cpufreq-set

modify CPU frequency scaling settings

TLDR

Set the frequency governor for a specific CPU

$ sudo cpufreq-set -c [1] -g [performance]

Set the minimum frequency allowed

$ sudo cpufreq-set -c [1] -d [800MHz]

Set the maximum frequency allowed

$ sudo cpufreq-set -c [1] -u [2.4GHz]

Pin to a specific frequency (requires userspace governor)

$ sudo cpufreq-set -c [1] -f [2000MHz]

Apply settings to all CPUs sharing the policy

$ sudo cpufreq-set -r -g [powersave]

cpufreq-set modifies the Linux kernel cpufreq policy for a CPU, adjusting the scaling governor, minimum and maximum frequencies, or pinning a fixed frequency. It is part of the cpufrequtils package.Frequency values accept the suffixes `Hz`, `kHz` (default if no unit given), `MHz`, `GHz`, and `THz` appended directly to the number (for example `2400MHz` or `2.4GHz`). Valid values for the current CPU can be discovered with `cpufreq-info -l`.

PARAMETERS

-c, --cpu cpu

CPU number to operate on. Defaults to CPU 0 when omitted.

-d, --min freq

Set the minimum frequency the governor may select.

-u, --max freq

Set the maximum frequency the governor may select.

-g, --governor governor

Select the scaling governor (e.g. `performance`, `powersave`, `ondemand`, `conservative`, `schedutil`, `userspace`).

-f, --freq freq

Pin the CPU to a specific frequency. Requires the `userspace` governor and cannot be combined with `-d`, `-u`, or `-g`.

-r, --related

Also apply the change to every CPU hardware-related to the selected one.

-h, --help

Show help.

INSTALL

sudo apk add cpufrequtils

nix profile install nixpkgs#cpufrequtils

CAVEATS

Requires root privileges (or write access to `/sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu*/cpufreq/`). Pinning a fixed frequency only works when the `userspace` governor is active and loaded. Available governors depend on kernel configuration. Settings are not persisted across reboots; use a systemd unit or the `cpufrequtils` service to restore them at boot. On modern kernels using the `intel_pstate` driver, only the `performance` and `powersave` governors may be available.

HISTORY

cpufreq-set ships with cpufrequtils, originally written by Dominik Brodowski. The newer cpupower suite (from the kernel tree) largely supersedes cpufrequtils on recent distributions.