Undervolt Acer nitro 5 AN515-54

[XandCosta]

i need a good setting no throttlestop to minimize my cpu temps and play games with high performance.
these are my settings now, i got from a thread from this forum, but i dont know if i'm getting the maximum performance

 

[unclewebb]

All of your settings look good.

Turn on the Log File option when gaming. This will show how your CPU is performing and if it has any throttling issues. Attach a log file to your next post if you want me to have a look at it. Turn on Nvidia GPU monitoring in the Options window before you start logging.

If you do not see a lock icon near the PROCHOT Offset setting in the Options window, I would set PROCHOT Offset to 3. I think your computer set this to 8.

The 9300H has maximum turbo ratios of 41, 41, 40, 40. You have set all of these to 41. It is OK to do that but it is not going to make your CPU run any faster. The 9300H is a locked CPU. There is no way to overclock it and make it run faster.

In the TPL window I would leave the turbo time limit at the default 28 seconds. Did you try increasing the PL1 power limit? I would set both power limits to 60W.

Your CPU is using Speed Shift Technology so I would check the Speed Shift box in the TPL window. Checking this box makes sure that these values are written to the CPU.

Everything looks good. As long as your computer does not have any throttling problems, it should be OK.

 

[XandCosta]

First off all, thanks for the reply. I've runned cinebench after doing what u said, here's is the log and prints of all the configurations

 

[unclewebb]

here's is the log

Your log file shows lots of PL2 power limit throttling. This happens at 45W which is the rated TDP. This means that the 60W power limits that you have set in ThrottleStop are being ignored. Some laptop manufacturers force their laptops so they do not exceed the 45W TDP limit. There is nothing you can do about this.

Other than that, the rest of your settings look OK. Your requested undervolt is being applied correctly. You have hit the 45W power limit wall and there is nothing you can do about that.

 

[XandCosta]

That's really sad, it just don't make sense to my why they would force this limit, i'm just losing performance. Is really nothing I can do? Even if i undervolt more the CPU core?

I use the settings while playing Rocket League and I'm getting thermal throttling. Sometimes the cpu reachs 92 degres

 

[unclewebb]

why they would force this limit

Lots of manufacturers do this. It is up to consumers to test for this and decide if it is acceptable or not. Most consumers have no idea about this limitation. Even most enthusiasts are not aware of these limitations. Most laptop review sites never mention anything negative.

Have a look in the ThrottleStop Options window. The PROCHOT Offset variable controls the thermal throttling temperature. The Intel default is 0. Thermal throttling is supposed to start at 100°C. Many manufacturers set an offset so thermal throttling starts much sooner. This reduces temperatures but it also reduces maximum performance. If you do not see a Lock icon near this setting, you can lower the PROCHOT Offset value to increase the thermal throttling temperature. Many laptops set this to 2 or 3. Some laptops are set to 0 like they should be.

 

[General ginger]

That's really sad, it just don't make sense to my why they would force this limit, i'm just losing performance. Is really nothing I can do? Even if i undervolt more the CPU core?

I use the settings while playing Rocket League and I'm getting thermal throttling. Sometimes the cpu reachs 92 degres

Hey I have the same laptop and have been running through settings myself. A lot of my settings are the same except my core is set at -185 while the cache is at -135 I believe and my EPP is 0 instead of 80. I get a score a little above 1900 on cinebench (r20) Like unclewebb mentioned we have that wall at 45w. So my TPL is set at 45. but if your trying to lower temps farther than what youve been able to I've had luck adjusting my core values. Easy to switch the values on the fly and there's significant PL2 Throttling reduction without a hit to cpu processing power if the values are all at 38 I hover around the 70-88c depending on the game and task. I personally use 41,40,40,39 because I'm not to worried about temp as long as I'm not constantly throttling my PL2. I'm happy with my settings for a good mix of balance while still being happy with my performance

 

[JuliaBorgir]

Hi @unclewebb, I have the same laptop too, Acer Nitro 5 AN515-54-56ML. Mine has a RTX 2060 with i5 9300h and its temp always crosses 92 degree mark and thermal and power throttles. It seems almost impossible to undervolt. I tried for days and days and after multiple crashes that I lost count of I thought I succeeded yesterday as it did not crash when I played some games and ran cinebench r23. But the temps still didn't go down (maybe a difference of 5-4 degrees decrease). And after playing a round or 2 in Apex Legends, the game was stuttering/lagging (fps was fine tho, and my laptop hasn't crashed yet) . I am so tired of the temps and tired of my laptop crashing , so can anyone care to guide me before I do some irreversible damage?

 

[XandCosta]

Hey I have the same laptop and have been running through settings myself. A lot of my settings are the same except my core is set at -185 while the cache is at -135 I believe and my EPP is 0 instead of 80. I get a score a little above 1900 on cinebench (r20) Like unclewebb mentioned we have that wall at 45w. So my TPL is set at 45. but if your trying to lower temps farther than what youve been able to I've had luck adjusting my core values. Easy to switch the values on the fly and there's significant PL2 Throttling reduction without a hit to cpu processing power if the values are all at 38 I hover around the 70-88c depending on the game and task. I personally use 41,40,40,39 because I'm not to worried about temp as long as I'm not constantly throttling my PL2. I'm happy with my settings for a good mix of balance while still being happy with my performance

I'm gonna test this settings and see if the work better than mine old ones, thanks for sharing it my friend

 

[unclewebb]

@JuliaBorgir - In the Options window, clear the check marks in the two boxes, PROCHOT Offset and Lock PROCHOT Offset and then reboot. After you have rebooted, open the Options window. Is there a lock icon near the PROCHOT Offset setting? If the BIOS has locked this setting then leave it alone. You cannot use ThrottleStop to change the thermal throttling temperature if the BIOS has locked this setting.

Unlocked Example

Locked Example

Acer has low balled the thermal throttling temperature to 92°C and they do not appear to have left you any options to fix that problem.

You need to improve cooling. A computer cannot perform smoothly if it is thermal throttling. Have you ever cleaned inside your laptop and replaced the thermal paste? There is not much else you can do. Your laptop has a CPU with a 45W TDP rating. When the GPU is active when gaming, the cooling cannot handle the CPU running at half of its 45W rating. Either your cooling system is overdue for some maintenance or your heatsink and fan are poorly engineered or a little bit of both. That is the main problem. Either fix the cooling or use ThrottleStop to run your CPU much slower so it does not constantly overheat.

 

[JuliaBorgir]

@JuliaBorgir - In the Options window, clear the check marks in the two boxes, PROCHOT Offset and Lock PROCHOT Offset and then reboot. After you have rebooted, open the Options window. Is there a lock icon near the PROCHOT Offset setting? If the BIOS has locked this setting then leave it alone. You cannot use ThrottleStop to change the thermal throttling temperature if the BIOS has locked this setting.

Unlocked Example
View attachment 211981

Locked Example
View attachment 211983

Acer has low balled the thermal throttling temperature to 92°C and they do not appear to have left you any options to fix that problem.

You need to improve cooling. A computer cannot perform smoothly if it is thermal throttling. Have you ever cleaned inside your laptop and replaced the thermal paste? There is not much else you can do. Your laptop has a CPU with a 45W TDP rating. When the GPU is active when gaming, the cooling cannot handle the CPU running at half of its 45W rating. Either your cooling system is overdue for some maintenance or your heatsink and fan are poorly engineered or a little bit of both. That is the main problem. Either fix the cooling or use ThrottleStop to run your CPU much slower so it does not constantly overheat.

Yes I think it does have that mark, I recently repasted it so I don't think that's the issue. I realized that I will have to run my CPU much slower like you said but will I even be able to play games on it? How much downclocking we talking about? 100hz? 150hz? Btw could tell me what the most optimal settings will be for me so that I can try it at least to see the results. I was able to reach -127mv at core but cant figure out if it was crashing cuz of cache or cuz of igpu cuz this is the first I changed the igpu and unslice options and it didnt crash before that i always just changed the core , cache, tpl1, tpl2 and speedshift-epp values and it almost always crashed (most of the time instant crashes) .

 

[unclewebb]

I recently repasted

What thermal paste did you use? Some popular pastes will start to degrade in as little as one week when used on a laptop CPU.

A computer should never crash. You are not using the Intel GPU when gaming so there is no need to undervolt the Intel GPU or the iGPU Unslice. Set those to +0.0000. Undervolting the Intel GPU gains you next to nothing and it can cause instability.

Your CPU core and cache undervolt settings and all of the rest of your settings are not the problem. You need to improve cooling.

 

[JuliaBorgir]

What thermal paste did you use?

Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut. So I took your advice and just tweaked with the cache and core values and currently I have my core around -174.8mv and cache around -110mv, it seems good so far and no power throttling because all my cores are at 39. But it does reach 93 degrees when I run Cinebench R23 on it and eventually gives a power warning at the end of the test. Btw what does clamp and lock do for long and short power limit in TPL. And I wanted to ask if we can change core values individually ? I have them at 39 but for example can I change core 1 to 38 and core 2 to 39?

 

[unclewebb]

can I change core 1 to 38 and core 2 to 39?

Your Intel CPU uses the same multiplier for all active cores. You can change the multiplier based on how many cores are active but you cannot change the multiplier for individual cores. You cannot have two different cores actively running at two different multipliers at the same time.

The Lock option locks the CPU power limit register so no software can change it. You need to reboot to unlock the power limit register after it has been locked. Most users rarely need to use this option.

Clamp will slow the CPU down as much as necessary so it does not exceed the power limit that you have entered. If Clamp is not checked, the CPU will not go below the base frequency (2.40 GHz) when it power limit throttles.

 

[XandCosta]

Hey I have the same laptop and have been running through settings myself. A lot of my settings are the same except my core is set at -185 while the cache is at -135 I believe and my EPP is 0 instead of 80. I get a score a little above 1900 on cinebench (r20) Like unclewebb mentioned we have that wall at 45w. So my TPL is set at 45. but if your trying to lower temps farther than what youve been able to I've had luck adjusting my core values. Easy to switch the values on the fly and there's significant PL2 Throttling reduction without a hit to cpu processing power if the values are all at 38 I hover around the 70-88c depending on the game and task. I personally use 41,40,40,39 because I'm not to worried about temp as long as I'm not constantly throttling my PL2. I'm happy with my settings for a good mix of balance while still being happy with my performance

So, I've tested your settings and it didin't work for me, I still get thermal throttling and PL2 limit. Can I do anything to fix it or I have to live with it?On the limit reasons tab, EDP OTHER and THERMAL were red during all the cinebench test.

I actually cleaned my fans and the thermal throttle appear to not be a problem anymore, but EDP OTHER and PL2 still be red while running cinebench test

 

[XandCosta]

I've found on reddit some guy found a way to unlock advanced BIOS on nitro 5 and that gives the possibility to increase PL1 and PL2 tdp rates. Is it worth a try?
Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/laptops/comments/i60sok

 

[Amycaa]

Thats my best config (not a best i know but stabil and temp is max 87-88) CPU Core and a Cache volts is same!