What in the UNDERVOLT happened?!

[S0ber]

I was playing a game and all of a sudden without warning my screen shuts off and the laptop becomes completely unresponsive. It wasn't until I took the power cord out and held the power button down that anything happened. When my laptop came back on the Omen logo spun there for like 3 full mins before Windows came up. The Graphics Card isn't being undervolted/overclocked so I know it's got to be this undervolt. I have attached the logs right up until the point of the crash. Can anyone tell me if they see a reason this happened? Please see other screenshots attached for my Throttlestop settings.

Thank You!

 

[elghinnarisa]

First thing you do when you experience a sudden crash or fault when applying any kind of overclocking/undervolting is to return to default settings and give that a go. Stops occurring? Then you know it was unstable at those frequencies/voltages.

Could also be completly unrelated, check event viewer for whatever logs windows might have filed.

 

[unclewebb]

@S0ber
What sort of stability testing did you do to see if your CPU undervolt settings are stable or not? The offset voltage a CPU needs to be stable at full speed might not be the same when you lower the turbo ratios. You might be forced to reduce your undervolt when running the 36 multiplier for all cores.

It might be a problem with the game. I would reduce the undervolt first and then try playing the same game again.

You are using the Stop Data feature so your log file data is only being recorded once every minute. When testing, I would not use the Stop Data feature.

 

[S0ber]

@S0ber
What sort of stability testing did you do to see if your CPU undervolt settings are stable or not? The offset voltage a CPU needs to be stable at full speed might not be the same when you lower the turbo ratios. You might be forced to reduce your undervolt when running the 36 multiplier for all cores.

It might be a problem with the game. I would reduce the undervolt first and then try playing the same game again.

You are using the Stop Data feature so your log file data is only being recorded once every minute. When testing, I would not use the Stop Data feature.

Thanks Unc! While I have you, are there any other settings or checkboxes that are incorrect in terms of normal recommended settings? I've read a ton of posts where you say to throw that iccmax all the way up. Im not even sure what that is but its up!

My Hp Omen has something called Omen Dynamic Boost or whatever. Its supposed to give power to the cpu or the gpu depending on the load. Whenever I turn on my computer if I dont lower the turbo it runs at like 4800 mhz and on afterburner I keep running into a voltage limit. This goes away when I lower my turbo ratio for some reason. If I dont lower it, the omen dynamic power will take like 15 mins sometimes before it downclocks but until then its all stutters.

 

[unclewebb]

Omen Dynamic Boost

I am not familiar with that feature. Hopefully ThrottleStop can be used along side that program without too much interference.

I'm not even sure what that is but its up!

That is the spirit.
It is usually not a good idea to blindly follow advice you read on the internet but in this situation, setting IccMax to the max is always best.

Intel used to build CPUs that ran just fine without needing 101 different throttling methods to control them. They still build CPUs that run just fine after disabling all of this stuff. There is no real need for the majority of these throttling methods. Thermal throttling is about the only type of throttling that makes sense. If a CPU gets too hot, it should slow down to protect itself against any damage.

As for your settings, not sure why you have the PP0 Power Limit checked. I do not think your CPU uses that power limit anymore. I would set that to 0, press Apply and then clear the check mark in the PP0 box and press OK to save that setting.

You have the turbo time limit set to 128 seconds. Can your CPU run at the 135W PL2 power limit for 128 seconds without overheating? Probably not. It would be rare to find a laptop that can dissipate that much heat for that length of time. A lower time limit is more appropriate for most laptops. Even as little as 8 seconds at 135W would likely cause thermal throttling. It is best to set the turbo power limits and the turbo time limit to what your cooling system can handle without overheating or thermal throttling.

I have attached the logs

When you attach a log file, attach the log file in its original .txt file format so I can scroll through it. Taking a screenshot and uploading a .png picture of a .txt log file is not good. If you were 80 years old, I might let this slide. Anyone with an Omen gaming laptop should know the basics about computer file formats.

 

[S0ber]

I am not familiar with that feature. Hopefully ThrottleStop can be used along side that program without too much interference.


That is the spirit.
It is usually not a good idea to blindly follow advice you read on the internet but in this situation, setting IccMax to the max is always best.

Intel used to build CPUs that ran just fine without needing 101 different throttling methods to control them. They still build CPUs that run just fine after disabling all of this stuff. There is no real need for the majority of these throttling methods. Thermal throttling is about the only type of throttling that makes sense. If a CPU gets too hot, it should slow down to protect itself against any damage.

As for your settings, not sure why you have the PP0 Power Limit checked. I do not think your CPU uses that power limit anymore. I would set that to 0, press Apply and then clear the check mark in the PP0 box and press OK to save that setting.

You have the turbo time limit set to 128 seconds. Can your CPU run at the 135W PL2 power limit for 128 seconds without overheating? Probably not. It would be rare to find a laptop that can dissipate that much heat for that length of time. A lower time limit is more appropriate for most laptops. Even as little as 8 seconds at 135W would likely cause thermal throttling. It is best to set the turbo power limits and the turbo time limit to what your cooling system can handle without overheating or thermal throttling.


When you attach a log file, attach the log file in its original .txt file format so I can scroll through it. Taking a screenshot and uploading a .png picture of a .txt log file is not good. If you were 80 years old, I might let this slide. Anyone with an Omen gaming laptop should know the basics about computer file formats.

Hahahah COPY that! at 36 turbo ratio I can play forever without thermal throttling. But maybe I should increase the turbo ratio but decrease this value? Where would be a good place to start in this TPL window.
I got you on the logs and will do this moving forward. Im honestly so grateful that anyone even looked at a screenshot for me. Also, the irony in you cheersing mr s0ber hahaha.

 

[unclewebb]

You can use ThrottleStop to run your CPU at whatever speed or power limits you like. I have no idea what will be best for you and your laptop. Different programs or different games might work best with different settings. If your laptop has poor cooling then slowing it down like you are doing might be your only option.

All I know is that if you get a sudden crash when undervolting, you have probably gone too far. A crash is a CPU's way of saying, "Hey buddy, I need more voltage".