Maximizing 6100u capabilities

[6100u_user]

Hi Unclewebb,

First, I would like to thank you for creating this great piece of software that I think is massively under-appreciated. I also appreciate all your personal inputs to thousands of home users, who would have not been able to learn so much about CPU's and PC performance if not for your generosity and time.

I have done my research and managed to achieve great results with throttlestop and repasting. So I have an old hp S102TU which runs a 6100u processor. The laptop used to run super hot with mostly 100% cpu usage because of some driver issue. I figured the issue out, replaced the hard drive, repasted, undervolted with stability and having great performance with it. However, I am still not satisfied as my OCD is not making me settle without reaching those 99% C-state levels.

Also, another thing that bothers me is why my CPU only hits 7.5W PKG power usage on cine bench. Since GPU is not being used, I assume all 15W TDP must be available to CPU.

So if I am making this clear I am trying to optimize my CPU performance since I think there's more left as I never cross the 66 Celsius temperatures in cine bench and never above 70 celsius while running prime95 on small FFT. I believe there is room for improvement and I think it is down to the TPL levels, which I actually don't understand well. I think my laptop thermals are performing very well as the temperatures drop within seconds as you can see from my during and after cinebench screenshots.

Can you please help me configure my PC to max performance, so I can learn and get with my OCD away? It's been more than two years I have been playing with this laptop and have loved every bit of the time.

I am willing to provide you with any log files to help you help me. Again, Thanks a million for everything you do!

 

[Flaky]

There's nothing more to squeeze out - your CPU does seem to run at it's max clock already. Just two cores with relatively low clock result in power figures that are lower than the available power budget.

 

[6100u_user]

Thanks for the reply Flaky, if I understand your point correctly it means the CPU is running at max speed and is so power efficient with the undervolt that it not even needs to use the designed 15W TDP. That's good to hear. But I think there is still room for improvement like undervolting iGPU or even overclocking (if possible). I know there is still some scope however little and with other things like IccMax which I dont understand, I am sure I can learn something more and make my chip configuration to what's best.

I know I am being paranoid but it's really fun learning and measuring performance improvements and I think there's a lot from throttlestop that I can benefit from.

Thanks again.

 

[unclewebb]

First, I would like to thank you for creating this great piece of software that I think is massively under-appreciated.

You are most welcome. Using ThrottleStop is a great way to get a better understanding of how Intel CPUs work. It has been my programming hobby for more than 10 years. I sometimes forget how useful it is so thanks for reminding me.

Intel® Core™ i3-6100U Processor (3M Cache, 2.30 GHz) Product Specifications

Intel® Core™ i3-6100U Processor (3M Cache, 2.30 GHz) quick reference guide including specifications, features, pricing, compatibility, design documentation, ordering codes, spec codes and more.

ark.intel.com

https://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/Core_i3/Intel-Core%20i3-6100U%20Mobile%20processor.html

The 6100U does not include the Intel Turbo Boost function. That means the 2.30 GHz base frequency is its maximum speed.

The 15W TDP rating is a maximum rating. When Cinebench is fully loading your CPU, if it only needs 7.8W to run at full speed, that is a good thing. The less power consumption the better. The 15W TDP also includes the Intel GPU. The load on the Intel GPU is extremely light while running Cinebench. If you really want to load up your Intel CPU cores and Intel GPU more, try running Prime95 - Small FFTs and while this test is running, run a GPU stress test like Furmark. These two combined should fully load things and should bring total power consumption closer to 15W. It still might be less but that is OK. It is like driving on the highway. Less fuel consumption is a good thing.

is not making me settle without reaching those 99% C-state levels

I am able to reach those C state levels when idle with my desktop CPU but that is because I have 10 cores and 20 threads available, all running at 5000 MHz when idle. That is 5 times as many threads and they are all running more than twice as fast so basically more than 10 times the computing power compared to what you have. When processing Windows background tasks, each of my individual CPU cores will need to spend less time in the C0 state so they will be able to spend more time in the C7 state. For a 2 core 4 thread CPU running at 2.30 GHz, your idle C state numbers are excellent. If there is any room for improvement, it is so minor that it is not worth going all OCD trying to squeak out another 0.1% in the C7 state.

It is rare to see over 90% in package C8 when idle. When you use sleep mode, after you resume, does ThrottleStop report anything for package C8, C9 or C10 on the right hand side of the C States window? Some low power U series CPUs have that ability but I am not sure if your 6th Gen can do this or not.

Do not be afraid to use the latest beta version of ThrottleStop. The FIVR window looks a lot better.

It's been more than two years I have been playing with this laptop and have loved every bit of the time.

I am the same way. I can happily spend months optimizing my computers. Have fun playing with ThrottleStop.

Edit - The Package C State register is Locked and it is locked to C8. That means there is no point in requesting C10. You cannot change a locked register so set the Request value back to C8.

 

[6100u_user]

Hi @unclewebb, hope you are having a great day! I followed your advise and did some testing, sharing the results below.

try running Prime95 - Small FFTs and while this test is running, run a GPU stress test like Furmark. These two combined should fully load things and should bring total power consumption closer to 15W.

I ran a 30-minute stress test with both prime95 (small fft) and Furmark (1080p no AA) while also logging using TS. The furmark rendering was at only 6 FPS, lol. I wonder if this can be improved with iGPU underclock.

Below is the screenshot before firing both benchmarks.

Below is the after screenshot - taken seconds after closing both tests that were kept running together for 30 minutes. The max power draw went up to 23.8W and Max temp 97

I have also attached the ThrottleStop log file for the duration.

I am able to reach those C state levels when idle with my desktop CPU but that is because I have 10 cores and 20 threads available, all running at 5000 MHz when idle. That is 5 times as many threads and they are all running more than twice as fast so basically more than 10 times the computing power compared to what you have. When processing Windows background tasks, each of my individual CPU cores will need to spend less time in the C0 state so they will be able to spend more time in the C7 state. For a 2 core 4 thread CPU running at 2.30 GHz, your idle C state numbers are excellent. If there is any room for improvement, it is so minor that it is not worth going all OCD trying to squeak out another 0.1% in the C7 state.

Thanks for explaining this, makes absolute sense - obviously windows has to do some processing to keep things running and my meagre 2 cores are still managing enough % time in deep c states. Your specs really makes my computer seem slow, hehe

When you use sleep mode, after you resume, does ThrottleStop report anything for package C8, C9 or C10 on the right hand side of the C States window? Some low power U series CPUs have that ability but I am not sure if your 6th Gen can do this or not.

I did some research and I think 6100u DOES support the c10 states. I am not sure if I've seen any values there - but I'll have to run some test. Is there any way to enable it?

Please let me know what you think, I am happy to run more tests and provide anything you ask.

 

[unclewebb]

The max power draw went up to 23.8W and Max temp 97

You are my new hero! You found a way to push your CPU almost 60% beyond its 15W TDP rating. The Intel engineers are probably smiling too.

Some Windows computers can use a feature called Connected Standby or Modern Standby. This is when you put your computer to sleep that the CPU can enter the ultra low power C9 and C10 states. Modern Standby has proven to be quite buggy so I think many laptop manufacturers simply disabled this feature. This might be why your CPU package is locked to C8.

Here is some info so you can test if your computer supports this feature.

Check if Modern Standby is Supported in Windows 11 Tutorial

This tutorial will show you how to check if the Modern Standby (S0 Low Power Idle) sleep state is supported by your Windows 10 or Windows 11 PC. In Windows 10 and Windows 11, there are two power models for PCs: S3 and Modern Standby (S0 Low Power Idle). The S3 power model is an older standard...

www.elevenforum.com

My desktop computer does not support this feature.

Run the powercfg /a command to test your computer.

Try putting your computer to sleep for a couple of minutes. When you resume, check the right side of the ThrottleStop C States window for any deep C state activity. It will probably show 0.0 for all 3 of the C states listed there.

I am happy to run more tests and provide anything you ask.

Your computer is running great. I cannot think of anything else that needs testing.

 

[6100u_user]

You are my new hero! You found a way to push your CPU almost 60% beyond its 15W TDP rating. The Intel engineers are probably smiling too.

Wow, this makes me so happy
The wisdom you have spread over years really helps out many people like me who are not active on forums but learn a lot everyday by reading your comments.

Run the powercfg /a command to test your computer.

I ran the same command and found a similar result. Guess it's probably locked by HP. I don't worry about it too much since my battery is failing and a new battery might be enough for me to sustain.

I cannot think of anything else that needs testing.

Would you recommend trying iGPU undeclock or fiddling with the IccMax values? I think the GPU can take some undevolt, but I don't know how to do it properly?

 

[unclewebb]

I would not bother undervolting the Intel GPU. If you do want to try undervolting this, I think you will need to undervolt the Intel GPU and the iGPU Unslice the same amount. Somewhere between -50 mV and -100 mV will probably be stable. I do not think this is necessary but that is how to do it.

Running Prime95 and Furmark at the same time is not exactly a typical load. Other than this completely excessive test, your laptop runs at maximum speed with zero throttling. IccMax is not causing any issues. If you want, you can set IccMax for the core and the cache to the max, 255.75. You will not see any difference in performance because your CPU is already running at full speed. It only thermal throttles a little during the crazy Prime95 Furmark test. Running either of those tests individually is excessive for most laptops. Running both tests together at the same time will cause way more power consumption compared to any normal use.