Laptop Power Limit Throttling But Temperatures Are Normal

[WtfIsThisBS]

hey guys, i cant understand if this drop in performance is due to power limit throttling or temp throttling. a few minutes into the test, the 'power limit throttling' signal turns to 'yes' and then then performance drops, but that happens as soon as both the temps of gpu and cpu reach a particular point.

i've tried undervolting but that didnt help. this really makes gaming horrible, because i start with 50-60 fps on warframe (with intel xtu running in the background), then PLT turns to 'yes' and i go to 12-13 fps. i'm considering repasting the cores but idk if that's gonna make any difference since the problem seems to be power related.

any help would be really appreciated, thanks!

[Haro]

What temps do you get ?

Have you tried cleaning the laptop as a whole 

Dusting it off etc 

[ShortRouter]

Looks like it has an Intel U-series CPU or similar. If 17 Watts is limit set by manufacturer I don't recommend changing that. Tbh if it throttles that hard it's an overheating issue. Try upping CPU fan speeds via curve, Notebookfancontrol is a handy tool for that. Make sure laptop is always plugged into wall power when gaming and battery charge is >10-15 %.

P.S. what's the exact laptop model / version you have? Look on the back sticker.

[unclewebb]

It looks like a Core i5-8250U which has a 15W TDP limit.

 

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/124967/intel-core-i5-8250u-processor-6m-cache-up-to-3-40-ghz.html

 

Intel recommends that the long term turbo power limit be set equal to the TDP (15W) but that is just a suggestion. It looks like your laptop was set to 17W instead of 15W. The Intel XTU stress test is an overwhelming load for a 4 core U series CPU with hyper threading. It cannot possibly run this test at full speed.

 

2 hours ago, WtfIsThisBS said:

is due to power limit throttling or temp throttling

Intel XTU reports power limit throttling so it is definitely due to power limit throttling. Does XTU allow you to increase your turbo power limits? If you can increase your turbo power limits, you can get significantly more performance out of an Intel U CPU. It all depends on whether the OEM left the power limits unlocked or not. These CPUs are miserable for gaming when they are locked to 15W or even 17W.

 

https://i.imgur.com/eo0J744.png

 

https://i.imgur.com/Zk07S5O.png

 

2 hours ago, ShortRouter said:

if it throttles that hard it's an overheating issue.

The problem has nothing to do with heat. Temperatures are well within spec. These CPUs are designed to throttle hard based on power consumption.

 

 

[ShortRouter]

Quote

The problem has nothing to do with heat. Temperatures are well within spec. These CPUs are designed to throttle hard based on power consumption.

3 hours ago, WtfIsThisBS said:

but that happens as soon as both the temps of gpu and cpu reach a particular point.

sounds damn like thermal throttling to me...