尽管我们的计算机可能很神奇，但它们不会靠独角兽之吻和仙尘运行。最后，您的 PC 的电子血管中运行着良好的旧电。就像(Just)任何电子设备一样，计算机内部的组件在特定电压下运行。也就是说，推动电子通过计算机内部电路的压力量。
您的CPU设计为在特定电压下运行，但您可以将该数字调整为更高（过压）或更低（欠压）。我们要在本文中讨论后者（降低CPU电压），我们将首先从最重要的问题开始。(CPU)
为什么要欠压 CPU？
电子产品的效率不是 100%。这意味着通过CPU(CPU)运行的一些电能会转化为热量。这就是为什么您的CPU需要散热器和风扇组件以使其不会过热的原因。降低CPU的电压也会减少流经系统的电子数量。这意味着更少的热量。
这样做的第一个好处是冷却器CPU的使用寿命会更长。此外，降低CPU电压也意味着CPU将使用更少的电源。因此，对于使用电池供电的设备，欠压可能是延长电池寿命的一种方式。
在某些情况下，在高温限制超频工作的情况下，欠压也可以成为实现更高时钟速度的一种方式。然而，允许稳定超频的通常是过压，因此对(overclocking)CPU进行欠压并不是性能迷的首选方法。
为什么欠压有效？
您可能想知道为什么制造商会在较低电压下工作时将其CPU设置为特定电压。(CPUs)毕竟，如果欠压如此之大，为什么不以较低电压运送CPU ？(CPUs)答案是每个CPU(CPUs)都有点不同。
两个相同的CPU(CPUs)在这些低电压下可能会产生不同的结果。批准的电压是保证与最大比例的处理器一起工作的电压。在某些情况下，给定的单个CPU实际上只能在官方电压下工作，但在大多数情况下，您会发现至少可以将其降低一点而不会产生任何负面影响。
低电压危险吗？
电压不足是否危险这个问题的答案很大程度上取决于你认为什么是危险的，或者你对什么样的风险感到满意。降低CPU的电压不会损坏CPU或任何其他组件。但是，它会造成系统不稳定，进而导致数据丢失。欠压时，在对计算机执行任何远程重要操作之前，测试和验证较低的电压设置非常重要。
除了潜在的数据丢失之外，当涉及到欠压时，另一个真正的危险是您不小心使CPU过(CPU)压(overvolt)。过多的电压是永久烧毁(Too)CPU的一种快速有效的方法，因此请确保 100% 确保您将电压刻度盘朝正确的方向转动！
通过 BIOS 欠压
降低CPU(CPU)电压的最纯粹的方法是BIOS。这是使您的计算机在操作系统启动之前运行的固件。每个主板的BIOS菜单、名称和步骤都略有不同。因此，您必须参考您的主板手册才能准确了解在BIOS中更改(BIOS)CPU电压的位置。
虽然这是降低CPU(CPU)电压的合法方式，但使用BIOS可能非常乏味。由于每次调整后您都需要启动Windows，运行测试然后再次调整。这个漫长的验证过程是大多数人使用软件实用程序来弄乱他们的电压的原因。
请注意，如果您没有面向性能的BIOS，则可能没有CPU电压控制可供您调整。
使用软件实用程序降低(Software Utility)CPU电压
有两种流行的实用程序可供狂热的电压不足者使用，以使他们的CPU(CPUs)脱离果汁。如果您使用的是Intel CPU，那么Intel Extreme Tuning Utility (XTU) 是一个不错的选择。毕竟没有人比英特尔(Intel)更了解英特尔(Intel)的CPU 。(CPUs)
遗憾的是，该程序并不是世界上最用户友好的程序，如果您不熟悉所有CPU术语，它有大量设置和部分可能会造成混淆。幸运的是，对于电压不足，我们只需要关心少数设置。在XTU中，这些都在应用程序的“核心”部分下。重要的是“核心偏移电压”。
现代 CPU(Modern CPUs)，尤其是笔记本电脑中的 CPU，不使用静态电压。相反，电压会根据CPU(CPU)中的负载量进行调整。这是欠压无法获得以前那样的结果的原因之一，因为CPU在空闲时实际上是在自身欠压。通过调整电压偏移，我们可以改变CPU将使用的最小和最大电压范围。
注意：(NOTE: )如果您看到核心偏移电压(Core Offset Voltage)显示为灰色，这可能是由于某些OEM（原始设备制造商(Equipment Manufacturer)）实施了安全补丁。这主要影响笔记本电脑，但某些预建桌面系统也可能如此。
这要归功于称为Plundervolt的黑客攻击。恢复该功能的唯一方法是刷新较旧的未打补丁的BIOS版本（如果有）。除非您确切知道自己在做什么，否则我们不建议您这样做。
那么，AMD用户呢？我们没有要测试的AMD机器，但原理保持不变。主要问题是XTU不适用于AMD CPU(AMD CPUs)。好消息是AMD有自己的实用程序，称为Precision Boost Overdrive。
该软件的最新版本提供了自适应欠压功能，可对性能、热量和电池寿命产生重大影响。因此，如果您使用的是最新的AMD CPU，请务必查看它。
测试你的欠压设置
对于每一个新的电压设置，您都需要确保一切仍按预期工作。您不可避免地会在某个时候崩溃或系统冻结，这通常表明您必须退后一两个档次。但即使一切看起来都很好，您也必须彻底验证您的设置。以下是我们在对 CPU 进行欠压时推荐的步骤顺序：
- 在更改任何内容之前，请运行您选择的CPU基准测试并记下分数。记下CPU的峰值温度。CPU-Z是一个很好的程序。
- 将电压偏移降低 5mv。如果你有勇气，你可以先降低 50mv，从那里 5-10mv 是最明智的增量。
- 减少后，运行压力测试，例如Prime95或(Prime95)XTU中的内置压力测试。
- 假设压力测试通过，再次运行基准测试。性能应该相同或更好。
- 重复该过程。
如果您的CPU变得不稳定或与之前的基准相比性能开始变差，请将您的电压调回最后一次成功的尝试，并将其用作您的首选设置。
从字面上看，低电压很酷
超频者和其他CPU特立独行者为整个计算行业做了很多工作。今天的CPU(CPUs)非常擅长自己超频，欠压也一样。
由于新CPU(CPUs)中复杂的自我调整功能，在几年内手动降低 CPU 电压不会有太多好处(CPU)。但是，在当前和过去的计算机上仍然值得这样做。最好的一点是风险很小。那么为什么不试一试呢？
How to Undervolt a CPU on Windows 10
As magical as our computers mаy be, they don’t run on υnicorn kisses and fairy dust. In the end, there’s good old electricity runnіng through yоur РC’s electronic veins. Јust like any electronic device, the components inside your сomputer run at speсifіc voltages. That is, the amount of pressurе pushing elеctrons through the circuits inside your computer.
Your CPU is designed to run at a specific voltage, but you can adjust that number to be higher (overvolting) or lower (undervolting). It’s the latter (undervolting a CPU) we want to discuss in this article, and we’ll start with the most important question first.
Why Undervolt a CPU?
Electronics are not 100% efficient. Which means that some of that electrical energy running through your CPU is turned into heat. That’s why your CPU needs a heatsink and fan assembly so it doesn’t overheat. Reducing the voltage of a CPU also reduces the amount of electrons flowing through the system. This translates to less heat.
The first benefit of this is that a cooler CPU will have a longer lifespan. Also, reducing the CPU voltage also means the CPU will use less power. So for devices that run from a battery, undervolting can be a way to extend battery life.
Undervolting can also be a way to achieve higher clock speeds in some cases, where high temperatures are limiting overclocking efforts. However, it’s usually overvolting that allows for stable overclocking, so undervolting a CPU is not the go-to method for performance junkies.
Why Does Undervolting Work?
You might wonder why manufacturers set their CPUs to a certain voltage when they’ll work at a lower one. After all, if undervolting is so great, why not ship the CPUs at the lower voltage? The answer to this is that CPUs are each a little different.
Two identical CPUs can have different outcomes at those low voltages. The approved voltage is one that’s guaranteed to work with the largest percentage of processors. In some cases a given individual CPU will really only work with the official voltage, but for the most part you’ll find that you can bring it down at least a little without any negative effects.
Is Undervolting Dangerous?
The answer to the question of whether undervolting is dangerous depends largely on what you consider to be dangerous or what sort of risks you are comfortable with. Reducing the voltage of a CPU won’t hurt the CPU or any other components. However, it can create system instability, which can in turn lead to data loss. When undervolting it’s important to test and validate your lower voltage setting before doing anything remotely important with your computer.
Apart from potential data loss, another real danger when it comes to undervolting is that you accidentally overvolt your CPU. Too much voltage is a fast and effective way to permanently fry a CPU, so make 100% sure that you’re turning the voltage dial in the right direction!
Undervolting Through the BIOS
The purest way in which to undervolt your CPU is the BIOS. That’s the firmware that makes your computer run before the operating system even kicks in. Each motherboard has slightly different BIOS menus, names and steps. So you’ll have to refer to your motherboard manual to know exactly where to go in order to change the CPU voltage in the BIOS.
While this is a legitimate way to undervolt a CPU, using the BIOS can be incredibly tedious. Since after every adjustment you’ll need to boot into Windows, run a test and then adjust again. This lengthy process of validation is why most people use a software utility to mess with their voltages.
Be aware that if you don’t have a performance-oriented BIOS, it’s possible that there are no CPU voltage controls for you to tweak.
Undervolting a CPU With a Software Utility
There are two popular utilities that avid undervolters use to wean their CPUs off the juice. If you’re using an Intel CPU, then the Intel Extreme Tuning Utility (XTU) is a good choice. No one knows Intel’s CPUs better than Intel, after all.
Sadly, the program isn’t the most user-friendly in the world and it has a heap of settings and sections that can be confusing if you aren’t familiar with all the CPU jargon. Luckily for undervolting we only have to care about a small number of settings. In XTU these are all under the “core” section of the app. What matters is “core offset voltage”.
Modern CPUs, especially those in laptops, don’t use a static voltage. Instead, the voltage is adjusted as per the amount of load in the CPU. This is one of the reasons undervolting doesn’t get quite the results it used to, since the CPU is actually undervolting itself when idle. By adjusting the voltage offset, we change the minimum and maximum voltage range the CPU will use.
NOTE: If you see that Core Offset Voltage is greyed out, this is possibly due to a security patch that some OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) have implemented. This mainly affects laptops, but can also be true of certain prebuilt desktop systems.
This is thanks to a hacking exploit known as Plundervolt. The only way to get the function back would be to flash an older unpatched version of the BIOS, if available. We don’t recommend you do this unless you know exactly what you’re doing.
So, what about AMD users? We didn’t have an AMD machine to test, but the principle remains the same. The main issue is that XTU doesn’t work with AMD CPUs. The good news is that AMD have their own utility known as Precision Boost Overdrive.
The latest version of the software offers an adaptive undervolting feature which can have a significant effect on performance, heat and battery life. So if you’re using a recent AMD CPU definitely look into it.
Testing Your Undervolted Settings
With every new voltage setting you need to make sure everything is still working as intended. It’s inevitable that you’ll get a crash or system freeze at some point, which is usually an indication that you have to back off a notch or two. But even if everything seems fine, you’ll have to do a thorough job of validating your settings. Here’s the sequence of steps we recommend when undervolting a CPU:
- Before changing anything, run your CPU benchmark of choice and write down the score. Make a note of the peak temperature of your CPU. CPU-Z is a great program for that purpose.
- Reduce the voltage offset by 5mv. If you’re feeling brave you can get a headstart with a 50mv reduction, from there 5-10mv is the most sensible increment.
- After the reduction, run a stress test such as Prime95 or the built in stress test in XTU.
- Assuming the stress test passes, run your benchmark again. Performance should be the same or better.
- Repeat the process.
If your CPU becomes unstable or your performance starts to get worse compared to the previous benchmark, dial your voltage back to the last successful attempt and use that as your go-to setting.
Undervolting is Cool, Literally
Overclockers and other CPU mavericks have done a lot for the entire computing industry. Today CPUs are very good at overclocking themselves and the same is becoming true of undervolting.
Within a few years there won’t be much to gain from manually undervolting a CPU, thanks to sophisticated self-tweaking in new CPUs. However, it’s still worth doing on current and past computers. The best thing about it is that there’s very little risk. So why not give it a go?
