Acer Nitro 515-55

[DisguisedPigeon]

Hi there, I got a little laptop (acer nitro 515-55 with i5-10300h and gtx1660ti) and I've had some problems undervolting it. Back in octomber I "achieved" good temps on it(75-78 Celsius degrees) with -125mv on Core and -125 on Cache but then they released a new bios update (1.08->1.10) that locked undervolting/overvolting settings. Yesterday I finally unlocked it and tried to do some undervolting again as the temps got back to 92 Celsius degrees in games (they became sluggish, don't know how to undervolt GPU)
Now I've tried these settings and at least there is no power throttling(only an EDP warning) . Could you guide me in doing better settings for this processor ? Are these good ?

Thank you.

 

[unclewebb]

Could you guide me

Turn on the ThrottleStop log file option and go play a game for at least 15 minutes. This will create a record of your computer's performance. Check the Nvidia GPU box in the Options window so your GPU temp and MHz are included. It will be a lot easier to make suggestions if I have some data to look at. Attach a ThrottleStop log to your next post.

The maximum turbo ratios for your CPU are 45, 44, 43, 42. You do not have an unlocked K series CPU so there is no point in setting the turbo ratios any higher than their default values.

Checking the FIVR - Disable and Lock Turbo Power Limits box is always a good idea.

You said that you obtained good results with the core and cache set to -125 mV. Why is the cache set to -62.5 mV now? There is no magic 2:1 ratio that you have to follow. Set the voltages to whatever works best and is stable.

In the TPL window, did you lock your turbo power limits? The TPL window shows that you are requesting 58W and 100W for your turbo power limits but at the top, the CPU is set to 58W and 60W. I would unlock this setting, shut down your computer so the CPU can reset itself and then I would set the TPL values appropriately. You only need to lock the power limits if something else on your computer is changing these limits.

Try running Cinebench R20 when adjusting your voltages. Cinebench scores are a good indication of your CPU performance.

MAXON Cinebench R20.0 Download

CINEBENCH is a real-world cross platform test suite that evaluates your computer's performance capabilities. CINEBENCH is based on MAXON's award-winn

www.techpowerup.com

 

[DisguisedPigeon]

So,I've tried to do changes as you said but i observed that by default PL1 is 70 and PL2 is 107. Should I let them by that or change them to 60 ?

And in Cinebench i got 2025 score (compared to 2042) on CPU

 

[unclewebb]

Should I let them by that or change them to 60 ?

Why do you want to change your power limits to 60? What problem are you trying to solve?

Turn on the ThrottleStop log file option

The log file you posted does not look like a ThrottleStop log file.

Package TDP - 48.456051237899309612931156686

Reporting 27 digits after the decimal point is a little excessive.

A ThrottleStop log file allows me to quickly see how your computer is running. The log file you posted does not.

 

[DisguisedPigeon]

This should be it Didn't know where to find it

 

[unclewebb]

This should be it

That looks much better. I can quickly scroll a ThrottleStop log file up and down and easily see any problems. Guess what? No problems!

The log file looks great. Both the CPU and GPU are running at their full rated speed. No temperature issues or throttling issues. The CPU peaks at ~80°C. Everyone buys 6 core laptops but there seems to be a lot less throttling and overheating issues on the 4 core laptops. Looks like your undervolt was a big success.

 

[DisguisedPigeon]

That is very nice to hear, thank you very much for helping me

 

[DisguisedPigeon]

Later edit: I've left all the settings on stock values to see how much difference is between stock and undervolt. Tried RDR2 for a few minutes. Should i leave all the settings on stock rather than undervolting it and maybe breaking something ? (undervolted gpu and it started to appear artifacts on screen or even not starting the games)

 

[DisguisedPigeon]

So I've been trying to get some values right, seems like these are pretty good for the laptop although it still gets hot sometimes. The game was CS:GO. Any other suggestions I'm welcome to hear, thank you

Later edit: second log file is from playing RDR2 High settings

 

[unclewebb]

although it still gets hot sometimes

It is a high performance CPU and GPU shoved into a laptop. Of course it is going to run hot. Intel is still using the same 14nm technology that they have been using since 2015. There is no way to get this kind of performance out of old technology without it running hot.

The log files look good and performance looks great. That is all that is important.

 

[DisguisedPigeon]

For some reason the temperature keeps going up back to 92 degrees after 30-45 minutes of gameplay and in CS:GO laptop just freeze out of nowhere and i gotta reboot it to get back. Whatever values i put, there seems cs:go doesnt accept unvervolt

 

[unclewebb]

doesn't accept undervolt

The screenshot you posted shows that your undervolt is working correctly. If your temperatures keep going up, you need to replace the thermal paste.

 

[DisguisedPigeon]

I've replaced it 4 days ago
Arctic Mx4

 

[unclewebb]

MX4 pumps out in some laptops. It lasts about 1 week.

 

[DisguisedPigeon]

So i should get a new paste ? It was creepy to see processor going on -0.125mv on both core and cache then not even working on -0.080 mv

 

[nguyen]

Crashes in-game could be caused by the GPU also, not just CPU related.
MX4 will pump out under high operating temp (it liquify and flow out from the CPU/GPU silicon), thermal paste with higher viscosity will last longer under extreme operating temp.
My recommended thermal paste would be:
_Kingpin KPX
_Thermagic ZF-EX
_Thermalright TF-X
These pastes require you to heat them up with a hair dryer so that they become less vicous and easier to spread, once applied properly they can last a long time.

 

[DisguisedPigeon]

Searched all 3 but out of stocks unfortunately. Been thinking of Kryonaut

 

[nguyen]

Searched all 3 but out of stocks unfortunately. Been thinking of Kryonaut

Yeah stay away from Kryonaut for laptop, that paste would pump out pretty quickly too, tried it on my Triton 500 and it pumps out in less than a month.

Well you can try other newer paste like NT-H2, Gelid GC-Extreme and if you can keep the operating temp lower enough, they can last longer.

 

[DisguisedPigeon]

Alrighty, so for GPU what testes can I do to see its performance ?

 

[nguyen]

Try 3Dmark Timespy, or Shadow of the Tomb Raider demo with built in benchmark and compare your score to Jarrod's tech. (1080p Highest settings)
Also use Afterburner OSD and use the FPS graphs to see if you have any fps stutter in-game.

 

[DisguisedPigeon]

The Gpu is fine, i tried to repaste and spread it even now just to make sure it absorbs most heat. Got back in throttlestop, undervolted with -0.125 mv on both and after 10 minutes it froze again.

This is the log, until 1:09 it was working fine, then it froze and i needed to restart it

 

[unclewebb]

-0.125 mv on both

Many 10th Gen mobile CPUs are only stable with the cache at -75 mV. If your computer froze, it is telling you that it needs more voltage.

 

[DisguisedPigeon]

I've seen some other guys with same processor so they said they couldn't achieve -0.125mv on cache so ....yes, maybe i could lower the values to achieve stability. I've bought NT-H2 paste as @nguyen said and i'll be waiting until i can replace MX4 from the CPU and GPU. In shadow tomb raider demo I had 70 fps compared to jarrod's almost-same laptop (i5-10300h and gtx1600ti max-q) so I guess Gpu is still fine. So I guess this is it, maybe the new paste will let me achieve something like 82-85 degrees compared to 90 with spikes to 95 degrees even with cooling pad at maximum speed. Thank you so much for helping me @unclewebb and @nguyen , hope I didn't stress you too much

Later edit: at these settings seems CSGO didnt crash in 2 minutes like on -0.125mv values

 

[unclewebb]

@DisguisedPigeon - I noticed in your Limit Reasons screenshot that BD PROCHOT throttling was triggered. This one can lock a CPU to 800 MHz. Consider clearing the BD PROCHOT box on the main window of ThrottleStop. Your CPU will still thermal throttle and slow down to protect itself if it ever gets too hot whether this box is checked or not.

BD PROCHOT allows external sensors to throttle the CPU. It is rarely necessary and can cause some serious slow downs while in the middle of a game.

Let us know when you get the NT-H2 installed. Run a consistent test like some TS Bench threads to check for temps on day 1. Test again a week or a month later to see if there is any pump out.

I noticed that TechPowerUp is upgrading their cooler test system. If you scroll down to the hardware they are using you will see their choice of thermal paste, Noctua NT-H2.
TPU approved.

CPU Cooler Test System Update 2021

With new hardware comes the need for test system updates, and we have instituted a massive overhaul of the testing process for CPU coolers. The biggest change is the addition of an AMD test bench alongside Intel so we can provide you with a better look at the performance offered. Not to mention...

www.techpowerup.com

 

[DisguisedPigeon]

So, I applied the paste, as a small inspection it seems more dense than mx4, that paste came off almost liquified after 2 days of use which surprised me. But this paste seems good, it applied very easy and these are the tests after boot-up. Seems a good improvement over MX4