Laptop Undervolting

[gravdestroyer]

I have an acer predator helios 500 (1070 version) and I can't use Intel XTU to undervolt the CPU (the option is greyed out). Is it safe to use ThrottleStope on the i7 - 8750h? Also, is it possible to undervolt the GPU?

[LIGISTX]

12 minutes ago, gravdestroyer said:

I have an acer predator helios 500 (1070 version) and I can't use Intel XTU to undervolt the CPU (the option is greyed out). Is it safe to use ThrottleStope on the i7 - 8750h? Also, is it possible to undervolt the GPU?

I guess the first question here is, do you have a reason to undervolt it? Is it thermal throttling in your typical workloads?

[PiberiusWilde]

1 hour ago, gravdestroyer said:

I have an acer predator helios 500 (1070 version) and I can't use Intel XTU to undervolt the CPU (the option is greyed out). Is it safe to use ThrottleStope on the i7 - 8750h? Also, is it possible to undervolt the GPU?

Why do you wanted to undervolt the cpu??? and undervolting the gpu is also possible but I always finds it to be a hassle on laptops 'cause it's always resets the setting every time you shutdown.

 

ThrottleStop ugh..... it's hard to say well..... let's say it's safe and unsafe at the same time. Why??? 'cause unlike XTU, ThrottleStop doesn't have a feature that let's you test the setting that you've set and then you can save that setting if it runs stable.

 

ThrottleStop on the other hand only directly save the setting and set it immediately, which if the undervolt is too aggressive would cause a whole system crash (blue screen). Oww... and also it doesn't have the a barrier to stop how much you can undervolt it, so... in theory you can undervolt by 1 volt

 

"Then why you also mention that it was safe"

 

Because it didn't have a checkbox thing to start the program at startup. So it doesn't apply that faulty setting immediately after windows starts. To do that you have to do it manually at the startup program setting in windows.

[TehDwonz]

14 hours ago, PiberiusWilde said:

Why do you wanted to undervolt the cpu??? and undervolting the gpu is also possible but I always finds it to be a hassle on laptops 'cause it's always resets the setting every time you shutdown.

 

ThrottleStop ugh..... it's hard to say well..... let's say it's safe and unsafe at the same time. Why??? 'cause unlike XTU, ThrottleStop doesn't have a feature that let's you test the setting that you've set and then you can save that setting if it runs stable.

 

ThrottleStop on the other hand only directly save the setting and set it immediately, which if the undervolt is too aggressive would cause a whole system crash (blue screen). Oww... and also it doesn't have the a barrier to stop how much you can undervolt it, so... in theory you can undervolt by 1 volt

 

"Then why you also mention that it was safe"

 

Because it didn't have a checkbox thing to start the program at startup. So it doesn't apply that faulty setting immediately after windows starts. To do that you have to do it manually at the startup program setting in windows.

This ^^^

I use it a lot, specifically for undervolting non-gaming laptops, to reduce heat or improve battery life. As you say, it's a "live tweak" tool, rather than "set it and test it". I just mess with it 'til it's stable, then run it as a service using task scheduler, and forget it's there. Just be moderate in the changes you make and take your time, it'll be fine.

 

@gravdestroyer As for working with the i7-8750h - no idea, but it won't do harm just running Throttlestop and seeing if you can undervolt (technically, it sets a voltage limit, rather than an offset). Absolute worst case is that you crash it. Settings to "probably leave alone" are the clock and chipset modulation options - those are for older systems and will either do nothing, or bluescreen your machine.

 

Stress-test the CPU fully with new settings, before you set Throttlestop to auto-run, to avoid a pain-in-the-butt troubleshooting later. I'd recommend something like Powermax to do this, tested on both SSE and AVX mode. https://www.cpuid.com/softwares/powermax.html 
 

[genexis_x]

On 10/19/2020 at 10:58 AM, gravdestroyer said:

I can't use Intel XTU to undervolt the CPU

did you update BIOS recently?

On 10/19/2020 at 11:40 AM, PiberiusWilde said:

ThrottleStop doesn't have a feature that let's you test the setting that you've set and then you can save that setting if it runs stable.

it has - you just need to work around

[PiberiusWilde]

3 minutes ago, genexis_x said:

did you update BIOS recently?

it has - you just need to work around

Yes I know the TS Bench thing. But tbh it's not that good because you cannot use it while in FIVR control so it's virtually useless.

 

Better off using TS with Aida as the stress test.

[genexis_x]

28 minutes ago, PiberiusWilde said:

Yes I know the TS Bench thing

I'm not referring to that.

[unclewebb]

On 10/20/2020 at 1:57 AM, PiberiusWilde said:

But tbh it's not that good because you cannot use it while in FIVR control

Sure you can. Open the TS Bench first. You can open the FIVR window after the TS Bench window is already open.

 

On 10/18/2020 at 9:40 PM, PiberiusWilde said:

but I always finds it to be a hassle on laptops 'cause it's always resets the setting every time you shutdown.

Intel XTU does not apply the voltages consistently after resuming from sleep or hibernate. ThrottleStop does not have this problem.

On 10/18/2020 at 9:40 PM, PiberiusWilde said:

unlike XTU, ThrottleStop doesn't have a feature that let's you test the setting that you've set and then you can save that setting if it runs stable.

ThrottleStop has a couple of safety features. 

 

 

Use the first option when you are trying out some new voltages settings that you have not previously tested. If your computer crashes, the CPU will reset itself and the voltages will not have been saved to the configuration file.

 

 

On 10/18/2020 at 8:58 PM, gravdestroyer said:

Is it safe to use ThrottleStop on the i7 - 8750h?

Lots of laptops running the 8750H are using ThrottleStop. The problem is that recent BIOS updates have disabled CPU voltage control. The ThrottleStop FIVR window will show you if CPU voltage control is locked or not.

 

[PiberiusWilde]

2 hours ago, unclewebb said:

Lots of laptops running the 8750H are using ThrottleStop. The problem is that recent BIOS updates have disabled CPU voltage control. The ThrottleStop FIVR window will show you if CPU voltage control is locked or not.

True though

 

Lots of manufacturer these days limit how much we can tweak with their laptop. Most of them just went the easy route of just outright handicapping their CPU and GPU clocks to maintain a certain temperature they've set. And only allow them to boost for a few seconds.

 

My laptop (i5 8265U) locked at 2.2Ghz on extended full load to maintain around 81-84^oC

 

Only a few of them actually took their time to set voltage curve for their laptop.

[PiberiusWilde]

4 hours ago, Cyberdroid1 said:

Undervolt your CPU by -0.100 V. Less temps, better perf, better clocks. I have done this on mine, and it works. 

At extended max load, I get 2.9 ~ 3 GHz and temps around 65~68 C.

You don't get it, do you?

 

First, what's your cpu?

 

Second, most recent bios update on many laptop locks down the voltage control, making it unable to be undervolted or overvolted.

 

Third, there was a problem with windows actually preventing undervolts. I think it has something to do with added features in the latest windows version. The only version that I heard people can do undervloting is 1903 or older