IA Voltage?

[Yo Whats Up]

So, in HWMonitor, there's a metric called "IA Voltage" https://i.lensdump.com/i/WThPi7.png , but in HWInfo there's no such thing, nothing that shows 1.331V https://i.lensdump.com/i/WThFLF.png https://i.lensdump.com/i/WThUa3.png

Does that mean HWMonitor has additional functionality that HWInfo doesn't? Also what does IA Voltage mean?

 

[Martin]

IA Voltage is the voltage applied (requested) to x86 (IA) cores.
Since this value is rather static (doesn't change during runtime) and it's not a measured value but a setting, HWiNFO shows it only in the main window. Note that if you're using the Sensor-only mode, you will need to deactivate it in order to get the main window.
When an offset is used to adjust this voltage then it's shown in sensors of HWiNFO as IA Offset.

 

[Yo Whats Up]

Ok, so in HWMonitor the IA Voltage value shows 1.331V, but in hwinfo even in the main window all I see is https://i.lensdump.com/i/WEZeaP.png , there isn't anything anywhere in sensor or main window that says 1.331V

HWInfo, as well as HWMonitor, show System Agent, Analog IO and Digital IO offset, but I don't see anywhere the voltage of those? Only the offset is shown, but that doesn't tell me what the voltage is. According to this here https://overclocking.guide/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/volt1.png I need to increase these 3 voltage cuz I've got all ram slots taken, 4 X 8 = 32 gb, but I don't know how much to increase them cuz I don't know their current values. So if I use offset I may increase them too much, or not increase them enough cuz I don't know the values...

I'm not sure why, but when I increase VCCIN, my maximum Vcore (VIN4) reading drops. With 1.7XX V VCCIN, the max VIN4 was 1.246V, but with 2.080V VCCIN, the max VIN4 dropped to 1.216V, and I'm 99.99999% sure this value is the Vcore, as it drops to 0.8V when not doing anything, and rises to around 1.2X V under load, and that guy in the overclocking guide below said that if the vcore reading is not shown, then it may be shown as another reading, in this case VIN4 in HWInfo and VIN12 in HWMonitor. My cpu core voltage is set to 1.300 in BIOS, like the VID shows, but I think the vdroop is making it lower https://asset.msi.com/global/picture/article/article_147485991857e8938e4b1b20.png , that's why it only reaches about 1.25V maximum, and according to this guide here https://www.overclock.net/forum/5-intel-cpus/1411077-haswell-overclocking-guide-statistics.html , the LLC for Haswell is for the Vrin/VCCIN, not for the vcore, which explains why my VCCIN usage goes up to 2.080V when I've set it to 2.050V in the bios, cuz I've set LLC to Extreme in the bios, and also explains why the LLC isn't fixing the vdroop like it's supposed to. Also confirmed here https://www.overclock.net/forum/5-intel-cpus/1401976-gigabyte-z87-haswell-overclocking-oc-guide.html . According to here https://www.msi.com/blog/why-llc-is-your-friend-when-overclocking "On the Z170 platform LLC has more influence again since the CPU voltage regulator is implemented on the motherboard, whereas for Haswell, this was on the CPU, making LLC virtually impossible from motherboard side" which further confirms that I'm suffering from vdroop on the core voltage and LLC affects vccin, but I still wonder why my maximum vcore drops when vccin increases. Also unlike in the picture where it shows 1.3V vcore at 0% load and 1.25V vcore at 100% load, my vcore at 0% load if the VIN4 metric is correct, is 0.8V due to C-states, so it appears that I don't have to worry about the supposed negative of vdroop which is higher voltage when not under load

 

[Martin]

OK, so your actual Vcore setting is 1.300 in BIOS, but HWMonitor shows 1.331V and HWiNFO 1.300V. Why do you think HWMonitor is correct?
The other rails don't show actual settings because their mode is set to "Adaptive".
Note that many Haswell boards are not capable or monitoring Vcore voltage (due to FIVR) and rather report the VID value as Vcore.

 

[Yo Whats Up]

Well HWiNFO shows target voltage 1.300V, which may be different than the actual value, idk... But didn't you say in your last post that IA Voltage is the voltage applied (requested) to x86 (IA) cores? Idk what that is, but isn't this something else, not the cpu core voltage? Cuz else it would be called vcore, wouldn't it? Unless you're saying the IA Voltage and the Vcore is the same thing? But are you actually sure or are you just saying it just cuz hwinfo says so? Well you programmed hwinfo so you'd know... But why name it IA Overclocking if it's just vcore? It looks so cuz it says Supported on offset, override and radio overclocking, and also voltage mode is override, and target voltage is 1.300V, so that looks just like vcore, especially cuz below that IA Overclocking there's GT Overclocking which is set to Adaptive and I suppose this is the iGPU, and then below that there's CLR (CBo/LLC/Ring) Overclocking which is Adaptive too and I think this is the cpu cache voltage, which is set to Auto in the bios, thus adaptive? But also, I couldn't find cpu cache voltage anywhere in HWiNFO, I mean yes it's adaptive, but why can't it show current value?

 

[Martin]

Yes, that should be the core voltage. What VID values are shown? Those should be closer to the reported core voltage (unlike its setting of 1.300 V).
If CPU cache voltage is not shown then your system is not capable of monitoring it.

 

[Yo Whats Up]

Ok, so another question, task manager says my cpu is used at 100%, but in HWiNFO, Total CPU Usage says Max 95.0%, and the 8 Threads say Max 97.3%, 96.6%, 96.1%, 96.7%, 96.6%, 96.7%, 95.3%, 96.1% , now I'm pretty sure the average max of those 8 is way above 95.0% (thus total cpu usage?), how come the total cpu usage is only 95.0%? Also how come task manager says it's used on 100% but hwinfo doesn't agree? I'm inclined to believe hwinfo is right, but how come task manager will make such a simple mistake? I mean how hard is it to measure cpu usage? That's like one of its main functions, that and memory usage, and looking at processes and closing them. That's what most people use task manager for, how come it can't even do 1 of its main things that it's used for right? What could be causing this disparity between cpu usage?

 

[Martin]

This is something that I too observed on Windows 10 systems - Windows Task Manager always reports a slightly higher CPU usage.
HWiNFO uses reference functions to report CPU usage and thus relies on the Windows subysystem, but I have no idea what/why the Task Manager does.
I have tested this phenomenon using multiple tools that can load a given thread or the system with a specific target load and the expected values match what HWiNFO reports, not the Task Manager.
Why this is so, only Microsoft knows..

 

[Martin]

Back to the "IA Voltage" shown by HWMonitor. I discussed this with its author and we found that it's not showing the correct value, so HWiNFO is right here. You can probably expect a fix in the next version of HWMonitor.