RightMark CPU Clock Utility, version 2.2. README

Copyright (C) 2004-2006 RightMark Gathering, iXBT.com

Contents

• General Information
• Disclaimer
• Features
• Supported Environment
  • Processors
  • Motherboards
  • Operating Systems
• User Interface
  • General page
  • Management page
  • Profiles page
  • Individual profile pages
  • Battery Info page
  • Advanced page (AMD K7 processors)
  • Advanced page (AMD K8 processors)
  • Advanced page (Intel Centrino and ViiV platforms)
    • Processor settings
    • Platform/Chipset settings
  • Advanced page (Intel Pentium 4 and Xeon processors)
  • Advanced page (VIA C7/C7-M processors)
  • Advanced page (Transmeta Crusoe and Efficeon processors)
  • Updates page
  • Professional Features page
  • Tray Icons menu
  • Command-line parameters
  • Miscellaneous options
• Compatibility
• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
• Revision History
• Feedback

Genral Information

RightMark CPU Clock Utility (RMClock) is a small GUI application designed for real-time CPU frequency, throttling and load level monitoring and on-the-fly adjustment of the CPU performance level on supported CPU models via processor's power management model-specific registers (MSRs). In automatic management mode it continuously monitors the CPU usage level and dynamically adjusts the CPU frequency, throttle and/or voltage level as needed, realizing the "Performance on Demand" concept.

Disclaimer

PLEASE READ THIS CAREFULLY!

YOUR SYSTEM MAY LOCK UP AS A RESULT OF A CPU FREQUENCY, VOLTAGE OR THROTTLE CHANGE, OVERCLOCKING/OVER-VOLTAGE OF A CPU, AS WELL AS TWEAKING WITH CPU-SPECIFIC REGISTERS! THE DEVELOPERS TEAM, THE RIGHTMARK GATHERING AND/OR IXBT.COM ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE THAT MAY RESULT FROM THE USE OF THIS UTILITY.

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

Features

• Real-time CPU clock and CPU/OS load level determination and monitoring (with optional logging).
• Detection of virtually any form of CPU clock throttling.
• Dynamic on-demand CPU performance state (P-state) transitions via real-time adjustment of CPU multiplier (FID) and/or requested voltage level (VID).
• Dynamic on-demand CPU clock modulation via real-time transitions between CPU clock throttling levels.
• Fine-tuning of advanced CPU-specific power management settings for AMD K7, AMD K8, Intel Pentium M/Centrino platform, Intel Pentium 4 and Xeon, Intel Core Solo/Core Duo/Centrino Duo platform, Intel Core 2, VIA C7 and Transmeta Crusoe/Efficeon CPU families.
• Complete support for multi-processor (SMP/HT/multicore) systems.
• Windows power management settings and LCD display brightness control (where supported).
• Battery information display (general and per-battery) including real-time status display of the battery life time, charge level, charge/discharge rate etc.
• CPU core temperature display (available on AMD K8, Intel Core Solo/Core Duo and Intel Core 2 CPU families).

Supported Environment

Processors

Current release of RMClock utility implements the CPU frequency, CPU load and throttling level determination on the following processor models:

• AMD K7 (Athlon/XP/MP, Duron, Sempron) and K8 (Athlon 64/FX/X2, Opteron, Dual-Core Opteron, Sempron, Turion/Turion X2) family processors.
• Intel Pentium II/Celeron, Pentium III/Celeron, Pentium M/Celeron M, Pentium 4/Celeron (Northwood and Prescott cores), Pentium 4 Extreme Edition (Gallatin and Prescott cores), Xeon (Prestonia, Nocona, Cranford, Irwindale, Potomac, Paxville and Dempsey cores), Pentium D and Pentium Extreme Edition (Smithfield, Presler and Cedar Mill cores), Core Solo/Core Duo (Yonah core) and Core 2 Duo/Core 2 Extreme (Conroe/Merom/Woodcrest cores).

Dynamic P-state transitions are supported on:

• AMD Athlon 64/FX/X2, Sempron, Turion 64/X2, mobile Athlon 64, Opteron and Dual-Core Opteron featuring AMD Cool`n'Quiet(tm) technology.
• Mobile or Low-Power Desktop AMD Athlon XP featuring AMD PowerNow!(tm) technology.
• Intel Pentium M (all cores), Core Solo and Core Duo (Yonah core), Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Extreme (Conroe/Merom/Woodcrest core) featuring Enhanced Intel(R) SpeedStep(tm) technology (EIST).
• Intel Pentium 4 600 series (Prescott N0 core), Intel Xeon (Nocona, Cranford, Irwindale, Potomac, Paxville and Dempsey cores), Intel Pentium D 800/900 series, Intel Pentium Extreme Edition (Smithfield, Presler and Cedar Mill cores) featuring Enhanced Intel(R) SpeedStep(tm) technology (also known as Demand-Based Switching).

NOTE: Intel(R) SpeedStep(tm) technology and the "old" vision of Enhanced Intel(R) SpeedStep(tm) technology found in mobile Pentium III-M and mobile Pentium 4 processors are not supported, and the support for these technologies is not planned. These technologies are entirely different from the supported "true" Enhanced Intel(r) speedStep(tm) technology found in Pentium M, Core Solo/Duo, Core 2 Duo/Extreme, Pentium 4/D 600/800/900 series and Xeon processors.

Dynamic on-demand clock modulation adjustment is supported on:

• Intel Pentium M/Celeron M (all cores), Intel Pentium 4/Pentium 4 Extreme Edition/Celeron (all cores), Intel Xeon (all cores), Intel Pentium D/Pentium Extreme Edition (all cores), Intel Core Solo/Core Duo, Intel Core 2 Duo/Extreme featuring On-Demand Clock Modulation (ODCM).

RMClock utility will run on unsupported CPU models, however, in this case, most of its functionality will not be available.

Motherboards

• For AMD Athlon 64 processors family, a motherboard certified for AMD Cool`n'Quiet(tm) technology is highly recommended. RMClock is not guaranteed to run stable on a non-certified motherboard (however, due to a greater flexibility of RMClock utility, workarounds are possible in some cases). For a list of motherboards supporting AMD Cool`n'Quiet(tm) technology, please visit the AMD web site.

Operating systems

• RMClock is designed for a 32-bit Windows NT-class OS version 5.0 and higher, i.e., it should run fine on Windows 2000/XP/2003 Server platforms. No support for Win9x family systems is ever planned.
• Support for 64-bit Windows (x86-64/EM64T systems) is available since version 1.7.
• Official support for pre-release versions of Windows Vista is currently not planned.
• NOTE: You must have Administrative rights to install and run this utility. See the FAQ section for more details.

User Interface

General page

NOTE: Beginning with version 2.2, the General page displays the monitoring parameters independently for each CPU (either physical package, CPU core or logical processor) present in the system.

• CPU Model, Core, Revision and Signature - indicates the detected CPU model name, core name, core revision and CPU signature.
• PM Features - lists the power management features supported and enabled on a given CPU. The absence of the feature is indicated with a disabled (grayed-out) box, the disabled status with a black color, and the enabled status with a "vendor" color (blue for Intel features and green for AMD features).
• CPU Core Clock - indicates actual (full) CPU core frequency, in MHz. For most processors, this value reflects how fast the internal CPU time stamp counter (TSC) increments.
  NOTE: due to the nature of TSC implementation on Intel Pentium 4 and Intel Core/Core 2 processors, this value should be considered "synthetic" and not be treated as the accurate reflection of CPU core frequency. For this purpose, you should rely upon CPU Throttle indication.
• CPU Throttle - shows effective CPU core frequency, in MHz. This value being less than the actual CPU core clock indicates that the CPU clock duty cycle modulation (commonly referred to as "throttling") is in effect.
• CPU Load - shows actual CPU load (i.e., the ratio of "active" processor cycles to the total processor cycles per given amount of time). This value is measured via CPU-specific performance monitoring counters and represents true CPU load, i.e., the amount of time the CPU spent in "non-asleep" state.
• OS Load - shows CPU load level as reported by the OS, in a manner similar to Windows Task Manager.
  NOTE: Due to the differences in the nature and the source of the measurements, as well as the detection accuracy, the displayed CPU Load and OS Load values may not match. A mismatch of several percents between these values should be considered normal. Also, systems containing logical CPUs may show up to 50% mismatch between these values. This is because the OS Load measures the load of the given logical processor, while the CPU Load shows the load of the physical processor/core containing this logical processor.
• Core Temp. - displays current CPU core temperature. This feature is currently available for all AMD K8 CPUs and Intel Core/Core 2 CPU families, the indicator is grayed out otherwise.
• Current FID, VID - indicates current CPU FSB clock multiplier (FID) and requested voltage level (VID).
  NOTE: VID is not the actual CPU core voltage, it indicates only the CPU-requested Vcore level (please see the FAQ section for more info).
• Startup FID, VID - indicates FID and VID values the CPU starts with at power-on.
• Minimal FID, VID - indicates the minimal FID and VID values the CPU can possibly handle.
  NOTE: some CPUs may not actually support the lowest reported FID and/or VID values.
• Maximal FID, VID - indicates the maximal FID and VID values the CPU can possibly handle.
  NOTE: some CPUs (e.g., "frequency unlocked" ones) may not actually support the highest reported FID and/or VID values.
• Enable Logging - enables logging of the monitoring data (CPU frequency and throttle, CPU/OS load, FID and VID) to the file.
• Save Info - saves the CPU-related (CPUID, MSR etc.) information into the text file. This information does not pretend to be detailed system/CPU information and should be considered useful only for bug reports.

Management page

Management settings

• CPU Performance States Transitions Method - sets the way of managing CPU performance/power states, affecting both performance states transitions (PST) and on-demand clock modulation (ODCM):
  • Perform single-step transitions only - restricts the performance/power states transitions to be performed in one step at a time only. For example, if 5 PST levels are defined, it will take 4 transitions in total to reach from the lowest to the highest performance state, even when the CPU load is constantly high. This management behavior was the only one implemented in pre-2.0 releases.
  • Allow multi-step transitions - allows the performance/power states transitions to be performed instantly across multiple steps, in accordance with the CPU performance demand. For example, if 5 PST levels are defined, it may take as low as one single transition to reach from the lowest to the highest performance state, when there is a high demand for the CPU performance. This mode of operation was the only one implemented in 2.0 and 2.05 releases.
• Multi-Core CPU Load Determination Method - provides a way of controlling the calculation of CPU load on multi-core CPUs used for the performance/power states transitions decision:
  • Maximum of CPU core loads - finds the maximum among all CPU core loads representing a given CPU core.
  • Average of CPU core loads - averages CPU core loads representing a given CPU core.
  • Sum of CPU core loads - uses a sum of individual CPU core loads, capped at 100%. This is the default and recommended way of managing multi-core platforms.
• Standby/Hibernate Action - sets the application behavior when OS is going to enter into Standby/Hibernate states:
  • Keep current profile - leaves current settings alone;
  • Set "Power Saving" profile - causes the CPU to switch into minimal performance state (PST, ODCM, or both) defined in the "Maximal Power Saving" profile;
  • Set "Maximal Performance" profile - puts the CPU into the maximal performance state defined in the "Maximal Performance" profile. This setting is useful for enabling a quicker resume from Hibernate state.
• Use OS load-based management - forces the utility to rely upon OS load measurements instead of the CPU load for PST/ODCM management. This setting is recommended only for Intel Centrino Mobile Technology platform due to the CPU load determination issues on this platform related to the usage of deep C-states and USB devices power saving. In all other cases it is strongly recommended to leave this setting disabled, thus permitting much more accurate management based on the precise CPU load indications.
• Run HLT command when the system is idle - this feature causes the utility to spawn external idle-priority RMClockHLT processes (as many as the number of system CPUs present, either physical or logical) which run HLT command in a loop. This will efficiently "steal" all idle time from the OS "System Idle Process" while retaining the CPU in a relatively low power state (C1) when the system is idle. This option can be used as an alternative to "Use OS load-based management" option described above on Intel Centrino platform, as well as in any other cases when you don't want the OS to manage the CPU idle time (e.g., when you want to prohibit the CPU to enter into deeper power saving states like C2, C3 or C4 if they're known to cause problems).
  NOTE: since the OS will no longer receive any idle time, the OS CPU load indicated by Windows Task Manager and similar utilities will continuously remain at 100%. The OS load reported by RMClock, however, will still be correct, as the utility subtracts the amount of time the CPU spent executing RMClockHLT process(es) from total CPU busy time.
• Alert when CPU Thermal Throttling is activated - allows the utility to alert the user with a warning balloon tooltip whenever the CPU enters into a "hot", or thermal throttling state (i.e., on activation of TM1 or TM2 facilities). This feature is available only for Intel Pentium M, Intel Pentium 4/Pentium D/Xeon and Intel Core/Core 2 processor families.

CPU Defaults Settings

• Restore CPU defaults on management turning off - enabling this option restores the CPU-default FID/VID and throttle when you turn off RMClock's management of PST/ODCM features (e.g., when you switch to a "No Management" profile).
  NOTE: RMClock operation behavior may not be as expected if you disable this option. Therefore, you should always leave this setting enabled.
• Restore CPU defaults on exit - selecting this option will restore the CPU-default FID/VID and/or ODCM values when you exit RMClock utility (either manually or by ending a Windows session).
• CPU defaults selection - provides the way of changing the FID/VID defaults used as "CPU defaults" for the "Restore CPU defaults" features described above. Possible values are:
  • CPU-defined default FID/VID - use CPU hard-coded startup values (indicated in the adjacent FID/VID fields);
  • FID/VID found at startup - use FID/VID values found at the program startup (indicated in the adjacent FID/VID fields). This is the default as was known as "Use alternate defaults" in previous RMClock releases.
  • Custom FID/VID - allows using any possible FID/VID combination for the "CPU defaults", which can be set in the adjacent FID/VID fields.

NOTE: For FSB-overclocked systems, it is highly recommended to use FID/VID values found at startup or custom FID/VID values as the "CPU defaults". Otherwise, your system may lock up when you disable PST management or exit the utility, because of too high FID, or too low VID being chosen as a default.

Miscellaneous Settings

• Make application window always on top - makes the main application window stay on top of all other windows.
• Show taskbar button for the application window - when enabled, makes the window visible in the taskbar and the Alt-Tab window selection menu.
• Start application minimized to system tray - makes the utility start minimized to tray (not showing the main application window).
• Run application automatically when Windows session starts - adds a shortcut to the application executable to the HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Run registry key so that the application starts automatically whenever the user's Windows session starts.

Defaults - sets the defaults for the management settings.

Apply - applies current management settings.

Profiles page

Profile selection

• AC Power Profile, Battery Profile - selects the management profiles to use when running on AC Power and on batteries, respectively. Currently active profile is changed immediately after selecting a new profile. The basic free edition of RMClock includes the following set of built-in profiles:
  • No Management - the utility does not attempt to perform any P-state/ODCM level management. This profile turns RMClock into the monitoring-only utility.
  • Power Saving - the utility sets the P-state and/or the ODCM level defined in the "Power Saving" profile and locks these value (prevents them from being changed). Normally, these values should represent the lowest CPU performance state that suits your needs.
  • Maximal Performance - the utility sets P-state and/or the ODCM level defined in the "Maximal Performance" profile and locks these values. Normally, this profile should represent the highest CPU performance state that is enough for most of your tasks.
  • Performance on Demand - the utility adjusts the CPU throttle level and/or FID&VID values from the set defined in "Performance on Demand" profile as needed, providing a true performance on demand concept. The utility may change the CPU performance states as fast as 10 times per second by default. To prevent unnecessary performance state transitions, the CPU load level "noise filtering" technique is used, which is able to efficiently remove accident CPU usage level "spikes" (e.g., when launching a new application).
  • Custom profiles are available for the registered owners of the commercial RMClock Professional Features module license.

Master Performance States Table

Provides a common, easy to use way of defining CPU performance states used by all profiles. Individual P-states from this set to be used by a particular profile are selected in that profile's settings.

• VID Select - allows changing VID value associated with a given FID when the corresponding row is selected in the Master P-states table.
  NOTE: when "Auto-adjust intermediate VIDs" setting is enabled, VID selection is not available for the P-states residing inside the selected minimal-to-maximal FID range.
• Auto-adjust intermediate VIDs - automatically adjusts VIDs for all defined intermediate P-States in a linear dependence manner when you change VID of either minimal or maximal used P-state.

New Profile - adds new profile. This feature is available for the registered owners of the commercial RMClock Professional Features module license.

Defaults - fills Master Performance States Table with the default CPU P-states.
NOTE: For AMD K7/K8 processors supporting AMD PowerNow! / Cool`n'Quiet technology, PST defaults are obtained either from built-in model tables or the BIOS performance states block (PSB) if the CPU is not found in the models list. The BIOS must be correctly set up to support Cool`n'Quiet technology to provide this block of information. For Intel Pentium M, Pentium 4, Pentium D, Core Solo, Core Duo and Core 2 family processors, default PST tables are provided from the built-in tables for a given CPU model and therefore may not be available for the newest CPUs.

Apply - applies new Master Performance States Table settings.

Individual profile pages (for AC Power and Battery)

CPU Performance/Power States

• Use P-State Transitions (PST) - Enables/disables management of CPU performance states transitions. Enabling this option permits selecting individual P-states in the PST Table located below. If the CPU does not support P-state transitions feature, this checkbox is grayed out.
• Use Throttling (ODCM) - Enables/disables the management of the CPU on-demand clock modulation. Enabling this option permits selecting individual throttle states in the ODCM Table located below. If the CPU does not support ODCM feature, this checkbox is grayed out.
• Performance/Power Saving Preference - sets the desired balance between CPU performance and power consumption. The default Balanced setting is recommended for most applications. Extra power saving can be achieved by using the "Power Saving Level 1..7" settings causing the CPU to spend more time in the lowest performance/power states. This setting is recommended for notebook PCs, especially for the battery mode profiles.

OS Power Management

Upon starting up, the RMClock application creates its own power management profile called "RMClock Power Management" and selects it as active Windows power management policy, provided that the "Override current Windows power scheme with the settings above" option is checked. The OS Power Management settings allow editing the basic properties of this policy for a given RMClock profile. Your previously active Windows power management policy is automatically restored and "RMClock Power Management" scheme gets deleted when you exit RMClock utility.

Turn off Monitor, Turn off Hard Disks, System Standby, System Hibernates - these options are essentially the same to the ones found in Windows Control Panel -> Power Options dialog.

LCD Panel Brightness - specifies current LCD panel brightness level (ranging from 0 to 100).
NOTE: The availability of this feature and the number of states are hardware-dependent. The hardware/firmware must provide a standard Windows LCD Backlight Interface for this feature to be operational.

Override current Windows power scheme with the settings above - checking this option for a given profile enables access to the OS Power Management settings described above and causes the utility to apply these settings when you switch to a given profile.

Rename, Delete - rename or delete current profile. This feature is available for the registered owners of the commercial RMClock PRO module license.

Defaults - sets the defaults for all profile-related settings, including PST/ODCM states and Windows power management settings, for both AC and Battery sub-profiles. This is the easiest way to fill your profile with the default values.

Apply - applies all profile-related settings.

Battery Info page

Power Status

• Current Power Source - indicates whether your system is running on AC power or batteries.
• Battery Charge Remaining - indicates the percentage of battery charge remaining and current battery status (high, low, critical, charging, no battery etc.)
• Battery Life Time Remaining - indicates the amount of the battery life time remaining, if available.

Battery Info and Status

Provides complete and detailed information for each system battery installed. This information is divided in two categories: persistent parameters (named "Battery Details"), which don't change over time (like battery manufacturer and manufacture date, capabilities, battery device name and type of chemistry) and current battery status, which is updated at regular intervals and includes current power state, remaining capacity, charge/discharge rate, remaining life time or charging time, voltage etc.

Misc settings

• Show battery icon when: - shows or hides the battery charge level and status indicator in the system tray, when one or more of the following conditions are met:
  • On battery - your system is running on battery (discharging);
  • Charging - your system is running on AC power and is charging the battery;
  • On AC - your system is running on AC power and the battery is fully charged.
• Hide Windows power status icon - removes the Windows power status icon from the system tray and prevents from showing it up again, e.g., when the power source changes.

Advanced page (AMD K7 processors)

Low Power CPU Modes Settings

• Halt Disconnect Clock Divisor - tells the CPU how much the clock should be reduced while entering C1/Halt power saving mode. The resulting frequency is nominal frequency divided by divisor. C1/Halt state is entered upon running privileged instruction HLT - this is done automatically by Windows 2000/XP when OS is idle. For proper functionality of a low-power C1/Halt mode it is necessary that the chipset disconnects Front Side Bus after receiving request generated by the processor. Majority of K7 chipsets support this, but on older motherboards this is often not enabled by default due to problems with this feature. Those problems are usually in form of sound crackles, lowered HDD performance, PCI problems etc. For proper functionality of this feature, you need a chipset-enabled FSB disconnect after Halt special system bus cycle (set by BIOS, otherwise use WPCREDIT/WPCRSET). Higher divisors result in lower frequency what turns in somewhat lower temperature and lower power consumption. On the other hand, those higher divisors tend to cause problems described above and sometimes even to systems hangs. The result of enabling C1/Halt Bus Disconnect can be as much as 15 degrees Celsius temperature decrease. Different divisors have somewhat lower effect, the difference between 8 and 512 can be 5 degrees at most.
• Stop Grant Disconnect Clock Divisor - this is the same as for Halt Disconnect Clock Divisor with the difference that this one sets frequency divisor for C2/Stop Grant power saving mode. The effect of power requirements reduction is the same as in case of C1/Halt mode, but there are few differences. First - chipset has to be set to disconnect FSB upon receiving Stop Grant request, not Halt request. On many chipsets, there are separate bits for Halt and for Stop Grant, so be sure to set the right one. Second - you do not need any program to enter to C2 Stop Grant state because Windows 2000/XP have already integrated mechanism that does this, provided that C2 state is defined and allowed to be used in the ACPI table.
• Full Ramp - determines a max possible delay when ramping up/down the internal CPU clock. No information is currently available for this setting, so it's best to leave it default.
• Ramp Delays (Clock Change Timings) - these settings affect time between clock changes inside the CPU while entering to/from C1/Halt or C2/Stop Grant states, provided that the Halt/Stop Grant Bus Disconnect is enabled in the chipset settings. Faster settings mean lower latencies and therefore higher performance and better resistance to problems with sound cards, HDD performance etc. But on the other hand, faster settings impose higher requirements on internal clock generator. If you experience problems with stability, use the slower settings (e.g., 8 or 16 for all fields).
• Enable Stop Grant APIC Bus Disconnect - controls whether the CPU should reject any APIC Bus messages while being in C2/Stop Grant state. If you have problems with this low-power mode, try disabling this option.
  NOTE: APIC Bus Disconnect has nothing to do with the AMD S2K Bus Disconnect feature that is enabled separately in the chipset configuration registers settings and is beyond the scope of RMClock utility.

P-State Transitions Settings

The utility must be restarted for these settings to have an effect.

• Stop Grant Timeout Count - defines the amount of the system bus cycles the CPU will enter into a Stop Grant state for, after completing a FID/VID transition.
• FID Transition Stabilization Time - sets the amount of the artificial CPU delay after every single FID transition, in microseconds.
• VID Transition Stabilization Time - sets the amount of the artificial CPU delay after every single VID transition, in microseconds.
• VID Table Select - lets the user choose whether the utility will use an internal K7 VIDs table for a mobile or a low-power desktop CPU.

Apply these settings at startup - makes the utility apply the low power modes settings every time the utility starts (or when the system is restored from Standby/Hibernate states).

Advanced page (AMD K8 processors)

Power Management Settings (Per ACPI State)

• ACPI state to show/modify - sets the ACPI power management state to manipulate with. These states correspond to PMM0-PMM7 System Management Action Field (SMAF) codes and are as follows: PMM0 = C2 (Stop Grant); PMM1 = C3 (Sleep); PMM2 = C0, FID/VID Change; PMM3 = S1 (POS); PMM4 = S3 (STR); PMM5 = C0, Throttling; PMM6 = S4/S5 (STD/SOFF); PMM7 = C1 (Halt).
• Clock divisor - specifies the divisor to use when ramping down the CPU clock or the Northbridge clock.
• CPU Low Power Enable - causes the CPU clock to ramp down according to the clock divisor specified in Clock Divisor Select.
• Northbridge Low Power Enable - causes the Northbridge clock to ramp down according to the clock divisor specified in Clock Divisor Select and puts the DRAM in self-refresh mode. The CPU clock must also be ramped down (see CPU Low Power Enable).
• FID/VID Change Enable - enables a change in Frequency ID (FID) and/or Voltage ID (VID). The CPU and the Northbridge clocks must also be ramped down (see CPU Low Power Enable and Northbridge Low Power Enable).
  NOTE: this setting should normally be enabled only for the "C0, FID/VID Change" ACPI state.
• Alt VID Change Enable (revision E and later core revisions) - For mobile processors that are revision E and later revisions that use discrete graphics, the hardware can be programmed to drive an alternate VID code during the C3 processor power state. The purpose of the AltVID is to reduce the processor voltage to the minimum operational level while the processor is in the C3 state. This setting enables a VID change to the value specified in the Alternate VID field after CPU clocks and Northbridge clocks are ramped down. This mode should never be set for FID/VID changes or when UMA graphics are used.
• Alternate VID (revision E and later core revisions) - specifies the alternate VID while in low power states with AltVID Change enabled.
• Alternate VID Stabilization Time (revision E and later core revisions) - indicates the amount of time required to stabilize the voltage regulator. For revision E and later mobile systems that enable AltVID, this field should be programmed to account for the time it takes to ramp the voltage from AltVID to the VID for the 800MHz P-state, i.e.: VSTIME = ((800 MHz VID) - AltVID) * 1us/mV. The Auto-Adjust button found to the right of this setting does this for you automatically.
• Defaults - loads the predefined values (as recommended by the vendor) for Mobile, Desktop or a Server processor.
  NOTE: it is possible (and recommended) to apply "Desktop" or even "Mobile" profile on Opteron-based server systems (including the multiprocessor ones). This will significantly reduce CPU power consumption during Halt (but may slightly reduce system performance).

Clock Power/Timing Settings

• Good Phase Error - defines the BCLK PLL time until good phase error, in microseconds. Counting occurs when at full frequency.
• Clock Ramp Hysteresis - a non-zero value enables a hysteresis time (in nanoseconds) which prevents the CPU clock grid from being ramped down after processing a probe. It avoids unnecessary changes of the CPU clock grid when the probe arrival rate is relatively low.
• HTT Clock PLL Lock Counter - indicates how long it takes for the slowest HyperTransport technology clock PLL to ramp to its new frequency and lock (in microseconds).
• Defaults - loads the predefined values for the systems with Unbuffered or Registered DIMMs.
  NOTE: if you experience problems with the AMD Cool`n'Quiet(tm) technology operation and have multiple memory modules installed, try applying "Registered DIMMs" profile, which will force the CPU to use longer stabilization times.

Apply these settings at startup - makes the utility apply the user-defined ACPI power management and clock power/timing settings every time the utility starts (or when the system is restored from Standby/Hibernate states).

P-State Transitions Settings

You must restart the utility for these settings to have an effect.

• Stop Grant Timeout Count - sets the amount of the system bus cycles the CPU will enter into a Stop Grant state for, after completing a single FID transition.
• Max Ramp Voltage Offset - defines the maximal amount of extra voltage, in milliVolts, that is applied when performing a series of VID transitions. This extra voltage is removed after completing a FID/VID transition sequence.
• FID Transition Stabilization Time - sets the amount of the artificial delay applied after every single FID transition, in microseconds.
• VID Transition Stabilization Time - sets the amount of the artificial delay applied after every single VID transition, in microseconds.

P-State Transitions Rules

You must restart the utility for these settings to have an effect.

• Follow AMD P-State Transitions rules - instructs the utility to use the official AMD P-state transitions rules (with the VCO frequency change steps of 200 MHz or less and 25-mV VID change steps).
  NOTE: the availability of lower FIDs (4x to 7x) in this case depends on the CPU model used.
• Use Direct P-State Transitions - relaxes the official AMD P-state transitions restrictions and allow direct jumps between any FID values, including all lower FIDs.
  NOTE: VID transitions are still performed in 25-mV steps. This behavior is by design for versions 1.5 and higher.
• Allow Half FIDs - allows the utility to use half FIDs (not officially documented by AMD). This setting is available only for the Direct P-State Transitions scheme.

CPU Thermal Sensor Settings

• Thermal Sensor Core Select - selects the CPU core (Core 0 or Core 1) to be used as a source of the internal CPU temperature. This option is available for dual-core AMD K8 CPUs only. For these CPUs, it is possible to have the temperature indication of only one core at a time.
• Thermal Sensor Select - selects the thermal sensor (Sensor 0 or Sensor 1) to be used as a source of CPU core temperature. This option is available only for AMD K8 NPT CPUs (revision F cores).

Dual-Core CPU TSC Synchronizer

This feature is designed to replace the AMD Dual-Core Optimizer functionality. Due to a design bug of AMD K8 dual-core CPUs, the values of their individual per-core Time-Stamp Counters (TSCs) may get out of sync over time, leading to undesired or unpredictable behavior of certain applications that rely upon TSC as a source of the clock ticks.

NOTE: Please make sure you're not using AMD Dual-Core Optimizer when enabling this feature.

• Synchronize Time-Stamp Counters (TSCs) of CPU Cores - enables the CPU TSC synchronization. In this mode, the values of CPU Core 0 and Core 1 Time-Stamp Counters get synchronized at the regular application-defined intervals.
• TSC Source Core Select - selects the CPU core to be used as a source of TSC value for synchronization.

Advanced page (Intel Centrino/ViiV platforms, Processor settings)

Automatic Thermal Protection

Sets the preferred way of automatic thermal protection of the CPU.

• Enable Thermal Monitor 1 - enables Thermal Monitor 1 (TM1) feature, if available.
• Enable Thermal Monitor 2 - enables Thermal Monitor 2 (TM2) feature, if available.
  NOTE: the CPU is operating out of spec when both TM1 and TM2 are disabled. For Intel Core and Core 2 CPU families, it is possible and recommended to have both TM1 and TM2 features enabled.
• Sync TM1 on CPU Cores - enables synchronized management (turning on or off) of Thermal Monitor 1 on both CPU cores. This feature is available for Intel Core 2 CPU families only.
• Enable Extended Throttling - enables extended throttling mode. In this mode, TM1 gets automatically activated after activation of TM2 if the CPU is remaining hot.

Thermal Monitor 2 Target

Defines the FID and VID values the CPU will transition to on activation of the Thermal Monitor 2 feature, provided the CPU supports TM2 and TM2 target programming.

Enhanced Intel SpeedStep (EIST) Settings

• Enable Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology - allows to enable/disable the Enhanced Intel SpeedStep (EIST) technology. EIST must be enabled for the P-state transitions management feature to work.
  NOTE: some processors have this setting as a read-only - i.e., trying to disable the enabled setting or enabling the disabled won't have any effect. When this case is detected, this option is grayed out.
• FID/VID Transition Stabilization Time (us) - sets the amount of the artificial delay applied after every single FID+VID transition, in microseconds. Normally, Intel CPUs don't need this, so this value is set to zero by default.

Enhanced Low Power States

These settings allow enabling or disabling any of the given enhanced C-states (C1E, C2E, C3E, C4E and Hard C4E) available on Intel Core and (partially) on Intel Core 2 processors. When an Enhanced C-state is enabled, the CPU is automatically put into the lowest frequency/voltage mode when it enters a given C-state.

Advanced page (Intel Centrino/ViiV platforms / Platform settings)

Power Management Settings (ICH4/ICH6/ICH7/ICH8)

• Enter C4 on C3 command - causes the chipset to transition the CPU into a deeper power-saving C4/Deep Sleep state when a C3/Sleep state is requested. This setting is available for mobile chipsets only (ICH4-M, ICH6-M and ICH7-M).
• Enable CPUSLP# in C3/C4 - enables CPUSLP# signal to go active in C3 and C4 power-saving states, thus reducing the processor power. This setting is available only for i855 chipsets (ICH4/ICH4-M); this feature is always enabled on ICH6/ICH7/ICH8 chipsets.
• Enable CPUSLP# in S1 - enables CPUSLP# signal to go active in S1 (Power On Suspend) state, thus reducing the processor power. This setting is available only for ICH6 thru ICH8 families; this feature is always enabled on ICH4.
• Enable C4 in S1-M - if this option is set, then when entering the S1-M state, the ICH4-M will use the C4 sequence, rather than the standard sequence. This setting is available only for ICH4-M.
• Enable Popup mode (auto C3/C4 to C2) - when this option is off, any bus master traffic causes the chipset to return from C3 or C4 state into C0 (working) state. When this option is on and the chipset observes a bus master request, it will take the system from C3 or C4 state into C2 state and enable bus masters. This will let snoops and memory access occur. This setting is available only for ICH6-M and ICH7-M.
• Enable Popdown mode (auto C2 to C3/C4) - this option should be used in conjunction with Popup mode. When this option is off, the chipset will not attempt to automatically return into a previous C3 or C4 state. When this option is on, and the chipset observes no bus master requests, it can return into previous C3/C4 state. This setting is available only for ICH6-M and ICH7-M.
• CPU PLL Lock Time - indicates the amount of time the processor needs to lock its PLLs (it has an effect while entering into/returning from C3/C4 states). A minimal lock time of 30.72 us is used by default. This setting is available for ICH4-M, ICH6 and ICH7 family chipsets.
• CPUSLP# to STPCLK# Delay - sets the delay between CPUSLP# going inactive to STPCLK# going inactive, in 3.84 ns units. The default value is approximately 50.045 us. This setting is available for ICH4 family chipsets only.
• DPSLP# to CPUSLP# Delay - sets the amount of time the chipset waits from the deassertion of DPSLP# to the deassertion of CPUSLP#. By default, this is determined by the CPU PLL Lock Time. This setting is available only for ICH6-M and ICH7-M.
• DPRSLPVR to STPCPU# Delay - sets the amount of time the chipset waits from DPRSLPVR going inactive to STP_CPU# going inactive. This provides a programmable time for the processor's voltage to stabilize when exiting from a C4 state. This setting is available only for ICH6-M and ICH7-M.

Chipset-Based CPU Throttling Settings

• Force Thermal Throttling - when enabled, throttling specified by the thermal throttle duty cycle starts immediately.
• Enable Normal Throttling - when set and the system is in a C0 state, it enables a processor-controlled STPCLK# throttling with the specified duty cycle.
  NOTE: When both Thermal and Normal throttling are enabled, the duty cycle specified for Thermal throttling has priority over the duty cycle for Normal throttling.
• Current Throttle Status - indicates whether the clock state machine is throttling the processor performance, due to the Thermal or Normal throttle being enabled.

Apply these settings at startup - makes the utility apply the user-defined Automatic Thermal Protection, Enhanced SpeedStep and Centrino/ViiV chipset settings every time the utility starts (or when the system is restored from Standby/Hibernate states).

Advanced page (Intel Pentium 4 and Xeon processors)

Automatic Thermal Protection

Sets the preferred way of automatic thermal protection (Thermal Monitor 1, Thermal Monitor 2, or both, if available).
NOTE: the CPU is operating out of spec when both TM1 and TM2 are disabled.

Thermal Monitor 2 Target

Defines the FID and VID values the CPU will transition to on activation of the Thermal Monitor 2 feature, provided the CPU supports TM2 and TM2 target programming.

Enhanced Intel SpeedStep (EIST) Settings

• Enable Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology - allows to enable/disable the Enhanced Intel SpeedStep (EIST) technology. EIST must be enabled for the P-state transitions management feature to work.
  NOTE: some processors have this setting as a read-only - i.e., trying to disable the enabled setting or enabling the disabled won't have any effect. When this case is detected, this option is grayed out.
• FID/VID Transition Stabilization Time (us) - sets the amount of the artificial delay applied after every single FID+VID transition, in microseconds. Normally, Intel CPUs don't need this, so this value is set to zero by default.

Misc Settings

• Enable Enhanced Halt State (C1E) - enables/disables the Enhanced Halt state (C1E) feature available in Prescott and Nocona/Irwindale cores, revision E0 or later. When Enhanced halt state is enabled, the CPU automatically puts itself into the lowest frequency/voltage mode when it enters a C1 state.

Apply these settings at startup - makes the utility apply the user-defined Automatic Thermal Protection, Enhanced SpeedStep and misc settings every time the utility starts (or when the system is restored from Standby/Hibernate states).

Advanced page (VIA C7/C7-M processors)

Automatic Thermal Protection

Sets the preferred way of automatic thermal protection (Thermal Monitor 1, Thermal Monitor 2, or both, if available).

Thermal Monitor 2 Target

Defines the FID and VID values the CPU will transition to on activation of the Thermal Monitor 2 feature.

PowerSaver Settings

• Enable VIA PowerSaver Technology - enables/disables the VIA PowerSaver Technology. VIA PowerSaver must be enabled for the P-state transitions management feature to work.
  NOTE: some processors have this setting as a read-only - i.e., trying to disable the enabled setting or enabling the disabled one won't have any effect.
• FID/VID Transition Stabilization Time (us) - sets the amount of the artificial delay applied after every single FID+VID transition, in microseconds.

Apply these settings at startup - makes the utility apply the user-defined Automatic Thermal Protection and VIA PowerSaver settings every time the utility starts (or when the system is restored from Standby/Hibernate states).

Advanced page (Transmeta processors)

LongRun Status and Control

• LongRun Min, Max Bound - displays/sets the lower and upper boundaries of the processor's performance window (separately for operating on AC power and on batteries). A performance window (i.e., variable CPU performance according to its current load level) can be achieved by specifying different values for upper and lower boundaries. A fixed performance level can be achieved by specifying the same value for both the upper and lower boundary. Setting both boundaries to 100% effectively disables LongRun and results in maximum performance but shorter battery lifetime. By contrast, setting both boundaries to 0% results in minimum performance but best battery lifetime. The processor will round the specified values up or down to the nearest value, depending on how many performance levels are supported. If both directions of rounding are possible, then the processor will round up.
• Operation Mode - controls whether LongRun is in "economy mode" or in "performance mode". In "economy mode" the processor attempts to maximize battery lifetime, by powering down aggressively. By contrast, in "performance" mode it attempts to maximize performance, by powering down conservatively.
• Defaults - allows you to load one of the predefined LongRun Bounds values (Minimal, Maximal, or Automatically Variated).

LongRun Advanced Thermal Management

• ATM Level - selects the processor power reduction target. LongRun will attempt to meet or exceed the power reduction level specified in this field by lowering the processor frequency and voltage. This setting has priority to reduce the processor frequency below that which is selected in the LongRun Bounds. This setting will never have the effect of increasing the processor freqeuency and voltage.

LongRun Table Interface Data

Lists available processor's LongRun levels, with detailed info on each of them.

Apply these settings at startup - makes the utility apply the user-defined LongRun and LongRun ATM settings every time the utility starts, when the system is restored from Standby/Hibernate states and when the power source changes.

Updates page

This page is available only for the registered owners of the valid RMClock Updater module license. When no valid license is found, the Product Activation dialog is displayed instead, providing you with the ability to register this module.

Check for updates at program startup - enables or disables checking for the product updates whenever you start RMClock utility.

Check interval - specifies the period of time, in days, which must elapse after the last successful checking for the product updates before attempting a next checking.

Check now - instructs the application to check for the product updates immediately.

Update method - specifies the preferred method of updating the product:

• Download updates automatically and notify when ready to install - the product update (if available) is downloaded automatically without requiring any user action. The application informs the user with a small pop-up window near the application tray icon when the update has been downloaded and is ready to install.
• Notify when updates are available and ready to download - the application just checks the updates server to see if there's any new product update available, but doesn't download it. Instead, the application informs the user that the new update is available and offers action to download or ignore this update. Upon downloading, the application behaves in a similar way to the one described above.

Last check - indicates the date and time of last checking for the product updates.

Status - indicates the status of the most recent operation.

Cancel - cancels the update download process, if any.

Info - displays the update info, if available.

Professional Features page

This page is available only for the registered owners of the valid RMClock Professional Features module license. When no valid license is found, the Product Activation dialog is displayed instead, providing you with the ability to register this module.

Events

Lists the table of the user-defined application events, allowing you to enable or disable individual events.

New/Modify - shows the Add/Modify Event dialog to define a new or modify existing selected application event, which contains the following options:

• Event name - defines the event name.
• Event type - sets the event type:
  • Process running - the event will go active whenever the application specified by the Application name is running.
  • Profile changes - the event will activate when the RMClock profile changes to the one specified by the Profile index below.
  • Battery level drops below/rises above - the event will activate when the main system battery level drops below (or rises above) the Battery level percentage specified below.
  • CPU core temperature drops below/rises above - the event will activate when the CPU core temperature level drops below (or rises above) the CPU core temperature value specified below.
• Activate this event when running on: - specifies whether the event will go active when the system is running on AC Power, on Battery, or Both AC Power and Battery.

Delete - deletes the selected event.

Profile Rules

Lists the table of the user-defined automatic event-based profile switching rules, allowing you to enable or disable individual profile switching rules.

New/Modify - shows the Add/Modify Rule dialog to define a new or modify existing selected profile switching rule. This allows you to automatically switch to one of the performance/power management profiles (either standard or custom) in response to the activation of one of the events defined at the Events page. Optionally, the application can be instructed to restore previously used performance/power management profile when the corresponding event is no longer active.

Move Up/Move Down - increases or decreases the priority of the selected rules. The closer the rule to the top of the list, the higher priority it has. The rules with higher priority take precedence over the rules with lower priority located below.

Delete - deletes the selected profile switching rule.

Associations

Lists the table of the user-defined event-based external process associations, allowing you to enable or disable individual external process associations.

New/Modify - shows the Add/Modify Association dialog to define a new or modify existing selected external process association. This allows you running an external process application (with optional command-line parameters) in response to the activation on one of the events defined at the Events page.

Delete - deletes the selected external process associations.

Tray icon menu

Main tray icon menu

• View/Hide Main Window - shows/hides the main application window. This is the default action performed by double-left-clicking the main tray icon.
• Current Profile - provides a quick access to the profiles selection menu. This menu is also shown by single left-clicking the main tray icon, provided that the "Enable Profiles Selection with Left-Click" option is checked. This feature is unavailable when both PST and ODCM management are not supported by the CPU.
• Enable Profiles Selection with Left-Click - allows quick-changing currently active profile (depending on the current power source) with a single left-click to the main tray icon.
• Show Balloon Tooltips - enables/disables display of the info balloon tooltips.
• Show Performance Level in Main Icon - animates the main tray icon with the current CPU performance level when the Performance on Demand mode is used.
• Show CPU Frequency Icon in System Tray - enables/disables display of the CPU frequency indicator in the system tray.
• Show CPU Load Icon in System Tray - enables/disables display of the CPU/OS load indicator in the system tray.
• Show CPU Temperature Icon in System Tray - enables/disables display of the CPU core temperature indicator in the system tray.
• Exit RMClock Utility - exits RMClock utility.

CPU frequency indicator menu

• Show Monitoring page - shows Monitoring page of the application. If the application window is hidden, it is made visible beforehand. This is the default action performed by double-left-clicking the CPU frequency indicator tray icon.
• Display - sets the display mode (CPU Frequency or CPU Throttle indication) and units (automatic MHz/GHz if the CPU frequency is below or above 1 GHz, respectively, or always GHz).
• Hide Icon - hides the CPU frequency indicator icon.

CPU load indicator menu

• Show Monitoring page - shows Monitoring page of the application. If the application window is hidden, it is made visible beforehand. This is the default action performed by double-left-clicking the CPU load indicator tray icon.
• Launch Task Manager - launches Windows Task Manager.
• Display - sets the display modes (Current CPU/OS load meter, or CPU/OS load history graph; CPU Load, OS Load, or both).
• Hide Icon - hides the CPU load indicator icon.

CPU core temperature indicator menu

• Show Monitoring page - shows Monitoring page of the application. If the application window is hidden, it is made visible beforehand. This is the default action performed by double-left-clicking the CPU core temperature indicator tray icon.
• Hide Icon - hides the CPU core temperature indicator icon.

Battery indicator menu

• Show Battery Info page - shows Battery Info page of the application. If the application window is hidden, it is made visible at first. This is the default action performed by double-left-clicking the battery indicator tray icon.
• Display - sets the information displayed when the battery is charging and discharging (Battery Time or Battery Percentage).
• Adjust Power Profile Properties - shows settings of the currently selected profile, which include Windows power management settings.
• Adjust Windows Power Properties - brings the Windows "Power Options Properties" dialog window, normally displayed by double-clicking Windows power status tray icon.

Command-line parameters

Beginning with version 1.6, RMClock executable accepts command-line parameters. Some of these commands work only at the first program startup (diagnostic or debug commands), others require that the utility is already running (control commands). Currently implemented command-line parameters include:

• -?, -help - displays list of the command-line options
• -profile n - sets the profile (AC or Battery, depending on the power source) of the currently running application instance to n.
  • n = 0: No Management
  • n = 1: Minimal
  • n = 2: Maximal
  • n = 3: Automatic Management
  • n > 3: Custom profiles available for owners of RMClock PRO module.
• -nextprofile - sets next profile, relative to current profile, wrapping around if the last profile is reached. The wrapping loop does not include "No Management" profile.
• -prevprofile - sets previous profile, relative to current profile, wrapping around if the last profile is reached. The wrapping loop does not include "No Management" profile.
• -resume - simulates a "resume" event (normally occurring at a resuming from Standby/Hibernate or a power source change).
• -exit - exits currently running instance of the application.
• -unload - attempts to uninstall currently loaded instance of the RTCore32/RTCore64 driver (can be used only at program startup).

Miscellaneous options

• There're additional configuration options (tweaks) available beyond the application's user interface and command-line parameters. For a list of these options and their possible values, see RMClock_Tweaks.reg file. To apply these settings, just double-click this file to update the program registry entries.
• To wipe out all program settings stored in the registry, apply the RMClock_WipeOut.reg registry file. Please use this feature only in extreme cases (e.g., if you set too unrealistic values so that RMClock can no longer start without locking up your system).

Compatibility

CPU Power Management drivers/software

RMClock is compatible with AMD Cool`n'Quiet(tm) / PowerNow!(tm), Enhanced Intel(R) SpeedStep(tm) and Transmeta LongRun(tm) software, provided it is not currently active. There's no need to uninstall existing processor driver, moreover, beginning with version 2.0, RMClock automatically disables the driver's power management by selecting its own power scheme at the program start-up. Current power scheme is automatically restored upon exiting RMClock utilty.

Performance analyzing software

Since RMClock relies upon CPU-specific performance monitoring counters (PMC) to determine the CPU usage level, compatibility issues are possible with application performance analyzing applications like Intel VTune or AMD CodeAnalyst, which use the same counters to monitor processor-specific performance events. Therefore, you should quit RMClock utility before using this kind of software.

Benchmarking software

As with any power management software, the performance/power management features of RMClock should be disabled before running any benchmarking software (e.g., your profile should be set to "No Management", or one of the fixed performance state profiles). Otherwise, you may get incorrect benchmark results.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How do I uninstall RightMark CPU Clock Utility?

A: Uninstalling RMClock is really easy. It is enough just to exit the utility if it is currently running and completely delete the folder you have installed it into. To ensure a complete clean-up of the program registry settings, you can apply the RMClock_WipeOut.reg file found in RMClock folder beforehand.

Q: Why can't I run RMClock as a regular user?

A: RMClock is a low-level system utility that requires privileged access to the CPU hardware, which can be done only via kernel-mode driver (RTCore32/64.sys, which is dynamically extracted and installed at runtime). Administrative rights are required to install and load this driver, therefore, current versions of the utility can only be run by the users with administrative privileges.

Q: CPU voltage indicated by RMClock greatly differs from the voltage reported by my vendor-supplied monitoring software. What's wrong?

A: Nothing. RMClock reports the CPU VID, i.e., just a requested CPU voltage level. It is up to the motherboard logic to decide whether this request should be handled or ignored. Most motherboards designed to properly support processor's power-saving features (e.g., AMD Cool`n'Quiet(tm) technology) should adjust the real CPU voltage so that it's close to the requested VID level. Other models may apply some extra over-voltage (e.g., +0.1 or +0.2V), which is useful for overclocking. Finally, there are many motherboard models that can be set up (via BIOS settings) to supply constant voltage to the CPU, which is far from being good for achieving significant power saving.

Q: Why can't I set CPU voltage above 1.55V (or even 1.45V), or below 1.1V on my Athlon 64? BIOS setup offers the voltages from 0.8V up to 1.7V. Is there a way to unlock these "hidden" voltages?

A: RMClock manipulates with VID and not directly with the CPU core voltage. Maximal VID value you can set is limited by the CPU itself (as indicated in the "Maximal VID" field of the General page). 1.55V is the absolute maximum VID for all Athlon 64 processors family; usually, actual maximal VID is even lower (e.g., 1.45V). There's no way to set current VID value higher than the maximal, as the CPU will choose maximal value instead (the same is true for FID, the bus clock multiplier). It is also impossible to program a VID being lower than the Minimal VID reported by the CPU. The voltage level you adjust in the BIOS is set in entirely different way, via direct manipulation with the CPU VRM and not involving VID changes. Please also note that the voltages you set manually in the BIOS setup cause the motherboard logic to ignore VID change requests, thus greatly diminishing power saving features of the AMD Cool`n'Quiet(tm) technology.

Q: In the Advanced page I can adjust the Halt and Stop Grant bus disconnect divisors for my Athlon XP, but they don't seem to have any effect. What's wrong?

A: Nothing. These settings only affect the CPU internal clock divisors. They do not enable bus disconnect for a Halt and/or Stop Grant state, which must be done in a chipset-specific way. No support for this and numerous chipsets series is ever planned.

Q: In the Advanced page I see various ACPI states for my Athlon 64. What state should I choose?

A: You don't have to choose anything particular. This is just a selector that allows changing the settings of a given ACPI state. It does not enable or even put the CPU into this particular state.

Q: In the Advanced page of RMClock I see really a lot of settings for my Athlon 64. What are these all settings for? What settings should I choose?

A: These are advanced settings that should not be changed without a good knowledge. In fact, they should be left alone if you don't experience any problems with you system. However, it is safe to load one of the predefined sets of defaults by using the corresponding buttons. If you're interested in these settings in detail, please look through Chapter 9 of the public AMD document "BIOS and Kernel Developer's Guide for AMD Athlon(TM) 64 and AMD Opteron(TM) Processors", order #26094.

Q: My Athlon 64 system locks up when I enable automatic PST management in RMClock, what to do?

A: Before you start, please be sure to disable the power management features of the AMD processor driver by setting your current power scheme (in Windows control panel) to "Home/Office Desk" or "Always On". This step is not necessary if you are using RMClock version 2.0 or higher and haven't disabled Windows power management handling in your profile settings.

First, make sure you have selected relatively safe minimal and maximal FID/VID settings in your current profile settings (the ones selected by clicking Defaults button should be completely safe to begin with, provided your CPU is not overclocked).

Second, ensure that your CPU is properly setup to support FID/VID change requests. This should be done by a BIOS during POST, however, if your motherboard is not certified by AMD for Cool`n'Quiet(tm) technology support, it might be necessary to do this manually. Most efficiently, this can be done in the Advanced tab by loading the Power Management Settings defaults for a Desktop or Mobile processor (depending on the model you have). To automatically use these settings every time you launch RMClock, please check "Remember these settings" option.

Third, even if your motherboard is properly set up for AMD Cool`n'Quiet(tm) operation, you may experience problems with PST management if you have two or more memory modules installed, even with official AMD processor driver's management. In most cases, it is possible to solve this problem by applying the defaults for Registered DIMMs in the Clock Power/Timing Settings of the Advanced page. Once again, to automatically use these settings whenever you launch RMClock, please enable "Remember these settings" option.

If none of the above help, try updating your motherboard BIOS to the latest version. If this still doesn't help, we're sorry to inform you that you have a motherboard which is incompatible with AMD Cool`n'Quiet(tm) technology. RMClock does support a greater number of motherboards than the official AMD driver does, but it's not possible to support all of them in software, the compatibility must also exist on a hardware/motherboard design level.

Q: I have an overclocked system that locks up when I exit the utility (or disable PST management), what to do?

A: The problem is related to the "Restore CPU Defaults on Exit" setting, which is enabled by default. This setting causes the hard-coded CPU defaults (FID and VID) to be applied when you exit the utility or completely disable PST management. If your FSB clock is too high, the resulting CPU frequency is very likely to go beyond the safety margin. You can either totally disable this feature or alter its functionality so that it applies the FID/VID settings it found at the program startup instead of the CPU defaults (see RMClock_Tweaks.reg file).

Q: My processor is detected as an "Unknown CPU". What's wrong? Will RMClock work properly with my CPU?

A: It means that you have a new CPU core/revision, which RMClock isn't yet aware of. The CPU detection is implemented according to the official docs from the vendors, which are not updated as frequently as the new processors get launched. There's nothing to worry about, RMClock will work properly with your processor, provided that it supports the necessary power-saving features (as indicated in the "PM Features" box in the General page).

Q: The core frequency/throttle of my Athlon 64 CPU reported by RMClock stays the same, despite the FID changes. What's wrong?

A: This is the OS implementation bug. It is usually observed on a multiprocessor systems (including AMD multi-core processors), when ACPI Multiprocessor PC kernel is used, as well as on current Windows XP x64 Edition release, regardless of the kernel type. The problem is related to the High-Performance Counter (HPC) featured by the OS. Normally, the ACPI timer is used as a clock source for this counter, when the processor's Time Stamp Counter (TSC) frequency is known to get changed over time (as it does on a Cool`n'Quiet(tm)-enabled system). However, some OS implementations/kernels, like those mentioned above, erroneously choose TSC as a source of HPC clock, thus violating the main requirement for this counter (the frequency of HPC is guaranteed not to change over time). Since HPC frequency is no longer constant and changes in line with TSC frequency, we are getting incorrect TSC/HPC ratio and, therefore, incorrect CPU frequency indication.

Fortunately, a solution exists for this bug, and it requires editing the boot.ini file found at the root directory of your system disk drive (e.g., C:\boot.ini). To force the OS use the ACPI timer as HPC clock source, you need to add /USEPMTIMER option to your current system settings, e.g.,

"multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect"

should become:

"multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect /usepmtimer"

Q: I want to see feature "X" in future versions of RMClock. Would you add it for me?

A: Feature requests are welcome, however, in order for a feature to be possibly incorporated in future versions of RMClock, it must meet the following criteria:

• It is a feature that is of possible interest and benefit for a wide variety of the users and not for your specific purpose.
• It is a feature directly related to the CPU performance/power states management. RMClock utility is designed for this particular purpose; no features unrelated to this task are to be ever incorporated.
• It is a feature depending only on the CPU model and not on the other parts of the hardware/firmware (chipset, BIOS, or motherboard components). RMClock is a small and generic utility, i.e., it is designed to work on all supported CPU models with no awareness of any other specific hardware present or installed (with some exception to Intel Centrino mobile platform). Specific hardware-dependent features that are never planned to be incorporated in RMClock include, but not limited to:
  • CPU temperature (not reported by the CPU itself), voltage, fan speed monitoring and/or control;
  • CPU temperature-dependent performance state and/or fan speed switching;
  • Tweaking with the chipset bits (e.g., Halt disconnect, Stop Grant disconnect and FID/VID change enable bits);
  • Implementation of older, chipset-based forms of Intel SpeedStep technology, chipset-based CPU throttling, etc.

Revision History

RMClock Version 2.2

• Added support for localized application resources.
• Added RMClock Updates and RMClock Professional Features modules (valid licenses required).
• Added independent CPU info display for each physical/logical CPU present in the system.
• Added detection of several AMD K8 NPT (revision F) CPU cores.
• Added CPU temperature graph display to the Monitoring page.
• Added advanced chipset settings support for ICH8 family southbridges.
• Switched to using CPU hardware coordination facilities (ACNT) for CPU load and throttling determination on Intel Core/Core 2 family CPUs.
• Added options to enable/disable vendor-supplied CPU core temperature offset and specify user-definable CPU core temperature offset (as registry tweaks).
• Fixed saving of advanced platform settings on Intel Core 2 CPU-based platforms.
• Fixed log file creation in the application directory when using auto-start feature.
• Added support for Quad-Core Intel Core 2 Extreme CPUs.
• Fixed recognition of several AMD K8 revision E CPU cores.
• Fixed battery life time estimation on some platforms.
• Added support for mobile Intel Core 2 Duo (Merom core).
• Added CPU-dependent offset to Intel CPU core temperature indications.
• Added proper detection of AMD Athlon 64 FX dual-core processors.
• Added automatic detection of 4x FID availability on AMD K8 family processors.
• Changed design of Battery Info page.
• Added validation of individual profiles P-states settings when Master P-States Table is altered.
• Added battery charge rate averaging period (as a registry tweak).
• Removed "No Management" from -prevprofile and -nextprofile profile switching commands.
• Added time stamp to the logging information.
• Fixed delayed applying of command-line parameters.
• Fixed CPU load icon color setting (registry tweak).

RMClock Version 2.15

• Modified application manifest to automatically acquire administrator privileges on beta versions of Windows Vista.
• Modified TM1/TM2 selection behavior, added TM1+TM2 mode when supported.
• Added EIST option change availability indication.
• Added complete support for Intel Core 2 processors.
• Extended CPU defaults option.
• Added AMD K8 dual-core TSC synchronizer functionality.
• Added CPU core temperature display for AMD K8, Intel Core and Intel Core 2 processors.
• Changed design of AMD K8 advanced settings page.
• Changed design of the Battery Info page.
• Increased battery subsystem refresh interval (fixed problems with peripheral devices slowdowns).
• Fixed hiding Windows power status icon on localized Windows versions.
• Added support for AMD K8 NPT (revision F) processors.
• Added detection of new revisions of Presler (Cedar Mill) and Yonah cores.
• Added CPU signature display.
• Minor changes to maximal performance profile tray icon color.

RMClock Version 2.1

• Fixed registry settings saving on Windows session ending.
• Added battery life time and battery charging time estimation.
• Extended range of performance/power saving preference levels.
• Added option to display CPU load meter or CPU load graph icon.
• Fixed handling of Windows power management settings.
• Fixed hiding of Windows power icon when the power source changes.
• Fixed Intel Centrino platform chipset-based throttling settings.

RMClock 2.1 Release Candidate 2 (not released officially)

• New design of battery level icon.
• Fixed battery level icon indication when battery life time info is unavailable.
• Added option to hide battery icon when on AC power and fully charged.
• Replaced CPU load meter icon with a CPU load graph icon.
• Changed CPU throttle output format in log file.
• Fixed Intel Centrino platform settings availability.

RMClock 2.1 Release Candidate 1 (not released officially)

• Fixed tray icons operation with nonstandard Windows shells.
• Added option for the way of multi-core CPU load determination.
• Added option for the CPU performance states transitions method (single-step or multi-step).
• Fixed saving of some Centrino platform settings.
• Added preliminary support for Intel Core 2 CPU family.
• Added frequency icon units (MHz/GHz) selection.
• Added battery info page and battery status icon.
• Extended control/refresh intervals range (registry tweak).
• Fixed AltVID Change Enable issues on AMD K8 revision E platforms.
• Added AltVID stabilization time auto-adjust feature for AMD K8 rev. E platforms.
• Unlocked complete range of AltVID settings for AMD K8 rev. E platforms.
• Added option to show/hide main window button in Windows taskbar.
• Added new default P-states tables for most AMD K8 CPUs.
• Fixed saving of CPU info files and/or monitoring logs in a proper directory.
• Added new Intel logos for nearly all Intel CPUs.

RMClock 2.1 beta2 (not released officially)

• Modified P-states selection behavior (removed multiple states selection warning) for "Power Saving" and "Maximum Performance" profiles.
• Added option to enable/disable profiles selection with left-clicking main tray icon.
• Fixed occasional lockups at "multiple refresh" condition possible to occur when the system is under high load.
• Fixed Windows Power Management special cases handling (when Suspend or Hibernate states are not allowed).

RMClock 2.1 beta1 (not released officially)

• Fixed occasional lockups at program startup on AMD dual-core platforms.
• Added proper VIDs table for AMD Turion CPUs.
• Added unlocking FIDs, VIDs and TM2 target programming (as registry tweaks).
• Added Intel Centrino (ICH4/ICH6/ICH7) CPU thermal and normal throttling settings.
• Replaced animated icons for "Performance on Demand" profile with better looking ones.
• Implemented Master P-States table feature (shared by all profiles).
• Added VIA C7 PowerSaver technology support.
• Fixed bugs in Transmeta CPU support.
• Added CPUID check so that the profile settings won't load if the CPU mismatch is detected.

RMClock Version 2.05

• Added full support for Intel Core Duo and Core Solo (Yonah core) processors.
• Added support for new Centrino/Centrino Duo (Napa) platform with ICH7-M Southbridge.
• Implemented independent monitoring of every physical/logical CPU present in the system.
• Returned "animated icon" feature much requested by users.
• Added display options for the CPU Frequency and CPU Load tray indicators.
• Added option to turn off per-profile handling of Windows power management settings.
• Fixed AMD Athlon 64 X2 and Dual Core Opteron management.
• Fixed minor CPU Frequency indicator "1000 MHz" bug.
• Minor UI design changes.

RMClock Version 2.0

• Completely new user interface design, new icons.
• CPU frequency and CPU/OS load system tray indicators.
• Integration with Windows power management and standard LCD backlight interface.
• Flexible per-profile and per-power source PST, ODCM and Windows power management settings.
• Improved ODCM management with user-customizable throttle states table feature.
• New CPU performance level management logic allowing instant multiple-states PST/ODCM transitions.
• Determination and support for new CPUs: Intel Pentium D and Pentium Extreme Edition 900 series, Intel Core Solo and Core Duo processors (preliminary); new Intel logos.
• Support for "non-mobile" versions of ICH4 and ICH6 south bridges in Intel Centrino mobile platform advanced settings.
• New command-line profile-changing options (-nextprofile and -prevprofile).
• Fixed CPU frequency display on older Intel Pentium 4 models (Northwood/Willamette).
• EIST/DBS settings (Intel Pentium 4 / Pentium M advanced settings) are now always remembered, regardless of the "Remember these settings" option.
• Added user-definable delay (as a registry setting) to the management procedure start (on startup and resume from standby/hibernate).

RMClock Version 1.8

• Rewritten multi-processor (SMP/HT/multicore) monitoring and management code.
• Added on-suspend behavior selection; removed "Force Minimal State on Standby" option.
• Returned "Run HLT command when OS is idle" option as requested by users (Win32 only).
• Added determination of AMD Athlon 64 X2, Turion and Dual Core Opterons.
• Bugfixed AltVID settings on AMD K8 revision E cores.
• Corrected ODCM settings behavior on a Centrino platform.
• Bugfixed log file rotating feature.
• Fixed Intel Centrino mobile platform chipset settings.
• Corrected "Restore Defaults on Exit" behavior.

RMClock Version 1.7

• New RTCore driver, support for Windows XP/Server 2003 x64 edition.
• Fixed Centrino Platform/ICH6-M settings.
• Fixed Intel Pentium 4 illegal P-states being added to the table.
• Fixed Intel Pentium 4 invalid current VID indication.
• Proper Pentium 4 core frequency determination.
• New Pentium M P-states table (removed bogus 7x FID).
• Removed -dump command-line option, feature moved to GUI.
• Added new settings for AMD K8 cores revision E and higher.
• Added support for AMD K8 dual-core processors (latest AMD driver required).
• Added separate Performance/Power Preference for AC and Battery modes.
• Automatic process priority lowering when no management is enabled.
• Added driver uninstall command-line option.
• New P-States Table design.
• Fixed settings save on Windows session ending.
• Defaults to "Use OS load-based management" on Intel Centrino platforms.
• Fixed possible lock-up when entering Susped state.

RMClock Version 1.6

• New P-States Transitions management with user-definable P-States table feature.
• New unified PST/ODCM management scheme (when both PST and ODCM are used).
• Single set of profiles for PST, ODCM and PST+ODCM management schemes.
• Added optional OS load-based management (a workaround for Intel Centrino platform).
• Removed "Run HLT command when OS is idle" option.
• Fixed restoring of Advanced CPU settings upon resume from Standby/Hibernate modes.
• Added more configuration options for AMD K7 CPU family.
• Added power management-related chipset configuration options for Intel Centrino platform (i855/i915M series).
• Added FID/VID transition stabilization time setting for Intel Pentium 4 and Pentium M processors.
• Fixed Transmeta LongRun Table Interface info.
• Added independent AC and Battery settings for Transmeta processors.
• CPU Load and Throttled Clock are now reported as "N/A" when CPU does not support necessary features.
• Added logging period limiting and log file "rotating" (when max logging period elapses and at the program startup).
• Added command-line parameters support (CPU info dump, profile change and exit commands).

RMClock Version 1.5

• Returned Balloon tooltips setting.
• Removed "Alternate CPU Load Determination" setting from the UI.
• Added more configurational options for AMD K8.
• Added Transmeta LongRun Technology support.
• Added independent AC and Battery performance/power profiles.
• Added warning messages for settings that require application restart.
• Duplicated tray icon settings in the General tab.

RMClock Version 1.4

• Changed P-state transitions scheme for AMD K8 in accordance with official AMD recommendations.
• Added more advanced configuration options for AMD K7 and K8 CPUs.
• Added support for dynamic on-demand CPU clock modulation (ODCM) management.
• Added CPU thermal throttling alert.
• Added optional forcing of the Minimal power management profile when running on batteries.
• Added support for running an HLT command when the system is idle (a workaround for Intel 855 chipset series).
• Added CPU core and revision ID display.
• Added preliminary support for Transmeta CPUs.
• Added automatic startup feature.
• Grouped management-related settings into a new tab.

RMClock Version 1.3

• New (tabbed sheet) user interface design.
• Added CPU clock, load level and FID/VID monitoring graphs with text file logging feature.
• Added CPU load level determination on Intel Pentium II/III/M/4 family CPUs.
• Added throttled CPU clock determination for any forms of CPU clock throttling.
• Added support for multi-processor (SMP/HT) systems (for both monitoring and FID/VID management features).
• Added support for "mobile" and "server" (DBS) Enhanced Intel SpeedStep technology on Intel Pentium M and Xeon (Nocona) CPUs.
• Added CPU-specific power management related settings for AMD K7, AMD K8 and Intel Pentium M/Pentium 4/Xeon family CPUs.
• Added Minimal FID/VID determination and display (where available).
• Added CPU power management features presence and status display.
• Improved CPU/OS load measurement with load-averaging feature.
• Improved FID/VID control logic with CPU load level "noise filtering" (spike removal) feature.
• Changed default process priority to Realtime priority class.
• Bugfixed CPU usage determination after resume from Hibernate mode.
• Bugfixed program settings saving upon termination of Windows session (shutdown/logoff).

RMClock Version 1.2

• New UI and popup menu design, including animated icon feature.
• Support for mobile/low-power desktop AMD Athlon XP CPUs featuring AMD PowerNow! technology.
• Improved FID/VID control logic.
• Additional stabilization-related tweaks.
• Additional CPU-specific tweaks for AMD Athlon 64 and Athlon XP family CPUs.
• Bugfixed "Restore Defaults on Exit".

AMD64CLK Version 1.1

• Realtime CPU usage determination using the CPU performance counters.
• FID/VID values locking (preventing from being changed).
• FID/VID automatic management (based on the CPU usage).
• Additional configuration options.

AMD64CLK Version 1.0

• Initial release. Supports instant FID/VID changes on AMD K8 processors.

Feedback

Please post your comments and questions regarding RightMark CPU Clock Utility that are not already answered in the FAQ section of this manual at the dedicated CPU RightMark forum. In urgent cases, please contact Dmitri Besedin, main program developer.