diff -purN -x '*~' a/gkrellm-gkfreq.c b/gkrellm-gkfreq.c
--- a/gkrellm-gkfreq.c	2014-12-23 14:23:13.000000000 +0100
+++ b/gkrellm-gkfreq.c	2018-12-08 05:58:49.732739849 +0100
@@ -172,6 +172,9 @@ static gint panel_expose_event(GtkWidget
 static void update_plugin() {
   gint i;
   
+  // dont do it too much...
+  if ((GK.timer_ticks % 10) != 0) return;
+
   // Get all CPU frequencies and calculate max, avg & min
   for (i=0; i<num_cpu; i++) {
     cpu[i].freq = get_cpu_freq(i);