X3440 cat /proc/cpuinfo question

Question

im wondering is this normal?

[root@RPDS181 ~]# cat /proc/cpuinfo
processor       : 0
vendor_id       : GenuineIntel
cpu family      : 6
model           : 30
model name      : Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU           X3440  @ 2.53GHz
stepping        : 5
cpu MHz         : 1197.000
cache size      : 8192 KB
physical id     : 0
siblings        : 8
core id         : 0
cpu cores       : 4
apicid          : 0
fpu             : yes
fpu_exception   : yes
cpuid level     : 11
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 syscall nx rdtscp lm const                    ant_tsc nonstop_tsc pni monitor ds_cpl vmx smx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr sse4_1 ss                    e4_2 popcnt lahf_lm
bogomips        : 5054.11
clflush size    : 64
cache_alignment : 64
address sizes   : 36 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management: [8]

processor       : 1
vendor_id       : GenuineIntel
cpu family      : 6
model           : 30
model name      : Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU           X3440  @ 2.53GHz
stepping        : 5
cpu MHz         : 1197.000
cache size      : 8192 KB
physical id     : 0
siblings        : 8
core id         : 1
cpu cores       : 4
apicid          : 2
fpu             : yes
fpu_exception   : yes
cpuid level     : 11
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 syscall nx rdtscp lm const                    ant_tsc nonstop_tsc pni monitor ds_cpl vmx smx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr sse4_1 ss                    e4_2 popcnt lahf_lm
bogomips        : 5053.96
clflush size    : 64
cache_alignment : 64
address sizes   : 36 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management: [8]

processor       : 2
vendor_id       : GenuineIntel
cpu family      : 6
model           : 30
model name      : Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU           X3440  @ 2.53GHz
stepping        : 5
cpu MHz         : 2527.000
cache size      : 8192 KB
physical id     : 0
siblings        : 8
core id         : 2
cpu cores       : 4
apicid          : 4
fpu             : yes
fpu_exception   : yes
cpuid level     : 11
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 syscall nx rdtscp lm const                    ant_tsc nonstop_tsc pni monitor ds_cpl vmx smx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr sse4_1 ss                    e4_2 popcnt lahf_lm
bogomips        : 5053.89
clflush size    : 64
cache_alignment : 64
address sizes   : 36 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management: [8]

processor       : 3
vendor_id       : GenuineIntel
cpu family      : 6
model           : 30
model name      : Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU           X3440  @ 2.53GHz
stepping        : 5
cpu MHz         : 1197.000
cache size      : 8192 KB
physical id     : 0
siblings        : 8
core id         : 3
cpu cores       : 4
apicid          : 6
fpu             : yes
fpu_exception   : yes
cpuid level     : 11
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 syscall nx rdtscp lm const                    ant_tsc nonstop_tsc pni monitor ds_cpl vmx smx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr sse4_1 ss                    e4_2 popcnt lahf_lm
bogomips        : 5053.96
clflush size    : 64
cache_alignment : 64
address sizes   : 36 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management: [8]

processor       : 4
vendor_id       : GenuineIntel
cpu family      : 6
model           : 30
model name      : Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU           X3440  @ 2.53GHz
stepping        : 5
cpu MHz         : 1197.000
cache size      : 8192 KB
physical id     : 0
siblings        : 8
core id         : 0
cpu cores       : 4
apicid          : 1
fpu             : yes
fpu_exception   : yes
cpuid level     : 11
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 syscall nx rdtscp lm const                    ant_tsc nonstop_tsc pni monitor ds_cpl vmx smx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr sse4_1 ss                    e4_2 popcnt lahf_lm
bogomips        : 5053.95
clflush size    : 64
cache_alignment : 64
address sizes   : 36 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management: [8]

processor       : 5
vendor_id       : GenuineIntel
cpu family      : 6
model           : 30
model name      : Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU           X3440  @ 2.53GHz
stepping        : 5
cpu MHz         : 1197.000
cache size      : 8192 KB
physical id     : 0
siblings        : 8
core id         : 1
cpu cores       : 4
apicid          : 3
fpu             : yes
fpu_exception   : yes
cpuid level     : 11
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 syscall nx rdtscp lm const                    ant_tsc nonstop_tsc pni monitor ds_cpl vmx smx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr sse4_1 ss                    e4_2 popcnt lahf_lm
bogomips        : 5053.90
clflush size    : 64
cache_alignment : 64
address sizes   : 36 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management: [8]

processor       : 6
vendor_id       : GenuineIntel
cpu family      : 6
model           : 30
model name      : Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU           X3440  @ 2.53GHz
stepping        : 5
cpu MHz         : 1197.000
cache size      : 8192 KB
physical id     : 0
siblings        : 8
core id         : 2
cpu cores       : 4
apicid          : 5
fpu             : yes
fpu_exception   : yes
cpuid level     : 11
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 syscall nx rdtscp lm const                    ant_tsc nonstop_tsc pni monitor ds_cpl vmx smx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr sse4_1 ss                    e4_2 popcnt lahf_lm
bogomips        : 5053.97
clflush size    : 64
cache_alignment : 64
address sizes   : 36 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management: [8]

processor       : 7
vendor_id       : GenuineIntel
cpu family      : 6
model           : 30
model name      : Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU           X3440  @ 2.53GHz
stepping        : 5
cpu MHz         : 1197.000
cache size      : 8192 KB
physical id     : 0
siblings        : 8
core id         : 3
cpu cores       : 4
apicid          : 7
fpu             : yes
fpu_exception   : yes
cpuid level     : 11
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 syscall nx rdtscp lm const                    ant_tsc nonstop_tsc pni monitor ds_cpl vmx smx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr sse4_1 ss                    e4_2 popcnt lahf_lm
bogomips        : 5053.97
clflush size    : 64
cache_alignment : 64
address sizes   : 36 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management: [8]

so basically my question is about cpu MHz of each core, only core 2 shows 2527mhz as it (I think) should for all cores. If this has anything to do with that server uses HyperThreading technology.

Answer 1

Modern processors and operating systems support CPU frequency scaling. Unless your server is doing something very CPU intensive all the time, it rarely needs to use the full power. Lowering CPU speed reduces heat and power consumption. Should an application need more computing power, the CPU will ramp up the speed in no time at all.

Linux kernel has several CPU scaling governors available.

• Performance keeps the CPU speed up like the name says.
• On demand will keep the CPU speed at needed level (based on statistics) but will throttle it up if needed.
• Powersave will pick the lowest CPU speed possible but will also boost it up if needed.
• Userspace allows any root user to change the CPU frequency.

You can see the available governors compiled in to your current kernel with

cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/scaling_available_governors

And set one to, for example, performance:

echo performance >/sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/scaling_governor

But usually this is not needed and scaled down CPU speed is usually a good thing. An exception can be if your server truly is churning on 100% CPU load all the time around the clock.

Answer 2

Yes, this is normal, your server uses Intel SpeedStep for power saving.