Heavy performance drop after restart

[Gienbfu]

Specs: i7-9750h 1600ti (laptop) 2*8gb ram 512ssd with windows on it 1tb ssd game drive

Windows version: KB5003173 64bit

I use throttlestop to keep the undervolt the cpu and keep it from boosting past 2.6ghz and msi afterburner to undervolt the gpu and limit it to around 1800mhz. I do these things to keep the temperature down when gaming, and have not made any changes to these settings recently/before the issue started happening. 

I was reinstalling peace APO (a software for EQing headphones) after I noticed a windows update made it stop working. Upon restarting, I noticed everything loaded much slower than normal. Things like clicking on the system tray would take around 3 seconds to load in the icons, and opening chrome would take about 7-10 full seconds before I could type in the search bar, which is way slower than normal. 

 

I tried to load up and play gta 5 again, and I was only getting around 12-15 fps on the exact same settings and configuration as before, and my gpu temps were only around 5c above idle and the gpu wasn't being fully utilized (around 15%) and stayed around base clock speed. The only thing I noticed was in task manager, gta 5 was switching in between gpu 0 and gpu 1 - copy, I don't know if it normally does this for me since I never looked before, but the geforce overlay still shows ingame, and forcing gta to use the dgpu in nvidia control panel doesn't make a difference.

 

The performance problems seem to be system wide, everything is slow to open in general, file explorer will take around 5 seconds, and each of the different parts of it (search bar, sidebar, etc.) will load in one at a time.

Normally I get around 75-100 fps and reach around 65-70c and the gpu boosts up to around 1800mhz. No matter what I do I cant get the fps/performance back up.

I played gta 5 after the windows update had completed (but before reinstalling peace APO) and didn't notice any drop in performance, so I am assuming it wasnt the windows update.

 

I ran a benchmark a few months ago in superposition high and got around 7700, running the same benchmark right after boot I now get 6500, oddly enough, after running gta 5 and closing out of it completely, the superposition benchmark then drops all the way down to ~5000 until I restart. It does use the gpu though, and it reaches around 85% utilization and clocks up all the way to max clock speed.

 

Heres all of the stuff I did recently that I think could have affected it:

-I changed the registry for game optimization, the only things I changed were fullscreen optimizations, game dvr, and game priority for the cpu

   -I have since reverted all of these to the defaults, no change

-Reinstall peace APO

   -I have had to do this multiple times in the past and have never had issues with it, so I doubt this is what caused the problem

   - I have uninstalled the program -> restarted, etc. : no change

-Windows update

   -The update installed on 5-16 and I didn't have the performance hit until 5-17 after a restart

   -I had normal performance with the update installed, so I doubt this is the problem.

 

Things I have tied already:

Booted without undervolts/overclocks on anything: no change

Restarting: no change

Uninstall peace APO: no change

Updated nvidia graphics drivers: no change

Boot with everything except MS services disabled and no startup programs: slightly faster, but nowhere close to normal

Booted in safe mode: no change (didn't run benchmarks but desktop was still really laggy)

Made a new guest user and booted into it: no change

Ran ssd benchmark on both drives -> both got normal speeds

Ran dskchk /repair on boot drive: no change 

Ran SFC and DISM: nothing found/no change

Ran ccleaner: no change

Ran malwarebytes: nothing detected/ no change

Checked power plan: same as before/no change

Both ssds have 75+gb of empty space

Cleared ec reset (I think, whatever that little button on the bottom of the laptop actually does): no change

No high usage of drives or cpu/gpu/ram in task manager at idle

 

I can't think of anything else to try, and I have no idea what actually caused this to happen.

Any help/ideas would be really appreciated!

[Gienbfu]

yall please

[unclewebb]

8 hours ago, Gienbfu said:

yall please

There was a recent Windows Update that nuked gaming performance for some users.

 

Microsoft accidentally ruins PC gaming performance in latest Windows 10 update

https://www.pcgamesn.com/windows-10-game-performance-hit

 

After you install some Windows Updates, they are not fully installed until after you reboot.

 

Start by setting your CPU back to its full rated speed. It will be easier to troubleshoot your throttling problem if you are not using ThrottleStop to throttle your CPU. Post screenshots of how you have ThrottleStop setup. In the Options window, turn on Nvidia GPU monitoring. 

 

Check the Log File option on the main screen and then try to play GTA5 for 10 or 15 minutes. At 15 fps, this will be a painful experience but it should help solve the problem. When finished testing, exit the game and then exit ThrottleStop so it can finalize your log file. This log will be in your ThrottleStop / Logs folder. Attach this log to your next post or copy and paste the data to http://www.pastebin.com

 

The log file will help show if the CPU or GPU or both are being throttled and might help me figure out why this is happening. 

[Gienbfu]

6 hours ago, unclewebb said:

There was a recent Windows Update that nuked gaming performance for some users.

 

Microsoft accidentally ruins PC gaming performance in latest Windows 10 update

https://www.pcgamesn.com/windows-10-game-performance-hit

 

After you install some Windows Updates, they are not fully installed until after you reboot.

 

Start by setting your CPU back to its full rated speed. It will be easier to troubleshoot your throttling problem if you are not using ThrottleStop to throttle your CPU. Post screenshots of how you have ThrottleStop setup. In the Options window, turn on Nvidia GPU monitoring. 

 

Check the Log File option on the main screen and then try to play GTA5 for 10 or 15 minutes. At 15 fps, this will be a painful experience but it should help solve the problem. When finished testing, exit the game and then exit ThrottleStop so it can finalize your log file. This log will be in your ThrottleStop / Logs folder. Attach this log to your next post or copy and paste the data to http://www.pastebin.com

 

The log file will help show if the CPU or GPU or both are being throttled and might help me figure out why this is happening. 

Thanks for replyign,

I included the logs for other stuff but they're kind of a mess since it just adds on to the existing log file when it makes a new one. The stock settings for gta 5 doesn't have any extra data from later on in it though since its the first one.

Throttlestop config:

 

 

 

Stock settings/ no clock limiting for cpu/gpu:

gta5 : https://pastebin.com/iit28bqJ

2021-05-19unthrottled_gta5.txt

superposition: https://pastebin.com/LWXQwzFG

2021-05-19unthrottled_superposition.txt

msi afterburner settings just for good measure:

 

 

 

 

With clock limiting/throttling in cpu/gpu:

gta5 : https://pastebin.com/Q2CTBMx7

2021-05-19unthrottled_and_throttled_gta5.txt

superposition : https://pastebin.com/wwgnCw8A

2021-05-19throttled_superposition.txt

msi afterburner settings: 

 

 

 

 

[unclewebb]

6 hours ago, Gienbfu said:

Stock settings/ no clock limiting for cpu/gpu:

What do you mean "no clock limiting"? A 9750H is designed to run at 4000 MHz when 6 cores are active. You have reduced your turbo ratio limits across the board so your CPU is only running at a maximum of 2900 MHz. Gaming laptops with the mobile 9750H are designed to run reliably at over 90°C. Your CPU is only running at 60°C in the log file.

 

Your other tests are with Intel Turbo Boost disabled so your CPU can run even slower. Here is some good advice.

13 hours ago, unclewebb said:

Start by setting your CPU back to its full rated speed.

 

Download ThrottleStop 9.3

https://www.techpowerup.com/download/techpowerup-throttlestop/

 

If you check Nvidia GPU in the Options window, the new version will add Nvidia GPU MHz data to the log file. You do not have a CPU throttling problem other than the throttling problem that you are deliberately creating. It might be the Nvidia GPU that is throttling. The GPU is only reaching 55°C in the log file so it looks like the GPU is being throttled too. It is definitely not working very hard. 

 

On the main screen of ThrottleStop you have Speed Shift EPP checked and set to 92. This is not doing anything because you have not enabled Speed Shift yet. Before using the EPP setting, you need to first enable Speed Shift Technology in the BIOS or enable Speed Shift in the ThrottleStop TPL window. Once this is properly enabled, you should see SST in green on the main screen. 

 

For your voltage settings, many 9750H owners are not 100% stable when they run with the cache at an offset of -140 mV. If you ever have any random BSOD issues, it might be because of this voltage setting. I would suggest reducing the cache offset to -125 mV. The reason why you should do this is because you do not need to set the core and cache offset voltage values equally. By reducing the cache a little, you will be able to increase the core offset much further and still be stable. Most users get their best results with the core up around -175 mV to -200 mV.

 

Using ThrottleStop to request different voltages tricks the CPU into reducing the voltage when the CPU is running AVX instructions. Cinebench R20 uses lots of AVX instructions so it is a good test when setting different voltages. Most modern software including games use lots of AVX instructions too.

 

https://www.techpowerup.com/download/maxon-cinebench/ 

 

Here are some R20 examples. 

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1B2HZjwlS6B5vO-m6HrkYMuiu8yVh3LvY/view?usp=sharing

 

If your GPU is not reaching full speed when gaming, it might be a problem with how you have Afterburner setup. 

 

[Gienbfu]

3 hours ago, unclewebb said:

What do you mean "no clock limiting"? A 9750H is designed to run at 4000 MHz when 6 cores are active. You have reduced your turbo ratio limits across the board so your CPU is only running at a maximum of 2900 MHz. Gaming laptops with the mobile 9750H are designed to run reliably at over 90°C. Your CPU is only running at 60°C in the log file.

 

Your other tests are with Intel Turbo Boost disabled so your CPU can run even slower. Here is some good advice.

 

Download ThrottleStop 9.3

https://www.techpowerup.com/download/techpowerup-throttlestop/

 

If you check Nvidia GPU in the Options window, the new version will add Nvidia GPU MHz data to the log file. You do not have a CPU throttling problem other than the throttling problem that you are deliberately creating. It might be the Nvidia GPU that is throttling. The GPU is only reaching 55°C in the log file so it looks like the GPU is being throttled too. It is definitely not working very hard. 

 

On the main screen of ThrottleStop you have Speed Shift EPP checked and set to 92. This is not doing anything because you have not enabled Speed Shift yet. Before using the EPP setting, you need to first enable Speed Shift Technology in the BIOS or enable Speed Shift in the ThrottleStop TPL window. Once this is properly enabled, you should see SST in green on the main screen. 

 

For your voltage settings, many 9750H owners are not 100% stable when they run with the cache at an offset of -140 mV. If you ever have any random BSOD issues, it might be because of this voltage setting. I would suggest reducing the cache offset to -125 mV. The reason why you should do this is because you do not need to set the core and cache offset voltage values equally. By reducing the cache a little, you will be able to increase the core offset much further and still be stable. Most users get their best results with the core up around -175 mV to -200 mV.

 

Using ThrottleStop to request different voltages tricks the CPU into reducing the voltage when the CPU is running AVX instructions. Cinebench R20 uses lots of AVX instructions so it is a good test when setting different voltages. Most modern software including games use lots of AVX instructions too.

 

https://www.techpowerup.com/download/maxon-cinebench/ 

 

Here are some R20 examples. 

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1B2HZjwlS6B5vO-m6HrkYMuiu8yVh3LvY/view?usp=sharing

 

If your GPU is not reaching full speed when gaming, it might be a problem with how you have Afterburner setup. 

 

My apologies with the turbo limits, I thought that clicking turn off at the bottom of throttlestop would disable everything, and not keep using the turbo limits I had set. I always run it with turbo disabled, so I forgot about the turbo ratios.

I reset the turbo limits to 42/42/41/41/40/40: 

I left the undervolt as is since it didn't bluescreen in cinebench, but I will probably take your advice and change it when I fix my computer. I also didn't enable speedstep and left it the same for now.

 

I ran a cinebench test and got around 2300 and 2350 on the two runs which is a lot lower than the photos you showed. I haven't run cinebench in the past so I don't have a reference for what it normally is unfortunately. The main thing I noticed running the cinebench test was that it hit the thermal throttle limit at the start and then throttled itself all the way down into the 70s-80s and 3.3ghz, although I'm not sure why, since it was fine hitting 90+.

Throttlestop log: https://pastebin.com/KCZumXg5

cinebench unthrottled.txt

 

I redid the gta 5 testing and had the same framerate ~15-20fps although the cpu did boost to a higher speed.

Throttlestop log: https://pastebin.com/pinrrkEt

gta5 unthrottled.txt

 

Didn't want to use obs because I figured it would probably slow things down even more so heres a crappy video from my phone showing task manager while gta is running.

 

 

Here are my nvidia control panel settings as well which is forcing gta to use the dgpu.

 

Heres a video of the general slowness I'm trying to describe, it does the same thing off of boot when there is nothing running:

 

The fans spinning up like during that video doesn't happen when I lock the cpu from turboing so I don't think its something like an especially heavy load on the cpu thats making general things slow. The cpu stays up around 3.8ghz at idle without the boost limit, which I'm assuming is because I didn't get speedstep setup and just never had a problem with it before since I had it locked down so low.

[unclewebb]

8 hours ago, Gienbfu said:

I reset the turbo limits to 42/42/41/41/40/40:

The default turbo ratios for a 9750H are 45, 44, 43, 42, 41, 40. When your CPU is lightly loaded and only 1 or 2 cores are active, it is OK to let it run faster.

 

8 hours ago, Gienbfu said:

I don't think its something like an especially heavy load on the cpu thats making general things slow.

I think you have too much stuff running in the background on your computer that you are not aware of. Close your web browser, close the Task Manager or any games, etc. With just ThrottleStop open on the desktop, what does ThrottleStop typically report for C0%? This data is a good indication of how busy your CPU really is.

 

CPU cores need to enter the C0 state so they can process the various Windows background tasks. If there are not tasks that need to be performed, a CPU will need to spend hardly any time at all in the C0 state when a computer is idle. Watch this data for a minute or two when idle and I think you will start to see your main problem. Here is an example from my computer for comparison. You can double click on the monitoring table to see data for all threads at the same time. 

 

 

The majority of threads on my computer are doing absolutely nothing when my computer is idle. You need to open the Task Manager and go to the Details tab or open the Resource Monitor and find out what is running in the background on your computer. Do not use the Processes tab. It is not accurate on Intel mobile CPUs. Click on the CPU heading in the Details tab to organize the running tasks by CPU usage. 

 

Cinebench R20 does not use the Nvidia GPU but your log file shows that the Nvidia GPU is active. Try turning on the Nvidia GPU activity icon in the system tray. It might tell you if something in the background is using your Nvidia GPU. Maybe it is Afterburner or maybe it is something else. This can interfere with FPS.

 

8 hours ago, Gienbfu said:

I also didn't enable speedstep

SpeedStep and Speed Shift are two different things. Your screenshot shows that you have SpeedStep enabled. SpeedStep is not the problem. With a 9th Gen CPU, usually the BIOS automatically enables Speed Shift Technology. Your BIOS is not doing this so you need to go into the ThrottleStop TPL window and check the Speed Shift box to enable SST. After you do that, go back out to the main screen and set Speed Shift EPP to 80. This will allow your CPU to slow down when it is lightly loaded.

 

The problem is that it looks like your CPU is never lightly loaded. Even with this setup properly, it is not likely going to slow down. A CPU is not supposed to slow down if it has something to do. If you get the background tasks under control, then your CPU will slow down. With Speed Shift disabled, ThrottleStop is not going to work consistently. The way you have things setup, both Windows and ThrottleStop are partially controlling your CPU. 

 

8 hours ago, Gienbfu said:

throttled itself all the way down into the 70s-80s and 3.3ghz, although I'm not sure why

The log file shows why. The far right column in the log file initially shows TEMP which means your CPU is thermal throttling because it has reached the maximum temperature limit. After about 5 seconds of this, the far right column of the log file changes to PL1. This means your CPU is power limit throttling. Power consumption is right at 45W while this is going on. The CPU slows down as much as necessary to prevent the CPU from exceeding 45W. The 9750H has a default 45W TDP rating so power limit throttling at 45W is normal for this CPU.

 

If you ever want to try to go higher than 45W long term, try increasing the PL1 limit in the TPL window. Also check the Disable and Lock Turbo Power Limits button in the FIVR window which is used to manage the secondary turbo power limits. A 9750H is capable of running at over 70W as long as the cooling is adequate and the power limits are set high enough. Some manufacturers enforce the long term 45W limit but many do not. For gaming, running a 9750H higher than 45W is rarely necessary.

 

A properly cooled 9750H with unlocked power limits can score 3200 in Cinebench R20. When a 45W limit is enforced, this drops to about 2600. Your score of 2300 is another indication that you have something significant running in the background. 

 

During the GTA5 log, the CPU is running very consistently with the multiplier at 39 while the Nvidia GPU continuously cycles up and down. Fast, slow, fast, slow. Not sure why. Try logging your GPU performance with GPU-Z. The GPU temperature is fine so it might be GPU power limit throttling. Also do some idle testing to see if there is any significant load on the GPU when your computer is idle. 

 

You might have to temporarily uninstall Afterburner and do a clean install of the Nvidia driver to try and troubleshoot why your GPU is not running at a consistent speed. Were you using a different driver version when your computer used to get better FPS? Have you always used Afterburner? Something has changed. Your CPU is performing normally. 

[Gienbfu]

5 hours ago, unclewebb said:

The default turbo ratios for a 9750H are 45, 44, 43, 42, 41, 40. When your CPU is lightly loaded and only 1 or 2 cores are active, it is OK to let it run faster.

 

I think you have too much stuff running in the background on your computer that you are not aware of. Close your web browser, close the Task Manager or any games, etc. With just ThrottleStop open on the desktop, what does ThrottleStop typically report for C0%? This data is a good indication of how busy your CPU really is.

 

CPU cores need to enter the C0 state so they can process the various Windows background tasks. If there are not tasks that need to be performed, a CPU will need to spend hardly any time at all in the C0 state when a computer is idle. Watch this data for a minute or two when idle and I think you will start to see your main problem. Here is an example from my computer for comparison. You can double click on the monitoring table to see data for all threads at the same time. 

 

 

The majority of threads on my computer are doing absolutely nothing when my computer is idle. You need to open the Task Manager and go to the Details tab or open the Resource Monitor and find out what is running in the background on your computer. Do not use the Processes tab. It is not accurate on Intel mobile CPUs. Click on the CPU heading in the Details tab to organize the running tasks by CPU usage. 

 

Cinebench R20 does not use the Nvidia GPU but your log file shows that the Nvidia GPU is active. Try turning on the Nvidia GPU activity icon in the system tray. It might tell you if something in the background is using your Nvidia GPU. Maybe it is Afterburner or maybe it is something else. This can interfere with FPS.

 

SpeedStep and Speed Shift are two different things. Your screenshot shows that you have SpeedStep enabled. SpeedStep is not the problem. With a 9th Gen CPU, usually the BIOS automatically enables Speed Shift Technology. Your BIOS is not doing this so you need to go into the ThrottleStop TPL window and check the Speed Shift box to enable SST. After you do that, go back out to the main screen and set Speed Shift EPP to 80. This will allow your CPU to slow down when it is lightly loaded.

 

The problem is that it looks like your CPU is never lightly loaded. Even with this setup properly, it is not likely going to slow down. A CPU is not supposed to slow down if it has something to do. If you get the background tasks under control, then your CPU will slow down. With Speed Shift disabled, ThrottleStop is not going to work consistently. The way you have things setup, both Windows and ThrottleStop are partially controlling your CPU. 

 

The log file shows why. The far right column in the log file initially shows TEMP which means your CPU is thermal throttling because it has reached the maximum temperature limit. After about 5 seconds of this, the far right column of the log file changes to PL1. This means your CPU is power limit throttling. Power consumption is right at 45W while this is going on. The CPU slows down as much as necessary to prevent the CPU from exceeding 45W. The 9750H has a default 45W TDP rating so power limit throttling at 45W is normal for this CPU.

 

If you ever want to try to go higher than 45W long term, try increasing the PL1 limit in the TPL window. Also check the Disable and Lock Turbo Power Limits button in the FIVR window which is used to manage the secondary turbo power limits. A 9750H is capable of running at over 70W as long as the cooling is adequate and the power limits are set high enough. Some manufacturers enforce the long term 45W limit but many do not. For gaming, running a 9750H higher than 45W is rarely necessary.

 

A properly cooled 9750H with unlocked power limits can score 3200 in Cinebench R20. When a 45W limit is enforced, this drops to about 2600. Your score of 2300 is another indication that you have something significant running in the background. 

 

During the GTA5 log, the CPU is running very consistently with the multiplier at 39 while the Nvidia GPU continuously cycles up and down. Fast, slow, fast, slow. Not sure why. Try logging your GPU performance with GPU-Z. The GPU temperature is fine so it might be GPU power limit throttling. Also do some idle testing to see if there is any significant load on the GPU when your computer is idle. 

 

You might have to temporarily uninstall Afterburner and do a clean install of the Nvidia driver to try and troubleshoot why your GPU is not running at a consistent speed. Were you using a different driver version when your computer used to get better FPS? Have you always used Afterburner? Something has changed. Your CPU is performing normally. 

Will edit after looking for background stuff, but I can answer a few of these.

As far as C0 states, when I had it set up before, the lowest I ever got was around 17 on the highest core I want to say, but not sure.
A while ago I had locked down as much background stuff as possible to try and squeeze more battery life out of it by

disabling as much stuff as possible in services and tasks scheduler. 

 

Currently at idle I get this:

Throttlestop log: https://pastebin.com/BgxTUde6

nothing running.txt

The picture is with task manager and screen snip running with throttlestop. With nothing running except throttlestop, I get (I think its the average) C0% of around 3 and around 1.4W pkg power which is what I got before having this problem. I do have a bunch of background processes which I would assume is why it doesn’t go as low as yours does but that includes stuff like windows defender and nvidia container/shadowplay which I’ve disabled as many services for as possible without it refusing to function such as telemtry, etc. This is also the way I’ve always had it so the C0% im getting seems normal to me. 

 

Heres some videos with just task manager/throttlestop:

 

During cinebench I am 95% sure the gpu is only showing up because msi afterburner is forcing it to report its temperatures which it will not do when nothing is using it. Thats what the jagged line in the msi afterburner temperature graph is from, system tray icon won't show this though, but there is a light on the laptop that turns orange when the gpu is being run which will reflect that.

I reran cinebench and got a 2656, the only things I changed were setting the turbo limits to 45/44/43/42/41/40 and enabling speedshift at 80 / disabling speedstep

Throttlestop log: https://pastebin.com/Gbb523vs

cinebench.txt

At the very start of the log the gpu start up briefly, if I had to guess why I would say its just because I opened throttlestop since its always at the start of the logs and doesnt happen for any other programs that dont use the gpu. 

[Gienbfu]

For anyone who comes across this post:

 

I ended up fixing it by reinstalling windows from a flash drive. I used the windows install media thing to make a windows install flash drive then ran the file it made and reinstalled the OS. I chose the option to keep my files and applications and it still fixed the problem, so it must have been some kind of issue with windows. It fixed everything, the general ui slowness and whatever issues gta V was having, although I still have no idea what caused the problem in the first place.