Wrong CPU max frequency reporting on Arch Linux

whale2186 · 2025-06-02 09:04:37

My system has an Intel Core i5-12400, the reported max CPU frequency on Arch Linux is 5.6 GHz, which is higher than the official max turbo frequency of 4.4 GHz.
when I boot into Linux Mint(Live CD) on the same machine, the max frequency is reported correctly at 4.4 GHz.

cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/cpuinfo_max_freq
5600000

It does not cause any system instability or issues when I stress test the CPU it hits 4000MHz or 4GHz

Still some of the apps read wrong frequency due to this

Some info :

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 cpupower frequency-info:

analyzing CPU 10:

driver: intel_pstate

CPUs which run at the same hardware frequency: 10

CPUs which need to have their frequency coordinated by software: 10

energy performance preference: balance_performance

hardware limits: 800 MHz - 5.60 GHz

available cpufreq governors: performance powersave

current policy: frequency should be within 800 MHz and 5.60 GHz.

The governor "powersave" may decide which speed to use

within this range.

current CPU frequency: 3.88 GHz (asserted by call to kernel)

boost state support:

Supported: yes

Active: yes


-----------------------------------------------------------------------
uname -r:

6.14.9-zen1-1-zen 






------------------------------------------------------------------------
 cat /proc/cpuinfo

processor : 0

vendor_id : GenuineIntel

cpu family : 6

model : 151

model name : 12th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-12400

stepping : 5

microcode : 0x3a

cpu MHz : 799.201

cache size : 18432 KB

physical id : 0

siblings : 12

core id : 0

cpu cores : 6

apicid : 0

initial apicid : 0

fpu : yes

fpu_exception : yes

cpuid level : 32

wp : yes

flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx pdpe1gb rdtscp lm constant_tsc art arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good nopl xtopology nonstop_tsc cpuid aperfmperf tsc_known_freq pni pclmulqdq dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx est tm2 ssse3 sdbg fma cx16 xtpr pdcm pcid sse4_1 sse4_2 x2apic movbe popcnt tsc_deadline_timer aes xsave avx f16c rdrand lahf_lm abm 3dnowprefetch cpuid_fault ssbd ibrs ibpb stibp ibrs_enhanced tpr_shadow flexpriority ept vpid ept_ad fsgsbase tsc_adjust bmi1 avx2 smep bmi2 erms invpcid rdseed adx smap clflushopt clwb intel_pt sha_ni xsaveopt xsavec xgetbv1 xsaves split_lock_detect user_shstk avx_vnni dtherm ida arat pln pts hwp hwp_notify hwp_act_window hwp_epp hwp_pkg_req hfi vnmi umip pku ospke waitpkg gfni vaes vpclmulqdq rdpid movdiri movdir64b fsrm md_clear serialize arch_lbr ibt flush_l1d arch_capabilities

vmx flags : vnmi preemption_timer posted_intr invvpid ept_x_only ept_ad ept_1gb flexpriority apicv tsc_offset vtpr mtf vapic ept vpid unrestricted_guest vapic_reg vid ple shadow_vmcs pml ept_violation_ve ept_mode_based_exec tsc_scaling usr_wait_pause

bugs : spectre_v1 spectre_v2 spec_store_bypass swapgs eibrs_pbrsb bhi

bogomips : 4992.00

clflush size : 64

cache_alignment : 64

address sizes : 39 bits physical, 48 bits virtual

power management:                                           (this is empty)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thank in advance !!!

Last edited by whale2186 (2025-06-06 18:09:55)

seth · 2025-06-02 15:27:27

Please use [code][/code] tags. Edit your post in this regard.
What is the behavior w/ a not-zen kernel?

What happens if you disable, then re-enable the turbo mode?

cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/cpuinfo_max_freq
echo 1 | sudo tee /sys/devices/system/cpu/intel_pstate/no_turbo # maybe give the CPU a second
cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/cpuinfo_max_freq
echo 0 | sudo tee /sys/devices/system/cpu/intel_pstate/no_turbo
cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/cpuinfo_max_freq

whale2186 · 2025-06-03 04:37:26

cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/cpuinfo_max_freq
5600000
echo 1 | sudo tee /sys/devices/system/cpu/intel_pstate/no_turbo 
1
 cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/cpuinfo_max_freq
3200000
echo 0 | sudo tee /sys/devices/system/cpu/intel_pstate/no_turbo
0
cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/cpuinfo_max_freq
5600000

its normal without turbo

in reddit a user has the same issue using 12400f. Switching to older or LTS kernel fixes this issue so its kernel issue ??

Last edited by whale2186 (2025-06-06 18:10:21)

seth · 2025-06-03 06:04:50

Switching to older or LTS kernel fixes this issue so its kernel issue ??

Seems so,

seth wrote:

What is the behavior w/ a not-zen kernel?

Is https://archlinux.org/packages/core/x86_64/linux/ affected?

whale2186 · 2025-06-03 12:16:11

yes same issue on non zen kernel

also srry for not using appropriate tags

seth · 2025-06-03 14:10:01

Don't be sorry - fix them
You can try to identify the breaking kernel, https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Arch_Linux_Archive - downgrading the kernel in isolation is (unlike other packages) typically fine (at least within a reasonable time frame)
But it's a good idea to keep the LTS or zen kernel in case anything goes wrong w/ the downgrade of the main kernel.

nb. that you'll have to downgrade OOT modules (mostly relevant for nvidia) along.

binboupan · 2025-06-03 22:03:36

Yes, it is the same for me on my 12400F but it seems to be a kernel bug, not exclusive to Arch Linux and it also does not break anything.

loqs · 2025-06-03 22:30:37

Wild guess is it fixed by https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/aDb6Mgg3Tq … 1.amd.com/?

Last edited by loqs (2025-06-04 00:28:52)

Arch Linux

#1 2025-06-02 09:04:37

Wrong CPU max frequency reporting on Arch Linux

#2 2025-06-02 15:27:27

Re: Wrong CPU max frequency reporting on Arch Linux

#3 2025-06-03 04:37:26

Re: Wrong CPU max frequency reporting on Arch Linux

#4 2025-06-03 06:04:50

Re: Wrong CPU max frequency reporting on Arch Linux

#5 2025-06-03 12:16:11

Re: Wrong CPU max frequency reporting on Arch Linux

#6 2025-06-03 14:10:01

Re: Wrong CPU max frequency reporting on Arch Linux

#7 2025-06-03 22:03:36

Re: Wrong CPU max frequency reporting on Arch Linux

#8 2025-06-03 22:30:37

Re: Wrong CPU max frequency reporting on Arch Linux

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