What Is CPU Core Voltage?

Supply voltage of the CPU, that is, the voltage required for the CPU to work normally. Any electrical appliance needs electricity when it works, and naturally has a corresponding rated voltage, and the CPU is no exception.

CPU core voltage

Right!

Supply voltage of the CPU, that is, the voltage required for the CPU to work normally. Any electrical appliance needs electricity when it works, and naturally has a corresponding rated voltage, and the CPU is no exception.

At present, the operating voltage of the CPU has a very obvious downward trend. The lower operating voltage has three main advantages:

The total power consumption of the chip using a low-voltage CPU is reduced. The power consumption is reduced, and the operating cost of the system is correspondingly reduced. This is very important for portable and mobile systems, so that their existing batteries can work longer, thereby greatly extending the battery life;
Reduced power consumption, resulting in reduced heat generation, and CPUs that are not too hot can work better with the system;
Reducing the voltage is one of the important factors for increasing the CPU clock speed.

The operating voltage of the CPU is divided into two aspects, the core voltage of the CPU and the I / O voltage. Core voltage is the voltage that drives the CPU core chip, and I / O voltage refers to the voltage that drives the I / O circuit. Generally, the core voltage of the CPU is less than or equal to the I / O voltage.

The core voltage of the early CPU (286 ~ 486 era) is consistent with the I / O, usually 5V. Due to the relatively backward manufacturing process at that time, the heat generated by the CPU was too large, which shortened its life. However, the CPU integration level at that time was very low, and the current CPU integration level is quite high, so it seems that the current CPU heat is greater. With the improvement of the manufacturing process of the CPU, the working voltage of various CPUs has gradually decreased in recent years. At present, the core voltage of desktop CPUs is usually less than 2V, and the working voltage of notebook CPUs is relatively low, thereby achieving a significant reduction in power consumption. The purpose is to prolong the battery life and reduce the CPU heat. And the current CPU will use a special voltage ID (VID) pin to instruct the voltage regulator embedded in the motherboard to automatically set the correct voltage level.

Many motherboards for new CPUs will provide special jumpers or software settings. With these jumpers or software, the operating voltage of the CPU can be manually adjusted according to specific needs. Many experiments show that moderately increasing the core voltage during overclocking can strengthen the internal signals of the CPU, which will greatly improve the performance of the CPU-but this will also increase the power consumption of the CPU, affect its life and heat generation, and it is recommended for general users Do not do this.

In addition, starting from Athlon 64 of the Vinice core, AMD uses dynamic voltage on the Socket 939 interface processor. The default core voltage of the CPU is no longer marked on the CPU package. The core voltage of the CPU with the same core is variable and different The CPU may have different core voltages: 1.30V, 1.35V, or 1.40V.