CPU being throttled while temp isn't high

[layelaye]

Hello, I have been suffering from throttling of the CPU while trying to do some gaming (Apex Legends). every few minutes the game and sound starts to stutter down to an unplayable level (1-2 FPS) for about 40-50 seconds. The CPU clock goes down to about 0.39 Ghz.

My laptop specs:
Lenovo IdeaPad 5 15IIL05
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-1035G1 CPU @ 1.00GHz, 1190 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 8 Logical Processor(s)
Nvidia GeForce MX350
A 65W charger

What I have tried:

1. Undervolting the CPU core and cache. I tried -70, -30, -10 - Those were unstable and my laptop froze. At -5 the CPU appeared stable but the original issue persisted.
2. reducing the Turbo ratio limits, from (36,36,33,33) to (27,27,24,24) - That change had significant impact on my CPU temperature and I thought for a while that I had solved the problem, but the issue returned and persisted.
I should note that before reducing the turbo limits, the CPU sometimes reached a temperature of 100C multiple times without noticable throttling.

In the logs, I have seen several throttling reasons, such as PL1, AVG temp, and XPRO. Whenever I experience the throttling, the initial throttling reason always seems to be XPRO (BD PROCHOT) and a few seconds later it changes to either AVG TEMP or PL1, however the throttling continues until all the throttling reasons clear.

In the main window, next to the Limits button, I have seen a red "Power" text a single time during throttling.

I have read multiple threads and I am still unclear on whether this is some external component such as the GPU that is throttling my CPU or maybe power issues or maybe both. I am unclear on how to continue - What do the AVG THERMAL / THERMAL throttling mean? Should I try to clear the BD PROCHOT checkbox? I am afraid to damage my laptop.

I am adding the log files and some relevant screenshots.




Any help appreaciated!

 

[unclewebb]

I am afraid to damage my laptop.

Your log file shows that your laptop is slowing down to 200 MHz. In my opinion, your laptop is already damaged. It is not useable for playing games.

If you are seriously worried about hurting your already broken laptop then do not do anything.

THERMAL means your CPU is thermal throttling because it has reached its maximum safe temperature.

AVG THERMAL is rarely used. Perhaps if your CPU temperature is higher than an average of 90°C for 30 seconds, that will trigger AVG THERMAL throttling to kick in. Lenovo is not one to share the exact details about their throttling schemes. Same with BD PROCHOT. Some sensor somewhere within your laptop is triggering this type of throttling. It might be a temperature sensor on your motherboard, in your power adapter or it might be a temperature sensor that measures the back side of your keyboard to make sure your hands do not get too hot. How hot is too hot? No one knows. Are some of these sensors set extremely conservatively? Probably.

If you ever get fed up with using your defective laptop, here is what I would try.

Disable BD PROCHOT.
In the Options window, set the PROCHOT Offset value to 3 and check this box. Also check the Lock PROCHOT Offset box above it. Lenovo has a bad habit of randomly changing the thermal throttling temperature to absurdly low values. This feature was added to ThrottleStop exclusively for Lenovo laptops.

Your turbo power limits are set to 35W and 51W. Your CPU has a 15W TDP rating so this seems to be completely overkill for your laptop. Try using some more realistic values like 15W and 25W for the long and short turbo power limits and maybe 8 seconds for the turbo time limit. When you find some values that you like, use the Lock option so these values do not get changed. If the power limits are not set so high, maybe you will be able to increase the turbo ratio limits back towards their default values.

I have an almost 15 year old laptop in my closet collecting dust. It still runs great at over 2000 MHz. The people at Lenovo that design their laptops to run at 200 MHz are idiots.

 

[layelaye]

Thanks for the detailed reply!

I am going to try and disable BD-PROCHOT.

I have experienced the throttling during gaming again. During the throttling I checked ThrottleStop and noticed the "PROCHOT 95C" in the main window got replaced with a "PROCHOT 70C" - I assume this is what you meant when you said Lenovo randomly changes the thermal throttling temperature. I am going to lock the PROCHOT offset as you suggested to counter this. A red "POWER" text also appeared next to "PROCHOT 70C" during that time.

I will only do these 2 changes for now and see if this solves the problem. I will report the results here for any future visitors.

I should also mention that I had even worse throttling and heating issues this year with an ASUS Vivobook 15 (which I returned) and a Dell Vostro (which I also returned). When I encountered similar issues with my Lenovo I was too exhausted to fight with the store to return the laptop once more.

Do you by any chance have any recommended brand to avoid these issues in the future? I'm not sure if my luck is just the worst or that all these companies are just crap.


Thanks again!

 

[layelaye]

Ok so I Tried your suggestions (Minus the power limits change).

I still get throttled down to 400 Mhz.

The log state the reason as "PL1"

I am attaching screenshots of my new settings and the logs.

I did not change the cpu turbo ratios from my previous post.

I am feeling pretty helpless and lost right now. I have no idea what else to try.

 

[FreedomEclipse]

Your laptop seems to have quite a lot of venting on the bottom. My suggestion would be to get yourself a good laptop cooler from Amazon, preferably one with a fan that can blast cooler air at your laptop from underneath while you game. Youre probably going to see a good drop in temps because those vents are quite big as far as i can see.

 

[unclewebb]

The log file shows that once your CPU goes over about 90°C for a short period of time, instead of thermal throttling, your laptop sets a hard power limit of 7W or less. This is what is causing the severe throttling down to 400 MHz. Intel CPUs have their own thermal throttling mechanism that allows the CPU to run as fast as possible without ever going over the thermal throttling temperature. It slows down as little as possible for maximum performance while still keeping the CPU perfectly safe. This kind of throttling is barely noticed. Lenovo's decision to lock your CPU to 400 MHz is just bad design.

@layelaye - Have you checked the FIVR Disable and Lock Turbo Power Limits box yet? You need to try and prevent these power limit drops. If that does not solve your problem, try checking the Lock option in the Turbo Boost Power Limits section at the top of the TPL window. There are 3 separate turbo power limits. Locking these two will only help if Lenovo is not using the third power limit. There is no simple solution when a manufacturer sets a third power limit.

In 2020, no laptop should be forced to run at 400 MHz. Pathetic.

Edit - If this does not work, you will have to significantly reduce your turbo power limits down to about 15W. You will need to avoid temps over 90°C. This will reduce performance but might help avoid the severe drops to 400 MHz.

 

[layelaye]

Hi again!
I promised an update and here it is:

I wanted to take some time to test the solution and see if it actually solved the issue. I was a bit busy so it took some time.
The throttling is almost completely stopped - I sometimes still get 1-2 seconds of throttling, but that is acceptable. I assume my computer needs that to not melt. Its nothing like the 60 seconds slow-down-to-a-crawl I had before.

A few times my CPU simply shut down during gaming - I assume there was overheating and this was done to protect inner components. To solve that I tried underclocking the CPU a bit (I reduced the turbo ratio a bit more). It has not happened since so I'm hopeful that it solved this problem, though I can't say so with full confidence as I didn't have a ton of time to play.

Anyway playing without the constant fear of the game getting unplayable in the middle of an online match has been incredible and I'm extremely thankful for your help unclewebb. Thanks a lot!

 

[JrmyG1621]

I have the same cpu (HP 15-dw2095ne) and it also happens to me ;-;