Hey folks, I did a search on this subject on this forum, but surprisingly, didn't find much.

What do you all think in regard to Intel's SpeedStep when you're after maximum stability on your Sonar DAW? I'm not talking about disabling SpeedStep in order to squeeze extra performance out of a CPU - I'm more interested in maximising stability.

I have a Q6600 on a P5B (at stock speed). I have just noticed that if I watch my core speed with CPUz while running a project in Sonar, I occasionally see the core speed change. I have not done enough study yet to see if there's a link, but I have had the odd glitch that I can't quite nail down.

Does anyone know for sure if SpeedStep is likely to cause glitches if it changes your core speed during playback or recording in Sonar? I would think that it is definitely possible, but have not been able to find a definitive answer.

I guess the only downside to disabling SpeedStep would be higher temps and power usage even if my DAW is just idling. Any opinions or info out there?

Good question. It would seem that it would not be a good idea to have it on while using Sonar. But I have no first hand knowledge about it. I am still gathering stuff for my new DAW.

Does anyone know for sure if SpeedStep is likely to cause glitches if it changes your core speed during playback or recording in Sonar? I would think that it is definitely possible, but have not been able to find a definitive answer.

Hi Bill

As far as I am aware they reccomend disabling Speed step completely. I Disable it on all my clients Machines, the other *Feature* that Gigabyte use (Called C.I.A.2 Intelligent tweaker) is the Opposite of Speed stepping, if the PC needs more CPU it will speed up the CPU and overclock the Board (To within Certain configurable Paramaters Obviously) to get more performance if it (The Main Board) feels it is required, also not reccomended rather you set the Overclocking to a Fixed (But Safe) amount.

Never let the Machine decide to do anything , another example is a flexible Swap file size. You give it the same minimum and maximum otherwise Windows will be forever adjusting it and causes Clicks and Pops in your Favorite recording. I Wouldn't trust the Motherboard to adjust overclocking or speed stepping in the Middle of a project and get unwanted artifacts either.

IF your machine is well constucted with Heat and Air flow in mind you shouldn't need Speed Stepping and if you are in an Air conditioned studio as some of my clients are then it is definately better to be disabled.

Quote from Wikipedia: "Under Microsoft Windows XP, SpeedStep support is built into the power management console under the control panel. In Windows XP a user can regulate the processor's speed indirectly by changing power schemes. The "Home/Office Desk" disables SpeedStep, the "Portable/Laptop" power scheme enables SpeedStep, and the "Max Battery" uses SpeedStep to slow the processor to minimal power levels as the battery weakens"

My laptop is set to 'always on', do you think it's best to just disable speedstep from the bios?

I also have a P5B and I DID disable it in the BIOS. It doesn't go by the name "speedstep", however. Since this is a desktop, I don't really care about power management at that level. I have it go to HD off and Monitor off after something like 30 minutes, but no suspend, hibernate, speedstep, etc.

FWIW: I also overclocked my 2.13Ghz Core2Duo6400 to 2.4 with nary a hickup - been that way for months, holds stable temps, etc. It was initially an experiment to see how far I could go, but I never went beyond that. I actually intended to put it back, but since it seems to have no ill effects, I've left it - and it DID make a perceivable difference in my system performance.

I'd disable it from the BIOS and be done with it. I wouldn't let Windows or my MOBO manage my power requirements. For laptops, just expect shorter battery life. How short? I don't know (don't have a laptop yet).

Take care!

Quote from Wikipedia: "Under Microsoft Windows XP, SpeedStep support is built into the power management console under the control panel. In Windows XP a user can regulate the processor's speed indirectly by changing power schemes. The "Home/Office Desk" disables SpeedStep, the "Portable/Laptop" power scheme enables SpeedStep, and the "Max Battery" uses SpeedStep to slow the processor to minimal power levels as the battery weakens"

My laptop is set to 'always on', do you think it's best to just disable speedstep from the bios?

Certain Notebooks and Desk top motherboards will adjust the CPU power irrespective of what power management profile is selected to protect the CPU from Overheating. When in Doubt - Leave it out! Kill it in the BIOS

Ok, I'm going to KILL IT STONE DEAD at the next reboot :)

ORIGINAL: Desperate Dan

[Certain Notebooks and Desk top motherboards will adjust the CPU power irrespective of what power management profile is selected to protect the CPU from Overheating. When in Doubt - Leave it out! Kill it in the BIOS

Yes, this is very true Dan. I have always had my power scheme in Windows set to "always on", but using CPUz, I can see the core speed change. It definitely needs to be turned off in the BIOS.

Thanks for the info & advice, Dan, I will definitely be turning this off.

Bill, I have tried it both ways, plus overclocked both ways, and I have not noticed ANY difference with DAW work AT ALL, and that is on a Q6600 like yours, on a Gigabyte GA-965P-DQ6 motherboard. This is my personal experience, other people's mileage may vary. When I tested things, I was very paranoid about any affect it would have on my DAW software or audio driver (glitches, etc.) or even stability at a 3.0GHz overclock, but there was nothing AT ALL. Absolutely NO noticeable or measurable benefit either way for me up to this point, including on various DAW benchmarks, including the Sonar benchmark, and trust me, I was hoping it would help me. So as far as I am concerned, with THIS motherboard and with THIS CPU, running XP SP2, it is a total wash and totally irrelevant. The only thing that might make a difference to you is that with it disabled, your CPU may run marginally warmer on average, since it would be running a full speed all the time. If someone can definitively show me that it helps, then I am ALL FOR IT, and I'm totally open to it. I'll take better performance and/or stability any day of the week, but I have NOT noticed any advantage to it in my situation. Hope that helps.