Low CPU Frequency in Virtual Machines

Introduction

When working with virtual machines (VPS), it's common to encounter situations where the displayed CPU frequency seems lower than expected. This is normal behavior related to the specifics of virtualization.

Causes

The main reason is that the real CPU frequency is not reflected in real-time in the virtual machine due to the limitations of QEMU/KVM virtualization. This is standard behavior for virtual machines.

The CPU frequency you see in your server is the base frequency that was passed from the hypervisor (QEMU) to the virtual machine. In a virtualized environment, there is no way to see the current CPU frequency in real-time.

How It Works

1. Frequency Display:

   • The virtual machine displays the base CPU frequency
   • The real frequency always differs from the displayed one
   • This does not affect system performance in any way

2. Performance:

   • Despite showing a low frequency, the system operates at full power
   • CPU resources are allocated according to your service plan
   • Performance corresponds to the stated specifications

Performance Testing

To evaluate the real CPU performance, it's recommended to run performance tests using special utilities, such as Geekbench.

Conclusion

Displaying a low CPU frequency in a virtual machine is normal behavior and does not indicate performance problems. This is a characteristic of QEMU/KVM virtualization that does not affect the real performance of the system.