Power Management
40
Datasheet
4.2.1
Enhanced Intel SpeedStep® Technology
The following are the key features of Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology:
•
Multiple frequency and voltage points for optimal performance and power
efficiency. These operating points are known as P-states.
•
Frequency selection is software controlled by writing to processor MSRs. The
voltage is optimized based on the selected frequency and the number of active
processor cores.
— If the target frequency is higher than the current frequency, V
CC
is ramped up in
steps to an optimized voltage. This voltage is signaled by the VID[6:0] pins to
the voltage regulator. Once the voltage is established, the PLL locks on to the
target frequency.
— If the target frequency is lower than the current frequency, the PLL locks to the
target frequency, then transitions to a lower voltage by signaling the target
voltage on the VID[6:0] pins.
— All active processor cores share the same frequency and voltage. In a multi-core
processor, the highest frequency P-state requested amongst all active cores is
selected.
— Software-requested transitions are accepted at any time. If a previous transition
is in progress, the new transition is deferred until the previous transition is
completed.
•
The processor controls voltage ramp rates internally to ensure glitch-free
transitions.
•
Because there is low transition latency between P-states, a significant number of
transitions per-second are possible.
4.2.2
Low-Power Idle States
When the processor is idle, low-power idle states (C-states) are used to save power.
More power savings actions are taken for numerically higher C-states. However, higher
C-states have longer exit and entry latencies. Resolution of C-states occur at the
thread, processor core, and processor package level. Thread-level C-states are
available if Intel Hyper-Threading Technology is enabled.
