Set CPU Governor/Frequency using cpupower on Linux

Installation

Install cpupower through the package manager depending on the distro you're running:

• Debian/Ubuntu

  sudo apt install linux-tools-common
  Bash

• Arch Linux/Manjaro

  yay -S cpupower
  Bash

  Don't know how to install packages on Arch based Linux? A full guide on Two Ways to Install Packages from AUR on Arch Linux/Manjaro.

• Fedora/CentOS 8+/RHEL 8+

  sudo dnf install kernel-tools
  Bash

• CentOS/RHEL

  sudo yum install cpupowerutils
  Bash

GUI

Alternatively, there is a GUI (Graphical User Interface) tool build on top of cpupower called cpupower-gui. Feel free to use it if you're more comfortable with GUI.

Set Governor

The following are some commonly used governors:

Intel CPU should use either performance or powersave since it's specially optimized by intel_pstate driver.

Set your governor to what suits you:

sudo cpupower frequency-set --governor performance
Bash

Set Fixed Frequency

It's normally advised against setting CPU frequency to a fixed value, but if you know what you're doing:

• Setting frequency to maximum of 3GHz and minimum of 1GHz

  sudo cpupower frequency-set --max 3GHz --min 1GHz
  Bash

• Lock frequency to 2GHz:

  sudo cpupower frequency-set --freq 2GHz
  Bash

Verify Your Settings

Use frequency-info to see details of your CPU driver and current frequency settings:

cpupower frequency-info
Bash

analyzing CPU 0:
  driver: intel_pstate
  CPUs which run at the same hardware frequency: 0
  CPUs which need to have their frequency coordinated by software: 0
  maximum transition latency:  Cannot determine or is not supported.
  hardware limits: 800 MHz - 3.70 GHz
  available cpufreq governors: performance powersave
  current policy: frequency should be within 800 MHz and 3.70 GHz.
                  The governor "performance" may decide which speed to use
                  within this range.
  current CPU frequency: Unable to call hardware
  current CPU frequency: 3.55 GHz (asserted by call to kernel)
  boost state support:
    Supported: yes
    Active: yes
Output

See Also

• Enable GameMode to Boost your Linux Performance on Demand