What's the recommended minimum processor state?

We'll have to disagree on that point. I can stress a CPU to the point where it is being pushed to it's absolute limits and it will continue to run fine like that indefinitely (or at least for the useful lifespan of that computer).

In fact, with every system I build, I do precisely that: I run the system flat out for a minimum of 3 days straight and I purposely severely limit case cooling to ensure that the system is stable running flat out.

Remember, the boost settings are not meant to run forever. They run for a period of time and then the CPU automatically throttles back. The CPU will run hot, but within design specs. After all, the whole point of these various boost capabilities is to allow you to safely run at higher than base speeds. If you don't want to take advantage of these capabilities, then what is the point in even having them? A modern CPU is specifically designed to run in these modes without the need of any user intervention whatsoever.

Any modern CPU will very closely monitor and regulate these modes to allow operation within safe margins.

Now, if you are performing extreme overclocking and purposely running your CPU out of spec with higher frequencies, altered voltages, and you are purposely defeating the design specs, etc. then we have a different story.

The bottom line is simply this:

If you have proper cooling and are not doing extreme overclocking, there is no software - no game, no high intensity compute app, nothing - that can overstress your CPU. The CPU will self-regulate down as needed.

Let's also use some very basic logic here: If running at 100% processor state was in any way detrimental, why would Microsoft choose to make that the default setting and why would AMD, Intel, Qualcomm, Apple, etc. all use such techniques if they were not 100% safe?

I just found this useful discussion about minimum processor state. I used to have a asrock H170m mainboard that able to set
min processor sate inside bios. My current gigabyte b450 pro wifi motherboard does not have this feature in bios.
I went into power option and found that min processor state at 99%. After switching power plan from balance to power saving and back, the min processor state is at 5%.

teots said:

I just found this useful discussion about minimum processor state. I used to have a asrock H170m mainboard that able to set
min processor sate inside bios. My current gigabyte b450 pro wifi motherboard does not have this feature in bios.
I went into power option and found that min processor state at 99%. After switching power plan from balance to power saving and back, the min processor state is at 5%.

Glad you found this discussion useful!

hsehestedt said:

The default is 5% which is the recommended value.

It makes no difference to gaming because the minimum state only comes into play when the processor is idling and not doing any real work. It will switch to the maximum state automatically when demand is placed upon the CPU.

EDIT:

Here is some additional information on the topic:

Minimum Processor State Windows 10: 5%, 0%, 1%, 100%, or 99% (minitool.com)

Old thread I know, but am curious about this.

A virtually identical scenario to this plays out in GPU land and the answer isn't always so clear cut. This is of course do I or don't I set "Prefer Maximum Performance" in NVCP (And I'm assuming AMD has something similar). One setting leaves P-states to fluctuate as needed, and the other forces the GPU to 100% at all times.

The problem is it doesn't always work as intended. If you are playing an older and/or competitive game your GPU usage may even hit idle at 35% causing performance stuttering. Similarly, some newer games are becoming heavily CPU bound and especially if you are working with an older CPU in danger of bottlenecking a newer GPU this can cause noticeable micro stuttering (Well the hardware is causing the issues but setting the GPU to full clock speeds can provide a remedy you otherwise wouldn't have if left to its own devices).

For someone in a situation like mine, with a custom loop negating temp throttling concerns and a GPU overvolting/overclocked as far as it will go, running Prefer Maximum Performance while gaming is more along the lines of necessary than preferable.

There's of course also a myriad of reasons to advocate for leaving it on Optimal Performance. Which brings me to my point. It depends on the game, the hardware, the software

So with all of that said, when left to its own devices are you certain letting a CPU decide what's best for itself in the middle of gaming actually the definitively concrete answer? I've personally never played around with it and have never really thought to until recently. I set everything through the bios but I've only ever tested for load stability.