Intel i7 7700HQ Stress Test with Aida64 (Questions)

[ajgamer1]

Hello, I am having Intel i7 7700 HQ with GTX 1060 6GB in my Laptop purchased 1 week back.

 

Official Intel 7700HQ Page: https://ark.intel.com/products/97185/Intel-Core-i7-7700HQ-Processor-6M-Cache-up-to-3_80-GHz

 

Now, I am trying to deal with the overheating issues. I am doing undervolting but whenever I am trying to do the Stress Testing.

 

It is not taking full 3.8 Ghz Speed. It only takes 3.4 Ghz speed.

 

I have only undervolted and rest of the settings are default (not changed).

 

Why is that happening?

 

 

 

Reason for posting in this section: I am not facing issues specifically with the Laptop or it's pre-sale. I am facing a component related doubt.

 

Thanks.

 

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

So let me get this straight, you're undervolting a locked Processer and wondering why it's no longer reaching it's maximum turbo speed. 

[ajgamer1]

Just now, BlueChinchillaEatingDorito said:

So let me get this straight, you're undervolting a locked Processer and wondering why it's no longer reaching it's maximum turbo speed. 

Hi. I'm sorry to say but my knowledge is very limited when it comes to Laptop Processors.

 

What do you mean by Locked Processor?

 

Well, I have undervolted it by -0.110 only but it's not reaching the max. speeds which is 3.8 Ghz (which is mentioned on Intel Website).

[Tabs]

20 minutes ago, MrFriendism said:

Hello, I am having Intel i7 7700 HQ with GTX 1060 6GB in my Laptop purchased 1 week back.

 

Official Intel 7700HQ Page: https://ark.intel.com/products/97185/Intel-Core-i7-7700HQ-Processor-6M-Cache-up-to-3_80-GHz

 

Now, I am trying to deal with the overheating issues. I am doing undervolting but whenever I am trying to do the Stress Testing.

 

It is not taking full 3.8 Ghz Speed. It only takes 3.4 Ghz speed.

 

I have only undervolted and rest of the settings are default (not changed).

 

Why is that happening?

 

 

 

 

 

Reason for posting in this section: I am not facing issues specifically with the Laptop or it's pre-sale. I am facing a component related doubt.

 

Thanks.

 

 

This is normal mate - the maximum turbo speed listed on the Intel Ark is for 1 core active - if you look at your first picture, you can see that it says 1 core active x38, 2 cores is x36, three is x35 and 4 is x34. The stress test pushes all 4 cores, so it's only capable of turbo boosting to 3.4GHz in that kind of situation.

 

 

[ajgamer1]

3 minutes ago, Tabs said:

 

This is normal mate - the maximum turbo speed listed on the Intel Ark is for 1 core active - if you look at your first picture, you can see that it says 1 core active x38, 2 cores is x36, three is x35 and 4 is x34. The stress test pushes all 4 cores, so it's only capable of turbo boosting to 3.4GHz in that kind of situation.

 

 

Oh Okay. Actually such things never happened with me on PC. It's my first time experience with such processor.

 

Okay, I get that. But my overheating issue comes when I play games (Rainbow Six Siege and PUBG). Why is that so?

Right now, I am stress testing but temp. is max. going to 85. But when I play game? It goes as high as 95.

 

That's disastrous. 

[O9B0666]

If you take away power it can't boost to max speeds lol think about this... Why would the manufacturer not just undervolt every cpu to .0001mv total power and run 5ghz clocks? Cuz you can't a CPU needs certain power to boost. You take away cylinders in your car engine you'll loose speed too. 

[Tabs]

2 minutes ago, MrFriendism said:

Oh Okay. Actually such things never happened with me on PC. It's my first time experience with such processor.

 

Okay, I get that. But my overheating issue comes when I play games. Why is that so?

Right now, I am stress testing but temp. is max. going to 85. But when I play game? It goes as high as 95.

 

That's disastrous. 

 

The stress test only stresses the CPU; when gaming you are using both the CPU and GPU, so both are pumping heat out and need to be cooled. The heat dissipation capacity of your cooling system is a constant, so if you suddenly have two heat loads running at the same time (CPU and GPU), the temperatures will inevitably go up.

 

95C is below throttle point for your CPU; it may be considered high, but the chip is rated for it.

[O9B0666]

4 minutes ago, MrFriendism said:

Oh Okay. Actually such things never happened with me on PC. It's my first time experience with such processor.

 

Okay, I get that. But my overheating issue comes when I play games (Rainbow Six Siege and PUBG). Why is that so?

Right now, I am stress testing but temp. is max. going to 85. But when I play game? It goes as high as 95.

 

That's disastrous. 

At 95c your thermal throttling.... You wanna game hard with demanding games I'd suggest a desktop computer. Oh nm I guess 100 throttles 94 is amd GPUs 

[ajgamer1]

1 minute ago, O9B0666 said:

If you take away power it can't boost to max speeds lol think about this... Why would the manufacturer not just undervolt every cpu to .0001mv total power and run 5ghz clocks? Cuz you can't a CPU needs certain power to boost. You take away cylinders in your car engine you'll loose speed too. 

I'm AC Power Connected, Charged Plugged in. 100% Full Performance in Battery Selection.

[Tabs]

1 minute ago, O9B0666 said:

If you take away power it can't boost to max speeds lol think about this... Why would the manufacturer not just undervolt every cpu to .0001mv total power and run 5ghz clocks? Cuz you can't a CPU needs certain power to boost. You take away cylinders in your car engine you'll loose speed too. 

3.4ghz is the max boost speed for his processor when all cores are loaded. It's not unlocked, so motherboard features that enable all-core boosts won't work.

 

It has nothing to do with his undervolt - if anything, the undervolt has likely dramatically reduced the heat output of the cpu, and will give better performance under mixed loads.

[O9B0666]

1 minute ago, MrFriendism said:

I'm AC Power Connected, Charged Plugged in. 100% Full Performance in Battery Selection.

If you undervolt it your cpu won't get full boost speeds though simple as that. It's set to certain voltage for a reason. You want full speed don't undervolt. 

[O9B0666]

Not to be mean but until you know what your doing you should stay out of the bios. 

[ajgamer1]

1 minute ago, Tabs said:

 

The stress test only stresses the CPU; when gaming you are using both the CPU and GPU, so both are pumping heat out and need to be cooled. The heat dissipation capacity of your cooling system is a constant, so if you suddenly have two heat loads running at the same time (CPU and GPU), the temperatures will inevitably go up.

 

95C is below throttle point for your CPU; it may be considered high, but the chip is rated for it.

ls that also possible that the games aren't using all the cores at once and in the meanwhile some background process is causing up the laptop to go as high as 93 Deg. C?

 

If that's possible? How can I monitor it and rectify it? Because I don't know what's causing it to happen.

 

So if my laptop usage for one of the core is 3.8 Ghz (Full Turbo), My Temp. for that core goes to 85-95 deg. C

[ajgamer1]

1 minute ago, O9B0666 said:

If you undervolt it your cpu won't get full boost speeds though simple as that. It's set to certain voltage for a reason. You want full speed don't undervolt. 

Even if I run on the full volt (without any undervolting) or in other words default. My CPU Core Speed max. is 3400 only (3.4 Ghz) it doesn't go to 3.8 Ghz in that case as well.

[Tabs]

40 minutes ago, MrFriendism said:

ls that also possible that the games aren't using all the cores at once and in the meanwhile some background process is causing up the laptop to go as high as 93 Deg. C?

 

If that's possible? How can I monitor it and rectify it? Because I don't know what's causing it to happen.

 

So if my laptop usage for one of the core is 3.8 Ghz (Full Turbo), My Temp. for that core goes to 85-95 deg. C

 

It's possible, but not as likely as the explanation that pushing both CPU and GPU load at once is pushing the limits of your thermal mass (heatsink/fan assembly), and it gets that hot during games because games are stressing both of the hottest components in your machine at the same time.

 

If a game only has one or two threads, you may see your cpu go above 3.4ghz if temperature and power limits allow. By undervolting, you have allowed the chip to reach higher speeds using less power, which is a net gain in performance in all situations - so long as the undervolt is stable.

 

The short answer is: you don't have to worry that your CPU and GPU get hot under full load. It is not throttling unless the speed drops below 2.8GHz; 3.4GHz isn't the base clock for your chip, so it's running cool enough to fully max out it's all-core boost profile. 

 

If your temperatures under full load (CPU and GPU) start to push to 100C, your CPU speed will drop incrementally until an equilibrium is reached. 

 

Just to clarify again: Your CPU is not throttling; it's working exactly as designed. It's just not always easy to explain it when intel markets it as "up to 3.8GHz", which is technically not wrong, but needs the explanation that it's only valid on one core, when power and thermals allow.

[ajgamer1]

2 minutes ago, Tabs said:

 

It's possible, but not as likely as the explanation that pushing both CPU and GPU load at once is pushing the limits of your thermal mass (heatsink/fan assembly), and it gets that hot during games because games are stressing both of the hottest components in your machine at the same time.

 

If a game only has one or two threads, you may see your cpu go above 3.4ghz if temperature and power limits allow. By undervolting, you have allowed the chip to reach higher speeds using less power, which is a net gain in performance in all situations - so long as the undervolt is stable.

 

The short answer is: you don't have to worry that your CPU and GPU get hot under full load. It is not throttling unless the speed drops below 2.8GHz; 3.4GHz isn't the base clock for your chip, so it's running cool enough to fully max out it's all-core boost profile. 

 

If your temperatures under full load (CPU and GPU) start to push to 100C, your CPU speed will drop incrementally until an equilibrium is reached. 

 

Just to clarify again: Your CPU is not throttling; it's working exactly as designed. It's just not always easy to explain it when intel markets it as "up to 3.8GHz", which is technically not wrong, but needs the explanation that it's only valid on one core, when power and thermals allow.

Thanks for the solid answer, This is one of the best explanations I have ever had. I have 2-3 things more to ask.

 

How can I limit my processor to go with 3400 (3.4 Ghz max for any number of cores and regardless of how many cores are active)?

 

Because right now, It can go to 3.8 (3800) and I want it to limit a bit to 3.4 for all so that it doesn't go as high as 90s temp.

 

The reason for doing so is because the lesser your temp. is the more your CPU's life is. I hope you might agree with it.

[Tabs]

1 minute ago, MrFriendism said:

Thanks for the solid answer, This is one of the best explanations I have ever had. I have 2-3 things more to ask.

 

How can I limit my processor to go with 3400 (3.4 Ghz max for any number of cores and regardless of how many cores are active)?

 

Because right now, It can go to 3.8 (3800) and I want it to limit a bit to 3.4 for all so that it doesn't go as high as 90s temp.

 

The reason for doing so is because the lesser your temp. is the more your CPU's life is. I hope you might agree with it.

In intel extreme tuning utility, you should be able to change all of the turbo ratios to 34. That will prevent the chip going past that speed under any circumstance, but it may depend on what functionality your motherboard exposes.

 

However, it's worth noting that a this will have a negligible effect on your temperatures, but may have a noticeable effect on single threaded or "bursty" applications. The reason is, frequency is a purely linear increase in heat output. Your temperatures now are with all cores at 3400 and fully loaded. Three cores at 3500, two at 3600 or one at 3800 will all use less power, and generate less heat, than 4 cores at 3400.

 

Therefore, your maximum temperatures under combined CPU and GPU load are not going to change even if you change your turbo boost profiles - unless you dropped it below 3.4.

 

It's why the turbo boost system is designed this way - even if you were heavily thermally constrained, you may still be able to boost to 3.8ghz on one core, because that will still be less heat output than two or more cores, even if they are running at a slower speed. This is almost universally true across all speed bins, so making the above change is only going to hurt your performance without impacting your temperatures.

 

You are correct that higher temperatures result in a lower life for your processor, in general. However, that's why all processors have a maximum die temperature they can safely run at - Intel is basically promising that so long as the chip (7700HQ in your case) doesn't go over 100C, it will have no reduced lifespan. That's why even at 95C it's still turbo boosting to the maximum available amount, instead of slowing down the CPU base speed of 2.8GHz. The specific figure is called "Tjunction" on the Ark page, and when it reaches this temperature the CPU will automatically slow down to keep from exceeding it. Intel basically guarantees that with 45W of cooling, the CPU can reach and sustain 2.8GHz at 100C or less. 

 

The only issue is that in laptops, the total cooling capacity of the heatsink is shared between many components that all generate heat, and so your temperatures, even though they are safe, will be higher when stressing more of your system at the same time.

[ajgamer1]

4 minutes ago, Tabs said:

In intel extreme tuning utility, you should be able to change all of the turbo ratios to 34. That will prevent the chip going past that speed under any circumstance, but it may depend on what functionality your motherboard exposes.

 

However, it's worth noting that a this will have a negligible effect on your temperatures, but may have a noticeable effect on single threaded or "bursty" applications. The reason is, frequency is a purely linear increase in heat output. Your temperatures now are with all cores at 3400 and fully loaded. Three cores at 3500, two at 3600 or one at 3800 will all use less power, and generate less heat, than 4 cores at 3400.

 

Therefore, your maximum temperatures under combined CPU and GPU load are not going to change even if you change your turbo boost profiles - unless you dropped it below 3.4.

 

It's why the turbo boost system is designed this way - even if you were heavily thermally constrained, you may still be able to boost to 3.8ghz on one core, because that will still be less heat output than two or more cores, even if they are running at a slower speed. This is almost universally true across all speed bins, so making the above change is only going to hurt your performance without impacting your temperatures.

 

You are correct that higher temperatures result in a lower life for your processor, in general. However, that's why all processors have a maximum die temperature they can safely run at - Intel is basically promising that so long as the chip (7700HQ in your case) doesn't go over 100C, it will have no reduced lifespan. That's why even at 95C it's still turbo boosting to the maximum available amount, instead of slowing down the CPU base speed of 2.8GHz. The specific figure is called "Tjunction" on the Ark page, and when it reaches this temperature the CPU will automatically slow down to keep from exceeding it. Intel basically guarantees that with 45W of cooling, the CPU can reach and sustain 2.8GHz at 100C or less. 

 

The only issue is that in laptops, the total cooling capacity of the heatsink is shared between many components that all generate heat, and so your temperatures, even though they are safe, will be higher when stressing more of your system at the same time.

Thanks again for the solid answer.  You have such an awesome information.

 

If you don't mind. As you might know already, I am new in all these things. Could you tell me.. Where in the XTU I should do the needful so that I can limit the Turbo Boosts?

 

Thanks.

[Tabs]

5 minutes ago, MrFriendism said:

Thanks again for the solid answer.  You have such an awesome information.

 

If you don't mind. As you might know already, I am new in all these things. Could you tell me.. Where in the XTU I should do the needful so that I can limit the Turbo Boosts?

 

Thanks.

Sorry, I had to install the utility and reboot to get a screenshot.

 

This is what you should change - assuming your board supports it. It's worth checking your temperatures before making the change, and after making the change, so you can determine for yourself whether it's worth the potential performance loss in light work applications.

 

 

[ajgamer1]

6 minutes ago, Tabs said:

Sorry, I had to install the utility and reboot to get a screenshot.

 

This is what you should change - assuming your board supports it. It's worth checking your temperatures before making the change, and after making the change, so you can determine for yourself whether it's worth the potential performance loss in light work applications.

 

 

Okay. I checked. It's coming as grayed. Why is that so? How can I do it?

 

 

[Tabs]

4 minutes ago, MrFriendism said:

Okay. I checked. It's coming as grayed. Why is that so? How can I do it?

 

It means that unfortunately you can't make that change using XTU. The official Intel guidelines for locked processors (locked meaning they cannot have their multipliers increased for the purpose of overclocking), is that no modification of turbo frequencies should be possible. 

 

However, motherboard vendors quickly realised that the processor cannot limit how far you reduce them (as it's required for turbo boost to work at all), it only prevents people increasing them.

 

You may still be able to make this change, but it depends whether your bios allows for manual changes to the turbo boost ratios. It's not a feature that's usually implemented in laptop firmware, since it rarely serves a practical benefit. 

[ajgamer1]

2 minutes ago, Tabs said:

It means that unfortunately you can't make that change using XTU. The official Intel guidelines for locked processors (locked meaning they cannot have their multipliers increased for the purpose of overclocking), is that no modification of turbo frequencies should be possible. 

 

However, motherboard vendors quickly realised that the processor cannot limit how far you reduce them (as it's required for turbo boost to work at all), it only prevents people increasing them.

 

You may still be able to make this change, but it depends whether your bios allows for manual changes to the turbo boost ratios. It's not a feature that's usually implemented in laptop firmware, since it rarely serves a practical benefit. 

Actually, I have Acer Predator 15. Acer has a highly active forum for themselves (my intention is not promotion). There people are very much into Undervolting and all this things because of the high temp.

 

Now, there is one person who is famously known for his skills with Acer Predator Laptops. He made a video with ThrottleStop.

 

I followed his videos and with the throttlestop I was actually able to limit the turbo boosts. How can I do it with the XTU?

 

Since, you know if ThrottleStop can? Somewhere XTU also can?

[Tabs]

Just now, MrFriendism said:

Actually, I have Acer Predator 15. Acer has a highly active forum for themselves (my intention is not promotion). There people are very much into Undervolting and all this things because of the high temp.

 

Now, there is one person who is famously known for his skills with Acer Predator Laptops. He made a video with ThrottleStop.

 

I followed his videos and with the throttlestop I was actually able to limit the turbo boosts. How can I do it with the XTU?

 

Since, you know if ThrottleStop can? Somewhere XTU also can?

It could simply be a limitation of XTU - I only have unlocked processors I've tested/used XTU on, so I've never run into this problem, but it certainly wouldn't surprise me if it's simply a limit imposed within XTU by Intel.

 

If the other application you mentioned has the ability to lock your ratios, it shouldn't cause any problems running it at the same time as XTU. You may still be able to change it in your bios, it might be worth checking.

[ajgamer1]

3 minutes ago, Tabs said:

It could simply be a limitation of XTU - I only have unlocked processors I've tested/used XTU on, so I've never run into this problem, but it certainly wouldn't surprise me if it's simply a limit imposed within XTU by Intel.

 

If the other application you mentioned has the ability to lock your ratios, it shouldn't cause any problems running it at the same time as XTU. You may still be able to change it in your bios, it might be worth checking.

Do you have a laptop or PC?

[Tabs]

2 minutes ago, MrFriendism said:

Do you have a laptop or PC?

I'm using a desktop, but I also have a few random laptops lying around. All of them are using Intel processors currently, because they have been purchased within the last few years and AMD has only recently begun to be competitive again.