Help with undervolting

[RedlineGamer2005]

Hey! I am a bit of a noob in the undervolting world and i needed some help. I have a Lenovo Legion Y540 with an i5-9300h and an RTX 2060. My temperature while playing intense AAA games like Modern Warfare or GTA V reaches around 95-97 degrees celcius. So i started to undervolt my processor.

My current settings for core are:

And for Cache:

The good thing is no BSOD so far... but while running TS Bench, It shows the following error:

Please help me out and tell me what im doing wrong

 

[unclewebb]

@RedlineGamer2005 - Welcome to TPU. Glad they finally let you in.

In the TPL window, try setting the PP0 Current Limit (Power Limit 4) to 0 or to 256. A setting of 0 should tell the CPU to ignore this setting. If that does not work, use a big number like 256 instead.
Try increasing the IccMax values in the FIVR window. Max all of those out to 255.75 and check the FIVR - Disable and Lock Turbo Power Limits box for good luck.

Your voltages are set appropriately. Everything you posted looks good. When you are finished testing, you can switch to, OK - Save voltages immediately.

 

[RedlineGamer2005]

Hey @unclewebb! Cheers mate! One last thing, should i change the iccmax of Cache to 255.75 too? Or should i leave that untouched.

Also the PPO settings is this thing right?

 

[unclewebb]

should i change the iccmax of Cache to 255.75 too?

Max all of those out to 255.75

Leave the PP0 unchecked and set to 0 with the PP0 Turbo Time Limit slider set all the way to the left.
From what I can see, this looks OK.

How are your gaming temps compared to before? Many users see a 5°C to 10°C drop after undervolting.

 

[RedlineGamer2005]

I have to try the PPO things but otherwise my temps have dropped from 95 to 90 under normal gaming... but sometimes it goes a bit high to like 93. I definetely need a better cooler since the intake vents are massive but the exhausts are tiny vents in the sides and the back. Thought of a vacuum cooler. Apparently they saw a drop from 93 to 85 degrees by using 2 vacuum coolers. I'll update it here as soon as I get the coolers. I have an exam coming up soon so maybe after that.

 

[unclewebb]

temps have dropped from 95 to 90 under normal gaming

With laptops, when you decrease the voltage, if the CPU speed increases, you will not see any change in temperatures. You might see a decrease in temps or an increase in performance or a little of both depending on if your CPU was throttling before you made adjustments.

Laptops need mini water cooling devices. It will be nice when Intel moves on from the same old 14nm technology that they have been using for 6+ years.

 

[RedlineGamer2005]

Yea theres definetely a performance boost. Laptops is running constantly at 4ghz now as compared to the throttling to below 3.3 before. Should I just adjust the clocks to reduce temps till I get the cooler?

 

[unclewebb]

Should I just adjust the clocks to reduce temps

Intel CPUs are designed to run reliably at up to 100°C. Most laptops set the PROCHOT (processor hot) temperature slightly below the 100°C Intel recommended value. The main screen of ThrottleStop will show you this info. You can choose to slow your CPU down to run it cooler but there is no need to do this. If doing this reduces fan noise it might not be a bad idea. No need to baby an Intel CPU. Core i technology is very stable even at high temps. Way more stable at high temps compared to Core 2 Duo.

Most people are disappointed after getting a cooler. Most of these make very little difference. It is not money well spent.

 

[RedlineGamer2005]

Ah I see. So its fine for the hardware to be at 90 plus degrees celcius? I was concerned about this decreasing the life if the processor and the components in the laptop like battery, GPU

 

[unclewebb]

the hardware to be at 90 plus degrees celcius

Your entire laptop is not at 90°C. A tiny microscopic pin point on the hottest spot on your CPU core is at this temperature. The surrounding temperature decreases rapidly as you move away from this hot spot. The temp can drop 20°C as you move 1 cm away from this spot.

Will it be a problem a year or two from now or will it be a problem 10 years from now? Without doing a lot of long term testing, no one can say for sure if this is good or bad. Lots of people say this is bad but they never include any data to back up their fears.

All I know is that Intel set the thermal throttling temperature to 100°C more than 12 years ago. For the overwhelming majority of their desktop and mobile CPUs, the throttling temperature has remained consistent, year after year after year. If this was causing problems, Intel would have dropped the throttling temperature a long time ago. No company is interested in warranty returns or losing money. If they are comfortable at these temperatures, I think you should sleep comfortably at night too.

Edit - Here is a thermal picture of an old Core 2 Duo CPU. It shows the heat gradient as you move away from the hottest spots on the core where Intel locates their thermal sensors.

How To - Intel CPU Temperature Guide

Update: March 12th, 2024 Preface The topic of processor temperatures can be very confusing. Conflicting opinions based on misconceptions concerning terminology, specifications and testing leaves users uncertain of how to properly check cooling performance. This Guide provides an understanding...

forums.tomshardware.com

 

[RedlineGamer2005]

Alrighty then good to know! Thanks for your help man, I dont know what I would have done without you