Trying to undervolt MSI Raider GE77 HX

[RAM88]

Hi!

Been using throttlestop for about 3 years on my previous gaming rig and I absolutely loved it! It definitely extended the longevity of my laptop and was even able to sell it off for a decent price since it was still working so well and taken care of.

So I kinda want to do the same with this new gaming laptop I bought that cost me a small fortune. I am trying to get throttlestop to work but when I get into the FIVR menu, evyerthing is locked.

I did some digging on the forums, watched some youtube vids and went into the BIOS, changed overclocking to Enable, and disabled my Core Isolation protection thingy. Throttlestop still stays locked and I cannot move anything except the VCCIN slider but I dont know what that does anyways.

Am I missing something else? I cant quite figure out why its not letting me undervolt it. Id appreciate any help, Im not tech savvy though, going into the BIOS felt pretty matrixey and made me feel like a pro hacker.

 

[unclewebb]

I cannot move anything except the VCCIN slider

Your screenshot shows that the VCCIN slider is locked. Perhaps you were moving this before you disabled Virtualization Based Security (VBS). Double check to make sure VBS is completely disabled, reboot and delete the ThrottleStop.INI configuration file before running ThrottleStop.

How to Disable Virtualization-Based Security (VBS) in Windows 11 to Improve Gaming

Getting frame drops while playing games in Windows 11? VBS might be the reason and here's how you can disable VBS in Windows 11.

beebom.com

At the moment it looks like MSI sold you an unlocked HX series CPU and then decided to lock it in the BIOS. That means you cannot use ThrottleStop to overclock or undervolt your CPU. I am not familiar with your BIOS so I am not sure if there is any magic setting that you can toggle to unlock these useful features. You might be forced to make all adjustments in the BIOS. In theory this is safer but not nearly as much fun as being able to adjust things on the fly while using ThrottleStop.

 

[RAM88]

Your screenshot shows that the VCCIN slider is locked. Perhaps you were moving this before you disabled Virtualization Based Security (VBS). Double check to make sure VBS is completely disabled, reboot and delete the ThrottleStop.INI configuration file before running ThrottleStop.

How to Disable Virtualization-Based Security (VBS) in Windows 11 to Improve Gaming

Getting frame drops while playing games in Windows 11? VBS might be the reason and here's how you can disable VBS in Windows 11.

beebom.com

At the moment it looks like MSI sold you an unlocked HX series CPU and then decided to lock it in the BIOS. That means you cannot use ThrottleStop to overclock or undervolt your CPU. I am not familiar with your BIOS so I am not sure if there is any magic setting that you can toggle to unlock these useful features. You might be forced to make all adjustments in the BIOS. In theory this is safer but not nearly as much fun as being able to adjust things on the fly while using ThrottleStop.

Thanks for the reply!

Im not sure what you mean by completely disabling VBS. The first screenshot shows its disabled, all the way at the bottom, it says "Not enabled". I followed all steps accordingly to turn it off prior to taking the screenshot. Core Isolation is turned off, as well as Windows Hypervisor Platform and Virtual Machine Platform are unchecked. Im pretty sure I followed the guide to a T... I cant think of anything else in the guide that I might have missed, and my system shows me that its all turned off.

I guess I will try to figure things out in the BIOS, but Im woefully unprepared for it. I'm not sure why throttlestop isn't working for me on this setup, I miss it dearly.

Thanks again for your reply and great work into Throttlestop!

Update: After some more digging in the BIOS, I found that I had to disable "CFG Lock" and "Overclocking Lock" under the "Power and Performance" tab. This is different than the Processor tab which just says you can enable or disable overclocking.

These changes have caused Throttlestop to unlock and I can undervolt everything now!!

Final update: It seems I can't undervolt anyways, my PC bluescreens even at just -1 so I guess thats that.

 

[unclewebb]

Final update

Do not give up so easily.

With a 12th Gen CPU, try undervolting only the CPU core. Leave the cache alone. This works for some people. Can you undervolt only the core without a blue screen? Delete the ThrottleStop.INI configuration file and reboot before trying this.

The blue screens are usually caused by the cache running too fast. In the FIVR window, try setting the Cache Ratio Max to 36. This setting is just below the FIVR monitoring table. If this works then you can try slowly raising the maximum cache ratio later.

 

[JohnDoh337]

I know your post is kinda old but I just came across it while looking for more information/details to try and improve my undervolt settings on my GE77HX. Only needed to disable "Overclocking Lock", CFG lock is still disabled on mine, not sure if that would matter though. Also, like unclewebb said, don't mess with the CPU cache. I tried a -1 to the CPU P cache and it will instantly bluescreen

 

[unclewebb]

I tried a -1 to the CPU P cache and it will instantly bluescreen

The trick is to reduce the Cache Max value in the FIVR window.

The BIOS uses a trick to force the cache to run at the base frequency. Any undervolt forces the cache to run at default which is max speed. That will cause a crash unless you lower the Cache Ratio Max value first.

Before changing anything, have a look at what speed your cache is running at in the FIVR monitoring table. The cache speed was sensitive on 12th Gen so some manufacturers cut corners and decided to run the cache at a reduced speed at default settings. I assume this improves stability.