Question on some options

[Grandmaster]

I have a couple of questions on items that I see.

1)
What exactly is "Disable Chipset Throttle" in the options?
I can't seem to find any info about it.
What does it do, when does it do it and what settings does it overrule?

2)
The AC Timer Resolution setting 0-16. I read some things about it but I can't seem to really understand it. Can someone explain it to me in a better way?
And the lower the better for performance?

3)
In the Turbo Ratio Limits interface there is a Turbo Overclocking section where it says UNLIMITED and there is a checkbox with "OC". What does it do?

4)
The Limits button is greyed out for me, so I can't check the limit reasons. Is that because of some BIOS setting I have?


Thanks!

 

[AsRock]

I would of thought it be the same as CPU, it's a safety that you most likely should not turn off. But is there as some one may need the option.

On allow throttle to save CPU\chipset or off fck it lets fry the btch.

One reason i can think of is if some one has a faulty sensor they be able to by pass it.

 

[unclewebb]

Older chipsets had a clock modulation feature which was separate from the CPU's clock modulation feature. This could be used to slow a computer down to a crawl. This type of throttling was rarely if ever legitimately necessary. It was often times used by many Dell laptops.

Checking the Disable Chipset Throttle, if that feature is available on your computer, prevents this type of throttling from ever happening. My 4th Gen Lenovo laptop can use this type of throttling but it never does. I cannot think of any other manufacturer besides Dell that actually used this.

it's a safety that you most likely should not turn off

If I had a Dell laptop with this problem, I would immediately check that box and never look back. Dell released many laptops with this feature. It could be used to slow the CPU down to between 5% and 10% of its rated speed when loaded. This type of throttling was a terrible idea. About the only legit time for this much throttling was if the heatsink fell off which does not happen very often in laptops.

 

[qubit]

Older chipsets had a clock modulation feature which was separate from the CPU's clock modulation feature. This could be used to slow a computer down to a crawl. This type of throttling was rarely if ever legitimately necessary. It was often times used by many Dell laptops.

Fiddling with this sort of thing is the kind of thing I like to do to see the impact it has. One can also compare with the old, slow CPUs to see just how slow modern Windows is compared to those past generations.

Purely an enthusiast pastime to satisfy a bit of curiosity, of course.

 

[Grandmaster]

Older chipsets had a clock modulation feature which was separate from the CPU's clock modulation feature. This could be used to slow a computer down to a crawl. This type of throttling was rarely if ever legitimately necessary. It was often times used by many Dell laptops.

Checking the Disable Chipset Throttle, if that feature is available on your computer, prevents this type of throttling from ever happening. My 4th Gen Lenovo laptop can use this type of throttling but it never does. I cannot think of any other manufacturer besides Dell that actually used this.


If I had a Dell laptop with this problem, I would immediately check that box and never look back. Dell released many laptops with this feature. It could be used to slow the CPU down to between 5% and 10% of its rated speed when loaded. This type of throttling was a terrible idea. About the only legit time for this much throttling was if the heatsink fell off which does not happen very often in laptops.

Aha that explains it. I have it on an older Alienware M18x laptop (so Dell) that I'm trying to bring a bit up to date, with a 3rd generation processor (3940xm). It's still a beast for it's age honestly
I'll enable it then.
I edited my initial post with 3 more questions, can you help me out with those also?
Thanks!

 

[unclewebb]

I can't seem to really understand it

AC Timer Resolution controls how long a Windows task runs for when a computer is plugged in to AC power. Tasks are only scheduled to run for a fixed amount of time. If the task is not completed within this amount of time, the task gets kicked off the CPU and has to get back in line and wait for the next available time slice.

Windows has been using the default 15.6 ms time value since the beginning of time. Intel CPUs are infinitely faster compared to way back then so setting the time slice to a lower value might be appropriate with a modern and much faster CPU. Some users have said that a lower number can increase FPS while gaming or can help smooth out some games. I have never done much testing of this. Too low of a number might cause more overhead with the processor constantly changing tasks too often. You will have to do your own testing to see if there are any benchmarks where there is a noticeable difference.

OC

Unlimited means you have an Extreme processor that supports overclocking. Check the OC box and check the MMIO Lock box and maybe you can run your CPU faster than its default specs. You cannot use ThrottleStop to change the voltage of your 3rd Gen CPU. There might be an option in the BIOS that allows some extra voltage. More volts comes in handy to stabilize a CPU when overclocking.

Limits button

The Limits button opens up the Limit Reasons window. 4th Gen and newer CPUs can report why they are throttling. Your 3rd Gen CPU does not have this capability. That is why this button is grayed out on your computer.

 

[Grandmaster]

Unlimited means you have an Extreme processor that supports overclocking. Check the OC box and check the MMIO Lock box and maybe you can run your CPU faster than its default specs. You cannot use ThrottleStop to change the voltage of your 3rd Gen CPU. There might be an option in the BIOS that allows some extra voltage. More volts comes in handy to stabilize a CPU when overclocking.

Actually I have no problem adding extra turbo voltage in Turbo Ratio Limits. I can see the extra voltage being added in cpu-z and hwinfo.
I'm playing around with the PL1, PL2, Turbo time and PP0 current limit values in TPL now to see where I can safely push the 3940XM with also added voltage, trying to keep it within temperature specs while benching. It's going pretty well so far.

The thing is I also enabled sync MMIO which seemed to automatically change both MSR and MMIO power limits above it with the values I entered. Locking MMIO now will prevent it from being synced with my values? Is that something I want? What settings are the MMIO locked to then?

Thank you for this awesome piece of software!

 

[unclewebb]

Intel CPUs do not need to use two separate sets of turbo power limits. I prefer to clear the Sync MMIO box and I check the MMIO Lock box instead. This sets both MMIO power limits to 0 which basically tells the CPU to ignore the MMIO power limits. This allows you to control the CPU power limits by only adjusting the MSR values. Keep it simple is always my philosophy.

I forgot about ThrottleStop's Extra Turbo Voltage feature. This only works on unlocked 2nd and 3rd Generation Extreme CPUs which I could never afford back then. That is probably why I do not remember doing any hands on testing of this feature. A little bit of extra voltage can be useful when overclocking as long as you can manage the extra heat.

PP0 current limit

I usually set that limit to 0 or you can try setting it to the maximum value, 1023. Either of these values should disable this limit.

Thank you for this awesome piece of software!

You are welcome. Thanks for reminding me about how awesome ThrottleStop is. Nice to see it still being used on older computers. I am a little biased but I would recommend installing ThrottleStop on any Intel mobile or desktop computer built during the last 15 years. Even if you do not plan to do any tweaking, its efficient and accurate monitoring is second to none.

 

[Grandmaster]

I usually set that limit to 0 or you can try setting it to the maximum value, 1023. Either of these values should disable this limit.

Do you mean setting the PP0 current limit to 0 that it is then sort of uncapped and can go beyond the PP0 current limit that is native to the CPU?
In my case the PP0 current limit for the 3940XM is 97,5A.
My bios documentation says that setting it to 0 in bios means "auto".
Will setting it to 0 in TS cap it to 97,5A this way or will it let it go beyond if necessary?

 

[unclewebb]

I hope setting the current limit to 0 in ThrottleStop will let the CPU use as much current as it needs so it can achieve and maintain maximum performance.

Thermal throttling is necessary. The majority of power and current throttling schemes are not. If you do not feel comfortable running your high performance CPU wide open then leave the current limit and power limits at their default values. The default 55W TDP value is safe but it will likely interfere with maximum performance.

Intel® Core™ i7-3940XM Processor Extreme Edition (8M Cache, up to 3.90 GHz) - Product Specifications | Intel

Intel® Core™ i7-3940XM Processor Extreme Edition (8M Cache, up to 3.90 GHz) quick reference with specifications, features, and technologies.

ark.intel.com

Intel set the thermal throttling temperature to 105°C for many of their 3rd Gen CPUs. I think Intel's enthusiast engineers were comfortable with letting users push their Extreme CPUs to the limit. That is why all of the power settings were left unlocked.

 

[datnguyencg]

What is the "Clamp" ?

 

[unclewebb]

Clamp

When the Clamp option is checked, this allows the CPU to run slower than the base frequency when it is power limit throttling. If the power limits are set high to 90W, there will not be any power limit throttling so having Clamp checked or not checked will not make any difference. I always leave both MSR Clamp boxes clear.

Clamp is mostly useful for the low power 15W CPUs. If Clamp is checked, the CPU will slow down as much as necessary so it does not exceed 15W. Some Dell laptops have a "feature" where CPUs with 45W TDP ratings are mysteriously clamped down to 5W or less. This trick forces the CPU to run at its slowest possible speed. The CPU desperately tries to reduce power consumption as much as possible to get under the ridiculous 5W limit. This is not possible so it limps along at 800 MHz.

 

[datnguyencg]

When the Clamp option is checked, this allows the CPU to run slower than the base frequency when it is power limit throttling. If the power limits are set high to 90W, there will not be any power limit throttling so having Clamp checked or not checked will not make any difference. I always leave both MSR Clamp boxes clear.

Clamp is mostly useful for the low power 15W CPUs. If Clamp is checked, the CPU will slow down as much as necessary so it does not exceed 15W. Some Dell laptops have a "feature" where CPUs with 45W TDP ratings are mysteriously clamped down to 5W or less. This trick forces the CPU to run at its slowest possible speed. The CPU desperately tries to reduce power consumption as much as possible to get under the ridiculous 5W limit. This is not possible so it limps along at 800 MHz.

Thank you. Your software is awesome. Now I can play games where the temperature is no more than 65 degrees C