My Experience With Throttlestop + What Warnings Should I Issue About How To Use It?

[muhlisgursoy]

Hi,

I've been using the Throttlestop for about a year. I'm satisfied with the efficiency possible by using it. In May 2020, I wrote a thread about how to get more performance out of my laptop, and (especially unclewebb, thanks a lot!) the community here helped me to reach a stunning performance increase.

Here was the benchmark (I made it 2 days ago) of my laptop, before and after scores in Cinebench R23 (latest one), with an i5-8250U CPU.

Mode	Score	Max Temp	Performance Increase
Factory default	2343	80℃	0% (default)
Undervolt -70 mV, turbo limit enabled, turbo boost 29-15, Prochot not set	2940	90℃	25%
Undervolt -70 mV + turbo limit disabled, turbo boost 29-29, software temp limit 85℃	3094	86℃	32%
Undervolt -70 mV + turbo limit disabled, turbo boost 29-29, software temp limit 95℃	3246	96℃	39%

Actually, I made the latest test again with now the computer elevated with a metal stand, and it achieved an enormous 3560 scores! It outperformed Intel Core i7-10510U (3271 score) and AMD Ryzen 5 3500U (3544 score).

I made a video (I think in June) about how to undervolt easily with Throttlestop, a guide in Turkish. And seems like it took the attention of the viewers, asking how to disable the throttling, etc. I actually know how to do it but didn't make the video, yet. And now I'm planning about making one in a near future.

The guide will include about how to disable turbo limits, how to make Turbo Boost Short wattage equal with the Long wattage, and how to set the Prochot.

First of all, I'll give some general warnings about what not to do. But what other things should I warn them? For example,

• What Prochot should be the maximum (I set 85-95)?
• What should the Turbo Boost wattage be, should every user make the turbo boost wattage equal (29-29, 35-35)?

Thanks in advance, I would be glad to hear some thoughts about this.

 

[unclewebb]

What Prochot should be the maximum (I set 85-95)?

The default PROCHOT (processor hot) temperature for the vast majority of Intel CPUs is 100°C. Many laptops use a small PROCHOT Offset to reduce the throttling temperature to somewhere between 95°C and 100°C. No warnings need to be given. The CPU will always operate at a safe temperature.

make the turbo boost wattage equal

For most CPUs, Intel recommends that the short term turbo power limit be set 25% higher than the long term turbo power limit. They also recommend that the long term turbo power limit be set equal to the TDP. What individual laptop manufacturers actually set these limits to vs what is recommended by Intel can be completely different. Users can use software and set these power limits however they like as long as it does not cause their CPUs to overheat. Raising these limits might be considered operating your CPU out of spec so any adjustments like this are at a user's risk.
A better than 50% increase in your Cinebench results is impressive. Good work!

 

[cocidiuz]

Congratz on your 50% performance.
I am eager to see your guide!

 

[muhlisgursoy]

Just an update at 3 AM here. An hour ago, I tried the latest test (undervolt -70 mV, TDP 29-29, disabled limits, prochot 95) at the balcony. Previously, all the tests were made in my room, which is about 20℃ temperature. The outside was about 0℃, so I ran the test again, placed the laptop on the cold floor. Yes, it's a bit cheating to run the test outside, but as expected, the score went up.

That's a whopping 4195 score, my friends. That's a 79% performance increase. The CPU outperformed the Intel Core i5-6600K (3965 scores). Just a bit more to reach the Intel Core i7-7700HQ performance (4271 scores).

The CPU ran at stable 3.2 GHz (even the advertised speed is 3.4 GHz, seems like we can raise the wattage a bit more), and the temperature didn't hit the 95℃ Prochot. It maxed at 87℃.

The conclusion is, it's all about the heat (temperature)...

---

Sorry for spamming but another update. I decreased the volt from -70 to -80 mV, then made the TDP 33-33 and ran the last test again, outside (2℃) on the floor.

Made it 4364 scores. It surpassed i7-7700HQ (4271 scores). So that's it for today's experiment, I think the CPU achieved its potential.

The video script still on the way, should be released next week on my plan.

 

[cocidiuz]

Are you using this configuration for normal say use/gaming? No problems so far?

 

[muhlisgursoy]

Are you using this configuration for normal say use/gaming? No problems so far?

For daily use such as browsing, online courses, sometimes video editing, and gaming. Undervolt can cause a bit of instability (it can cause a blue screen after a couple of hours or days, it just happens at unexpected times). Other settings (TDP, power limit, prochot, speed shift) didn't make any problem so far.

 

[unclewebb]

Undervolt can cause a bit of instability

You should never see a blue screen when you undervolt. A blue screen means your undervolt settings are too aggressive. Your CPU needs more voltage. Most blue screens happen to these CPUs when lightly loaded.

The 8250U is already a low power CPU. Its voltage and speed have already been reduce by Intel at the factory. There is not as much room to reliably undervolt one of these CPUs compared to a mobile 8th Gen H series CPU.

 

[muhlisgursoy]

You should never see a blue screen when you undervolt. A blue screen means your undervolt settings are too aggressive. Your CPU needs more voltage. Most blue screens happen to these CPUs when lightly loaded.

The 8250U is already a low power CPU. Its voltage and speed have already been reduce by Intel at the factory. There is not as much room to reliably undervolt one of these CPUs compared to a mobile 8th Gen H series CPU.

That's right. I did try a -40 mV, much less undervolt than -70 mV but still, sometimes it causes a blue screen. Because of that I rarely use undervolt and instead do the other adjustments. I have read about H series CPUs able to undervolt more than -100. The Youtuber Dave Lee on his hacks for performance video, tells to the viewers he's able to undervolt -120 mV on his i7-7700HQ.

Another thing, generally my computer goes blue screen when closing or opening an intensive application such as games. Seems like it occurs when there is a power requirement from low-to-high or high-to-low where a lot of power changes happen. Also sometimes it just doesn't cause any blue screen, till I close TS and restart my laptop (5-7 days).

And another, I did make -100 mV and it froze. Below that, -90 was stable (at least till on the thing in the last paragraph I told, happens), -80 and -70 also stable. But -90 and -80 were a bit more unstable, however, the -70 mV seems more reliable like -40 mV. (Conclusion, I think yes this CPU is already a low power CPU. )

 

[muhlisgursoy]

Finally, the video is here. I finished 2 days ago but Youtube took 2 days to process the 4K video, so I premiered it today (it's Turkish btw).

I thanked @unclewebb at 0:15 for his works on the Throttlestop and the guides. I thank again to him here

 

[muhlisgursoy]

You should never see a blue screen when you undervolt. A blue screen means your undervolt settings are too aggressive. Your CPU needs more voltage. Most blue screens happen to these CPUs when lightly loaded.

The 8250U is already a low power CPU. Its voltage and speed have already been reduce by Intel at the factory. There is not as much room to reliably undervolt one of these CPUs compared to a mobile 8th Gen H series CPU.

Hi again @unclewebb , so I have experienced that undervolting the i5-8250U to -70mV works fine but when in heavy gaming, or just after closing a game, the computer goes blue screen.

Recently, I saw a piece of tech news about the update on Throttlestop and came to TechPowerUp to read the update details. And I saw this "added feature to increase CPU voltage at 800 MHz for improved stability when undervolting.". Can this update save my laptop from going blue screen? How can I try it?

Thanks for helping.

 

[unclewebb]

Can this update save my laptop from going blue screen?

Unfortunately, the new 800 MHz voltage boost feature only seems to work on 10th Gen and newer K series CPUs. Your 8th Gen U series CPU is not supported.

If a computer crashes when a game ends then the voltage you are using is not enough. A voltage that works well at full load might not be enough when you are idle. This is especially true for Intel's U series CPUs. These CPUs are already low power CPUs. When you undervolt them too much, they can become unstable when lightly loaded. An undervolt of -70 mV is too much for your CPU. Try using -60 mV or -50 mV instead.

 

[GETOREDH20]

Finally, the video is here. I finished 2 days ago but Youtube took 2 days to process the 4K video, so I premiered it today (it's Turkish btw).

I thanked @unclewebb at 0:15 for his works on the Throttlestop and the guides. I thank again to him here

Will you put eng subtitles? Your research is awesome but I don't speak Turkish

 

[muhlisgursoy]

Will you put eng subtitles? Your research is awesome but I don't speak Turkish

Sorry for the late response. This is the first time a subtitle request I achieved I added the English subtitles. Thanks for your interest.

An undervolt of -70 mV is too much for your CPU. Try using -60 mV or -50 mV instead.

-60 mV solved the problem. Before this, even -40 mV caused blue screen and I found that undervolting Intel iGPU may be causing it. So I only undervolt CPU core and cache now and I don't longer have any BSODs.

 

[(00)]

@unclewebb at 0:15

I like any post or video that gives *unclewebb* thanks for his hard work. He deserves much more.

Thank you Sensei m(_ _)m