CORE and GPU EDP OTHER and Power Status Change

[Gugalyings]

Hello everyone.

Lately I have been using Throttlestop in order to try to fix an issue of performance drops I have been experience while gaming.

Quick summary of my problem:
After playing for about 10 or 15 minutes, my fps drops for a couple of seconds. This keeps repeating as long as i am playing, normaly becoming more frequent as the session goes on.

Attached are my current Throttlestop settings and a log of about 20 minutes of playing Risk of Rain 2. The issue ocorrued 3 times.

Can someome help me solve this problem?

Thanks in advance

 

[unclewebb]

The log file shows a Nvidia GPU throttling problem. About every 10 minutes, at 19:34:08, 19:44:15 and 19:54:10, the GPU throttles down to only 300 MHz for about 6 seconds each time. Kind of suspicious that throttling happens at almost exactly 10 minute intervals but I do not know what that means. You are definitely going to notice a big drop in FPS every time this happens. The Nvidia GPU goes from 1860 MHz down to 300 MHz before recovering back to 1875 MHz. Everything is fine after that until it happens again. The Nvidia GPU is only at 67°C when this throttling starts so it does not appear to be thermal throttling related.

During each episode there are three distinct Windows POWER STATUS CHANGE messages that show up in the ThrottleStop log file. These messages are typically sent by Windows when a computer switches from AC power to battery power or from battery power back to AC power. Your log file does not show any switching to battery power so I am not sure what is triggering these messages to be sent. The Nvidia GPU seems to be interpreting these Windows messages as if you had just switched to battery power. The Nvidia GPU lowers its speed to 300 MHz which reduces power consumption. This throttling is usually designed to protect the battery from any sudden power surges. Good in theory but not good when this feature is broken.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/power/pbt-apmpowerstatuschange

Have you tried using the Windows High Performance power plan? You can access this power plan by checking the High Performance box on the main screen of ThrottleStop. Have a look in the Nvidia GPU settings. Perhaps there is something in there that can control this. It seems like this is just a bug. How long have you had this problem? An updated Nvidia driver might have added this bug to your computer.

Try logging some data with GPU-Z. It might be able to show some more information about why the Nvidia GPU is throttling. If you log any more data with ThrottleStop, clear the More Data box on the main screen. That feature is not necessary. It creates way too many numbers for me to look at. The CPU Multiplier column is very steady. The CPU is not throttling.

Edit - On the main screen of ThrottleStop clear the BD PROCHOT box. The GPU throttling does not seem related to this but I am not sure what else you can try.

   DATE       TIME    MULTI   C0%   CKMOD  BAT_mW  TEMP   NVIDIA GPU     VID   POWER
2023-10-07  19:34:08  41.00   12.1  100.0       0   80    1860    67   1.2897   40.4
2023-10-07  19:34:08  41.00   12.2  100.0       0   81    1860    67   1.2742   41.4
2023-10-07  19:34:08  40.32   11.9  100.0       0   74    1860    67   1.2949   40.4
2023-10-07  19:34:08  41.00   13.7  100.0       0   78     300    62   1.2661   43.1
2023-10-07  19:34:08  41.00   12.1  100.0       0   77     300    62   1.2939   40.7
2023-10-07  19:34:08  41.00   13.6  100.0       0   81     300    62   1.2693   43.1
2023-10-07  19:34:08  41.00   11.7  100.0       0   87     300    62   1.2504   39.8
2023-10-07  19:34:08  POWER STATUS CHANGE
2023-10-07  19:34:08  41.00   18.7  100.0       0   84     300    62   1.2878   50.6
2023-10-07  19:34:09  40.70   18.1  100.0       0   81     300    62   1.2825   45.3
2023-10-07  19:34:09  40.96   12.7  100.0       0   78     300    62   1.2972   40.9
2023-10-07  19:34:09  40.72   12.5  100.0       0   79     300    62   1.2822   40.3
2023-10-07  19:34:09  41.00   12.5  100.0       0   85     300    62   1.2854   40.1
2023-10-07  19:34:09  41.00   12.5  100.0       0   77     300    62   1.2930   40.4
2023-10-07  19:34:09  41.00   12.9  100.0       0   83     300    62   1.2965   41.3
2023-10-07  19:34:09  41.00   11.4  100.0       0   82     300    62   1.2831   37.4
2023-10-07  19:34:10  41.00   13.4  100.0       0   77     300    62   1.2910   42.4
2023-10-07  19:34:10  41.00   14.2  100.0       0   86     300    62   1.2754   43.8
2023-10-07  19:34:10  40.74   14.6  100.0       0   74     300    62   1.2222   42.6   EDP
2023-10-07  19:34:10  31.36   13.4  100.0       0   69     300    62   0.9445   21.7   EDP
2023-10-07  19:34:10  40.44   12.8  100.0       0   83     300    60   1.2891   39.2
2023-10-07  19:34:10  41.00   12.2  100.0       0   82     300    60   1.2887   39.2
2023-10-07  19:34:10  41.00   15.7  100.0       0   80     300    60   1.2827   45.0
2023-10-07  19:34:10  41.00   12.6  100.0       0   79     300    60   1.2948   40.4
2023-10-07  19:34:11  41.00   12.9  100.0       0   80     300    60   1.2614   41.3
2023-10-07  19:34:11  41.00   12.3  100.0       0   78     300    60   1.2332   37.9
2023-10-07  19:34:11  41.00   12.4  100.0       0   79     300    60   1.2861   38.9
2023-10-07  19:34:11  41.00   12.8  100.0       0   80     300    60   1.2634   40.6
2023-10-07  19:34:11  39.91   11.9  100.0       0   78     300    60   1.2776   37.3
2023-10-07  19:34:11  41.00   12.2  100.0       0   83     300    60   1.2589   39.3
2023-10-07  19:34:11  41.00   12.6  100.0       0   76     300    60   1.2869   39.9
2023-10-07  19:34:11  41.00   13.0  100.0       0   77     300    60   1.2844   42.8
2023-10-07  19:34:12  41.00   12.4  100.0       0   83     300    60   1.2950   40.8
2023-10-07  19:34:12  40.98   12.6  100.0       0   79     300    60   1.2623   40.2
2023-10-07  19:34:12  41.00   12.4  100.0       0   87     300    60   1.2604   41.2
2023-10-07  19:34:12  41.00   14.3  100.0       0   74     300    60   1.2828   42.8
2023-10-07  19:34:12  41.00   12.6  100.0       0   80     300    59   1.2469   40.9
2023-10-07  19:34:12  41.00   18.9  100.0       0   79     300    59   1.2792   50.4
2023-10-07  19:34:12  40.92   22.6  100.0       0   77     300    59   1.2773   58.4
2023-10-07  19:34:13  41.00   22.0  100.0       0   78     300    59   1.2775   58.1
2023-10-07  19:34:13  41.00   22.8  100.0       0   84     300    59   1.3534   59.8
2023-10-07  19:34:13  41.15   23.1  100.0       0   83     300    59   1.2958   61.1
2023-10-07  19:34:13  40.10   22.5  100.0       0   80     300    59   1.2466   54.8
2023-10-07  19:34:13  39.98   21.7  100.0       0   76     300    59   1.2832   53.3   EDP
2023-10-07  19:34:13  40.99   21.9  100.0       0   82     300    59   1.2999   58.1
2023-10-07  19:34:13  41.00   22.0  100.0       0   79     300    59   1.2988   58.9
2023-10-07  19:34:13  41.16   23.0  100.0       0   82     300    59   1.3273   59.1
2023-10-07  19:34:13  POWER STATUS CHANGE
2023-10-07  19:34:14  40.95   24.4  100.0       0   83     300    59   1.2885   61.5
2023-10-07  19:34:14  40.64   27.8  100.0       0   80     300    59   1.2844   62.9
2023-10-07  19:34:14  41.00   22.4  100.0       0   81     300    59   1.2874   59.3
2023-10-07  19:34:14  41.00   21.7  100.0       0   79     300    59   1.2742   57.9
2023-10-07  19:34:14  40.81   21.8  100.0       0   81     300    59   1.2816   57.0
2023-10-07  19:34:14  41.00   22.2  100.0       0   80    1875    63   1.2616   58.9
2023-10-07  19:34:14  41.00   21.4  100.0       0   84    1875    63   1.2744   57.8
2023-10-07  19:34:14  41.00   22.7  100.0       0   81    1875    63   1.2874   58.9
2023-10-07  19:34:15  41.03   21.7  100.0       0   83    1875    63   1.2791   58.5
2023-10-07  19:34:15  41.00   23.7  100.0       0   83    1875    63   1.2736   60.4
2023-10-07  19:34:15  41.00   21.3  100.0       0   78    1875    63   1.2780   58.2
2023-10-07  19:34:15  41.00   21.9  100.0       0   85    1875    63   1.2865   58.4
2023-10-07  19:34:15  41.00   21.5  100.0       0   81    1875    63   1.2742   57.9
2023-10-07  19:34:15  41.00   25.6  100.0       0   81    1875    63   1.2709   63.9
2023-10-07  19:34:15  41.01   22.0  100.0       0   81    1875    63   1.2858   58.9

 

[Gugalyings]

Hello, uncleweeb! Thanks for the fast response.

I have followed all your advices. Here are the changes I made:

1) Checked the High Performance box on the main screen of ThrottleStop
2) In the NVIDIA GPU settings, changed the Power Managment Mode from Optimal Power to Prefer Maximum Performance (I am not sure if this is the best option from the available so I'll include a screenshot of the options)
3) Reinstalled the current NVIDIA drivers (version 537.42 from 09/21/2023)
4) Cleared the BD PROCHOT box from ThrottleStop

To answer your question, I had this problem for the first time about 8 or so months ago, but I haven't played much until lately so I kinda forgot it even existed (I have only ocasionally played some League of Legends in this period, a game in which this issue does't happen).

Again, I played for about 20 minutes of Risk of Rain 2. Here are the logs from ThrottleStop (without More Data box checked) and GPU-Z.

Thanks!

 

[unclewebb]

I still see POWER STATUS CHANGE messages and Nvidia GPU drops to 300 MHz. No progress.

I will check the GPU-Z log tomorrow.

Perhaps try installing an older Nvidia driver from 6 months or a year ago.

 

[Gugalyings]

Tried installing a driver from over a year ago, but that also didn't help.

 

[Gugalyings]

I still see POWER STATUS CHANGE messages and Nvidia GPU drops to 300 MHz. No progress.

I will check the GPU-Z log tomorrow.

Perhaps try installing an older Nvidia driver from 6 months or a year ago.

An update on the situation.

I found out that the issue happens when my laptop reaches 100% battery. The AC power is shut off and the whole GPU throttoling happens (the battery monotoring box from ThrottleStop dissapears, which I find kind of weird. Shouldn't it go to DC power?) while it waits for the battery to go down to 99% again, hence why the time interval between instances of the issue is so consistent (it takes about 10 minutes for the battery to go from 99 to 100%).

I tried a new PSU in accordance to the specifications of the manufacturer but that also did not help.

 

[unclewebb]

the battery monitoring box from ThrottleStop disappears, which I find kind of weird

Whatever is going on, ThrottleStop seems to be detecting that as the battery having been removed from your laptop. ThrottleStop gets its battery information from Windows.

Shouldn't it go to DC power?

The button in ThrottleStop should switch to show DC power after unplugging. The ThrottleStop battery button does not disappear when I unplug my laptop. I assume you have Battery Monitoring checked in the ThrottleStop Options window.

There is either something wrong with your battery or something wrong with the design of your laptop. Has this problem always happened?

Are you running any manufacturer's software that controls the amount of battery charge? Some of these programs are designed to keep a laptop battery at a 70% charge which in theory, increases the life expectancy of the battery. I would completely remove any software like this.

 

[Gugalyings]

There is either something wrong with your battery or something wrong with the design of your laptop. Has this problem always happened?

In terms of perforamance, my battery seems to be doing fine. I also checked it and visually there doesn't seem to be any issues. Are there any softwares you recommend to check battery health?

I first experienced this problem about 8 or so months ago.

Are you running any manufacturer's software that controls the amount of battery charge? Some of these programs are designed to keep a laptop battery at a 70% charge which in theory, increases the life expectancy of the battery. I would completely remove any software like this.

Nope. My manufacturer's software only controls the fans and keyboard rgb. I tried unninstalling it but to no avail.

 

[unclewebb]

I first experienced this problem about 8 or so months ago.

Do you remember installing any BIOS updates 8 months ago? I have been helping people every day for years and this is the first time I have come across this throttling problem. This is also the first time I have heard about the Battery button disappearing in ThrottleStop. That usually only happens when you physically remove the battery.

The GPU-Z log reports the PerfCap reason as SW_THERMAL. The odd part is that the reported GPU temperature and GPU Hot Spot temperature do not seem to be related to this throttling. Sometimes at the exact same temperatures, the Nvidia GPU runs at full speed and sometimes it throttles down to 300 MHz. There could be some sort of average temperature that triggers this or perhaps a separate temperature sensor that GPU-Z does not have access to that triggers this. With throttling happening at almost exactly 10 minute intervals, the SW_THERMAL flag being activated might be meaningless.

I wish I had a solution for you but I am out of ideas. Let me know if you ever get this problem figured out.

 

[career]

A week ago it was a case like this one. All the same but unfortunately there were no logs provided. It was about Asus ROG Strix G713R with 240W Power Supply. Similar problem that can be described as periodically performance drops. The author reported the issue took place not only under severe load but under average too, and even when notebook is in idle state. I adviced him to visit a service to perform a diagnostics using new DC Power Supply Adapter. So he did and reported back that it is fine now. While testing they plugged in new Power Supply Adapter and all those issues disappeared. I hope this helps.