Windows has a feature which can be set from the Power Options menu where the CPU is automatically throttled according to usage in order to save power.
How can I view this throttling in real time? For instance, is the CPU Usage in Windows Task Manager a good indicator?
2 Answers
Windows 7 has a tool called Resource Monitor which shows this. You can launch it by pressing Windows+R to bring up the Run dialog, then type perfmon.exe /res and press Enter.
On the CPU panel, the Maximum Frequency (small blue graph) shows at what power the CPU is currently operating.
4I like using CoreTemp. It runs as admin, but it's free and signed by GlobalSign in the authors name.
What's cool is seeing how throttling conserves energy. Here's an example:
