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Intel® Xeon® Processor E5-1600/E5-2600/E5-4600 Product Families 93
Datasheet Volume One
Power Management
A System Management Interrupt (SMI) handler returns execution to either Normal
state or the C1/C1E state. See the
Intel® 64 and IA-32 Architectures Software
Developer’s Manual (SDM) Volumes 1, 2, and 3
for more information.
While a core is in C1/C1E state, it processes bus snoops and snoops from other
threads. For more information on C1E, see Section 4.2.5.2, “Package C1/C1E”.
4.2.4.3 Core C3 State
Individual threads of a core can enter the C3 state by initiating a P_LVL2 I/O read to
the P_BLK or an MWAIT(C3) instruction. A core in C3 state flushes the contents of its
L1 instruction cache, L1 data cache, and L2 cache to the shared L3 cache, while
maintaining its architectural state. All core clocks are stopped at this point. Because the
core’s caches are flushed, the processor does not wake any core that is in the C3 state
when either a snoop is detected or when another core accesses cacheable memory.
4.2.4.4 Core C6 State
Individual threads of a core can enter the C6 state by initiating a P_LVL3 I/O read or an
MWAIT(C6) instruction. Before entering core C6, the core will save its architectural
state to a dedicated SRAM. Once complete, a core will have its voltage reduced to zero
volts. In addition to flushing core caches core architecture state is saved to the uncore.
Once the core state save is completed, core voltage is reduced to zero. During exit, the
core is powered on and its architectural state is restored.
4.2.4.5 Core C7 State
Individual threads of a core can enter the C7 state by initiating a P_LVL4 I/O read to
the P_BLK or by an MWAIT(C7) instruction. Core C7 and core C7 substate are the same
as Core C6. The processor does not support LLC flush under any condition.
4.2.4.6 C-State Auto-Demotion
In general, deeper C-states such as C6 or C7 have long latencies and have higher
energy entry/exit costs. The resulting performance and energy penalties become
significant when the entry/exit frequency of a deeper C-state is high. In order to
increase residency in deeper C-states, the processor supports C-state auto-demotion.
There are two C-State auto-demotion options:
•C6/C7 to C3
• C3/C6/C7 To C1
The decision to demote a core from C6/C7 to C3 or C3/C6/C7 to C1 is based on each
core’s immediate residency history. Upon each core C6/C7 request, the core C-state is
demoted to C3 or C1 until a sufficient amount of residency has been established. At
that point, a core is allowed to go into C3/C6 or C7. Each option can be run
concurrently or individually.
This feature is disabled by default. BIOS must enable it in the
PMG_CST_CONFIG_CONTROL register. The auto-demotion policy is also configured by
this register. See the
Intel® 64 and IA-32 Architectures Software Developer’s Manual
(SDM) Volumes 1, 2, and 3
for C-state configurations.