance schedutil
  current policy: frequency should be within 800 MHz and 4.60 GHz.
                  The governor "performance" may decide which speed to use
                  within this range.
  current CPU frequency: Unable to call hardware
  current CPU frequency: 3.52 GHz (asserted by call to kernel)
  boost state support:
    Supported: yes
    Active: yes

~ $ lscpu -ae
CPU NODE SOCKET CORE L1d:L1i:L2:L3 ONLINE    MAXMHZ   MINMHZ       MHZ
  0    0      0    0 0:0:0:0          yes 4600.0000 800.0000 3824.8069
  1    0      0    1 1:1:1:0          yes 4600.0000 800.0000 3886.7141
  2    0      0    2 2:2:2:0          yes 4600.0000 800.0000 3230.2839
  3    0      0    3 3:3:3:0          yes 4600.0000 800.0000 3254.8689
  4    0      0    4 4:4:4:0          yes 4600.0000 800.0000 3392.4819
  5    0      0    5 5:5:5:0          yes 4600.0000 800.0000 4600.0000
  6    0      0    6 6:6:6:0          yes 4600.0000 800.0000 4600.0000
  7    0      0    7 7:7:7:0          yes 4600.0000 800.0000 4465.0332
  8    0      0    0 0:0:0:0          yes 4600.0000 800.0000 4600.0000
  9    0      0    1 1:1:1:0          yes 4600.0000 800.0000 4600.0000
 10    0      0    2 2:2:2:0          yes 4600.0000 800.0000 4600.0000
 11    0      0    3 3:3:3:0          yes 4600.0000 800.0000 2270.6650
 12    0      0    4 4:4:4:0          yes 4600.0000 800.0000 1738.2180
 13    0      0    5 5:5:5:0          yes 4600.0000 800.0000  800.0000
 14    0      0    6 6:6:6:0          yes 4600.0000 800.0000  801.0020
 15    0      0    7 7:7:7:0          yes 4600.0000 800.0000 1310.8220

for the turbostat i found this:

Kernel command line: intel_pstate=passive...
cpu0: cpufreq driver: intel_cpufreq
cpu0: cpufreq governor: performance
cpufreq intel_pstate no_turbo: 0
/dev/cpu_dma_latency: 16000 usec (constrained)
current_driver: intel_idle
current_governor: menu
current_governor_ro: menu

i also found this in turbostat:

CPUID(0x16): base_mhz: 2300 max_mhz: 4600 bus_mhz: 100
cpu0: MSR_PLATFORM_INFO: 0x8083bf1811700
8 * 100.0 = 800.0 MHz max efficiency frequency
23 * 100.0 = 2300.0 MHz base frequency
cpu0: MSR_TURBO_RATIO_LIMIT: 0x2a2b2c2d2d2d2e2e
42 * 100.0 = 4200.0 MHz max turbo 8 active cores
43 * 100.0 = 4300.0 MHz max turbo 7 active cores
44 * 100.0 = 4400.0 MHz max turbo 6 active cores
45 * 100.0 = 4500.0 MHz max turbo 5 active cores
45 * 100.0 = 4500.0 MHz max turbo 4 active cores
45 * 100.0 = 4500.0 MHz max turbo 3 active cores
46 * 100.0 = 4600.0 MHz max turbo 2 active cores
46 * 100.0 = 4600.0 MHz max turbo 1 active cores

this mean like what @vlkon say right ?

[ricklinux]

@Layon

It integrates eight Willow Cove processor cores (16 threads thanks to Hyper-Threading). The base clock speed depends on the TDP setting and is 2.3 GHz at 45 W. The single core Boost can be as high as 4.6 GHz while all cores can run at up to 4.2 GHz. The CPU offers 24 MB of Level 3 cache and supports DDR4-3200 memory.