Windows Power Settings issues

Theguywhobea · October 7, 2024

Hi All. I am using a Minisforum BD790i motherboard in my main PC. The Ryzen 9 7945HX is awesome and I chose it for all the CPU cores and the very decent power efficiency. When I first put this motherboard in I was using the same windows 10 install I had been using for several different PC configs in a row and it mostly worked fine. I believe I had Windows set to power saver and in that mode the CPU would typically sit around the mid 4Ghz area and consume around 40-50 watts. It would also clock up over 5Ghz when doing more work.

I have just completely reinstalled Windows and now for some reason I can't get the CPU to consume a normal amount of power anymore. In basically every plan it will just sit at 5.2 - 5.4Ghz constantly and consume between 80-100w. If I go into a Power Saver plan it will downclock all the way to 1.6Ghz unless I set the minimum processor state to 99%, where it will then sit at 2.45Ghz. It will pretty much stay there all the time and feel a little laggy unless I throw a big load at it, then after being under load for a few seconds it will clock up.

I would like to get back to how it used to work as it had a nice balance of performance and power but I can't seem to figure out what I had done that made it work like that? I thought maybe it was the chipset drivers but I have installed those and didn't see any change. There are no unidentified devices in device manager.

I was going to try installing Ryzen Master but everyone on the internet seems to hate that software so I didn't.

Sawa Takahashi · October 8, 2024

3 hours ago, Theguywhobea said:

I was going to try installing Ryzen Master but everyone on the internet seems to hate that software so I didn't.

Given that this is the only software that allows you to configure your Ryzen CPU, like it or hate it I think you don't have a choice to install it.

As for your CPU, AMD states that it has a base TDP of 55W and a configurable TDP of 55 to 75W. At 80-100W, you are way over specs. Maybe there is a boost option that wasn't enabled before or something similar.

Hope that helps.