These questions involves a PC with i5-2500K CPU, DH67CL motherboard (0156 BIOS), and 530 120 GB SSD, all Intel; RAM is 16GB of Crucial Ballistix Tactical 1333. I downloaded the Processor Diagnostic Tool (64-bit) from intel.com (IPDT_Installer_2.8.0.0-1_x86_2.10.0.0.MP-1_x64.exe), installed it, and ran it. I have some questions:
1) When I start it, it complains "Version of IPDT is not latest version," thinks I have 2.10.0.0.MP-1 installed, and suggests that I instead download 2.10.0.0-1. But when I look in Control Panel, I have Intel Processor Diagnostic Tool 64bit 2.10.0.0-1 installed. What's up with that? I just start it with the "Ignore Message" option.
2) I ran it a number of times and every time it received a PASS:
- The first time I ran it I had some minor graphics overclocking with the Graphics Max Multiplier set to 30 as compared to its default of 22. The Detected CPU Frequency was 3.65 and "Temperature = 64 degrees C below maximum." It also warned, "The processor frequency could be affected by power management features." Okay, I thought that my graphics overclocking was limiting the CPU, so I went back into BIOS and pressed F9 to restore defaults. But since I have a sound card, I disabled the motherboard one in BIOS.
- I rebooted and ran PDT again. This time the Detected CPU Frequency was 4.65 and "Temperature = 60 degrees C below maximum." The same warning message was present.
- I rebooted and ran it again. Now the Detected CPU Frequency was 5.79, "Temperature = 55 degrees C below maximum," and the warning message was still there.
- I went into BIOS, pressed F9 to restore defaults but did not disable motherboard sound, rebooted, and ran it again. The Detected CPU Frequency was 3.66 and "Temperature = 64 degrees C below maximum." The warning message was still there.
- I rebooted, disabled motherboard sound in BIOS, and ran PDT again. This time the Detected CPU Frequency was 3.69 (as expected) and "Temperature = 64 degrees C below maximum." The same warning message was present.
The warning message appears to be useless. But the Detected CPU Frequency is wild. An i5-2500K should not exceed 3.7, so what's up with 4.65 and 5.79?
3) I cannot tell by my results if my mild graphics overclocking interferes with the CPU. Before all this I would have guessed that increasing the Graphics Max Multiplier from 22 to 30 would not be a factor. I ran IPDT two more times after setting Graphics Max Multiplier back to 30 and got 3.54/64 and 3.69/63, so I'm not convinced it is interfering with the CPU test. Any comments?
Based on the wildly varying Detected CPU Frequency values, I am tempted to say that Intel is no longer supporting this product on Sandy Bridge.