Question I can't unlock undervolting on my laptop's i7-7500U ?

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JVXE_

JVXE_

Jan 2, 2025
17
3
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Laptop model: HP ZBook 14u G4

Let's run thru everything I tried to unlock undervolting on my i7-7500U:

  1. Installed throttlestop. Doesn't work cause fivr options is locked
  2. Tried xtu, doesn't work cause not supported on non K cpus
  3. Tried and older version of xtu and just a blank screen when trying to access core voltage options
  4. Disabled TPM and Secure boot to see if that will maybe fix the solution in throttlestop
  5. Tried AATU (Universal x86 tuning utility)
  6. Tried following this video (
    View: https://youtu.be/0gMmfexcjNs
    )
Couldn't use that video cause The bios backup toolkit wasn't working and even WHEN I did backup the bios, the UEFI tool couldn't recognize the keywords "overclocking" (watch the first 10 mins for context fyi)

What I didn't do

  1. Downgrade the bios - Too much risks + chance to brick your bios.
Edit; Should've mentioned I disabled Windows Virtualization, Core Isolation, Hyper-V


How I use my laptop: When I use my laptop. 90% of the time it is plugged in. Obviously using something when it is charging creates heat (duh).
The reason why I do this is because for some reason, performance is EXTREMELY limited when not plugged in (even when disabling battery saver and using a high performance power plan)

When the laptop is being used w/o being plugged in, thermals are completely fine and normal.
 
Windows power management will operate at max performance on a laptop when plugged in.
When on battery, the clocks will be lowered and the integrated graphics will be used.
That is to conserve battery run time.

I suggest an easy test. Set windows power management to balanced and set the max cpu performance to 99% vs. 100%.
Run plugged in and see how you do.
 
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Hey there,

What temp is the CPU hitting? I'd suggest replacing the thermal paste with something like Noctua NT H2. It will drop your temps, hopefully enough to stop you from throttling. Your laptop is old enough, so it's prob got a lot of dust too. You can clear all of that when repasting.

Edit: If it has only one slot, swapping out the current 8gb for 16gb would be advisable too. Not completely necessary, but advisable.
 
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Roland Of Gilead said:
Hey there,

What temp is the CPU hitting? I'd suggest replacing the thermal paste with something like Noctua NT H2. It will drop your temps, hopefully enough to stop you from throttling. Your laptop is old enough, so it's prob got a lot of dust too. You can clear all of that when repasting.

Edit: If it has only one slot, swapping out the current 8gb for 16gb would be advisable too. Not completely necessary, but advisable.
Click to expand...
On battery hits about 80 - 85c under load, while plugged in it hits about 90 - 100c. I've cleaned the laptop and replaced the thermal paste a month ago (replaced it with thermal grizzly). The laptop also has 8x2 ddr4. I am prob going to open it again and reapply paste
 
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geofelt said:
Windows power management will operate at max performance on a laptop when plugged in.
When on battery, the clocks will be lowered and the integrated graphics will be used.
That is to conserve battery run time.

I suggest an easy test. Set windows power management to balanced and set the max cpu performance to 99% vs. 100%.
Run plugged in and see how you do.
Click to expand...
https://imgur.com/a/pOfJ4Uh
View: https://imgur.com/a/pOfJ4Uh

Like this?
 
JVXE_ said:
On battery hits about 80 - 85c under load, while plugged in it hits about 90 - 100c. I've cleaned the laptop and replaced the thermal paste a month ago (replaced it with thermal grizzly). The laptop also has 8x2 ddr4. I am prob going to open it again and reapply paste
Click to expand...
Spread it across the whole die. Don't use the pea size method, as often it doesn't give full coverage. TG is good enough. Be sure to tighten the heat pipes in a criss cross fashion, from one corner to the opposite. Tighten it well, but not too tight. Maybe, a quarter turn past tight.

When you take the pipes off to re-apply, did you notice a bad spread on the paste? with gaps?
 
Yes I did. (sorry for late reply). I changed the thermal paste (again) today and still no result. It still spikes to 90c under load, thermal throttles, then hits like 95 and I shut down the system (Note: this only happens when PLUGGED in and using the laptop. It doesen't spike when it is not charging. ALSO the charger I'm using isn't OEM. So IDK if that also could be the problem)
 
JVXE_ said:
Yes I did. (sorry for late reply). I changed the thermal paste (again) today and still no result. It still spikes to 90c under load, thermal throttles, then hits like 95 and I shut down the system (Note: this only happens when PLUGGED in and using the laptop. It doesen't spike when it is not charging. ALSO the charger I'm using isn't OEM. So IDK if that also could be the problem)
Click to expand...
On plugged in, set the max power to 99%, not 100%.
See how you do.
 
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geofelt said:
Yes, in power plan settings, advanced options.
The effect is to disable overclocking .
The default for on battery does just that.
Click to expand...
Another I've noticed is that the temps are EXTREAMLY random. Some times they'll stay at 80c - 85 and randomly spik up to 98c!?
 
Laptops can never effectively cool a fully loaded CPU so they resort to thermal throttling to keep things in check. The only clock speed that is guaranteed under load is the base frequency (and that is determined by the configured TDP) and depending on the platform it is installed in oftentimes even that cannot be sustained in longer workloads. In other words, the behaviour you are seeing is normal.
 
JVXE_ said:
Another I've noticed is that the temps are EXTREAMLY random. Some times they'll stay at 80c - 85 and randomly spik up to 98c!?
Click to expand...
This is also normal, a laptop CPU cooler has very little little thermal mass so temps will swing wildly. A combination of clockspeed and voltage variations contains these swings, the fan ramping handles the slower or long term heat trend.
 
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CelicaGT said:
Laptops can never effectively cool a fully loaded CPU so they resort to thermal throttling to keep things in check. The only clock speed that is guaranteed under load is the base frequency (and that is determined by the configured TDP) and depending on the platform it is installed in oftentimes even that cannot be sustained in longer workloads. In other words, the behaviour you are seeing is normal.
Click to expand...
I still think 100c after 30mins are playing is kind of mad. Is there no way to fix it. What about a laptop cooler. I'm prob gonna order some stuff at the end of the year from amazon so knowing a decent laptop cooler would be appreciated 🙏
 
JVXE_ said:
I still think 100c after 30mins are playing is kind of mad. Is there no way to fix it. What about a laptop cooler. I'm prob gonna order some stuff at the end of the year from amazon so knowing a decent laptop cooler would be appreciated 🙏
Click to expand...
In my experience a laptop cooler will do little to bring CPU temps down as it will just clock higher with the wee bit of extra headroom it is given. Keep in mind it's designed to run this way. Now, that doesn't mean these coolers are useless, they are very good at bringing case temps down which can greatly assist in battery and secondary component longevity. I've had laptops and I've had laptops, they all exhibit this behaviour to varying degrees. Even the much vaunted Apple M series CPU's control heat in this manner. I'm typing this on an M3 Air and it throttles HARD under heavy load being passively cooled. What's even more scary is that it often exceeds 100C for long periods of time, especially when gaming.

My advice is to get the cooler if you wish, and just run the machine. You've cleaned and repasted so there's not much else to do besides keeping it clean and well maintained. These types of laptops are not very configurable so it kinda is what it is.

I should mention that geofelts suggestion of limiting CPU power from within the power plan is not without merit. I used to do this on my old gaming laptop with an i7 6700HX (or whatever it was) but it was a sort of balancing act between heat and performance that I ended up leaving to the system ultimately. By limiting CPU power in this manner I could bring temperature down but it also limited the CPU's ability to clock up quickly if and when there was the thermal/power budget to do so, thus reducing overall performance. In gaming this resulted in CPU induced stuttering that I couldn't stand.
 
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CelicaGT said:
In my experience a laptop cooler will do little to bring CPU temps down as it will just clock higher with the wee bit of extra headroom it is given. Keep in mind it's designed to run this way. Now, that doesn't mean these coolers are useless, they are very good at bringing case temps down which can greatly assist in battery and secondary component longevity. I've had laptops and I've had laptops, they all exhibit this behaviour to varying degrees. Even the much vaunted Apple M series CPU's control heat in this manner. I'm typing this on an M3 Air and it throttles HARD under heavy load being passively cooled. What's even more scary is that it often exceeds 100C for long periods of time, especially when gaming.

My advice is to get the cooler if you wish, and just run the machine. You've cleaned and repasted so there's not much else to do besides keeping it clean and well maintained. These types of laptops are not very configurable so it kinda is what it is.

I should mention that geofelts suggestion of limiting CPU power from within the power plan is not without merit. I used to do this on my old gaming laptop with an i7 6700HX (or whatever it was) but it was a sort of balancing act between heat and performance that I ended up leaving to the system ultimately. By limiting CPU power in this manner I could bring temperature down but it also limited the CPU's ability to clock up quickly if and when there was the thermal/power budget to do so, thus reducing overall performance. In gaming this resulted in CPU induced stuttering that I couldn't stand.
Click to expand...
It is a bit frustrating considering that I can't really play any esports titles. The cpu is already not strong + adding thermal throttling makes it even worse. This CPU should be getting AT LEAST 90+ FPS on Valorant on low - medium settings however it throttles hard AF and dips down to <60. Either that or it just shuts down after hitting 100c. The only thing I can think of that will fix it is to make the CPU perform at it's best WITHOUT it being plugged in. However I am not sure how to do that. ALSO this sht laptop hits 95c when using it while charging and doing basic sht. Even now when I'm typing it's 90c. That makes no sense to me
 
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JVXE_ said:
It is a bit frustrating considering that I can't really play any esports titles. The cpu is already not strong + adding thermal throttling makes it even worse. This CPU should be getting AT LEAST 90+ FPS on Valorant on low - medium settings however it throttles hard AF and dips down to <60. Either that or it just shuts down after hitting 100. The only thing I can think of that will fix it is to make the CPU perform at it's best WITHOUT it being plugged in. However I am not sure how to do that
Click to expand...
With lower settings you are putting more load on the CPU. Now I'm assuming this machine has a discreet GPU based on the configurations I found (AMD FirePro). The implication in your earlier post was that you were shutting the machine/game down. Is it shutting down on its own? If this is the case then indeed there could be an issue, possibly with power delivery as the CPU should be able to throttle down low enough to manage heat, even with no heatsink installed. Does your aftermarket power supply match or exceed the capacity of the original? It should or you may run into issues. In light of this, I suggest playing around with geofelts suggestion. Yes, you will lose performance as you are very, very likely CPU limited in all situations. You will gain stability and more consistent frame rates in exchange.
 
CelicaGT said:
With lower settings you are putting more load on the CPU. Now I'm assuming this machine has a discreet GPU based on the configurations I found (AMD FirePro). The implication in your earlier post was that you were shutting the machine/game down. Is it shutting down on its own? If this is the case then indeed there could be an issue, possibly with power delivery as the CPU should be able to throttle down low enough to manage heat, even with no heatsink installed. Does your aftermarket power supply match or exceed the capacity of the original? It should or you may run into issues. In light of this, I suggest playing around with geofelts suggestion. Yes, you will lose performance as you are very, very likely CPU limited in all situations. You will gain stability and more consistent frame rates in exchange.
Click to expand...
Either of 1 of the other. (also I mistakenly said that my PSU itself is not OEM, it just the POWER CABLE to the PSU that's not OEM, MB) Either I shut it down or sometimes after like 30mins of playing a game it shuts down it self. After powering on it gives me a message saying that the device overheated before booting in windows. Should I rather set maximum processor state to 85% rather than 99%? Surprisingly the only game that doesn't overheat and plays at 60+ fps is mc, both with it being plugged in and w/o





PS: It does indeed have a Firepro GPU (crappy ik but its prob more than enough for valorant and maybe overwatch 2)
ALSO this crap laptop hits 95c when using it while charging and doing basic stuff. Even now when I'm typing it's 90c. That makes no sense to me
 
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Depending how bad your laptops cooling is undervolting may reduce temperature and or increase max frequency. Would you post a manufacturers link to your current BIOS?

99% max usually means Windows disables turbo boost leaving your laptop to run at HFM aka base clock. Check CPU performance with a benchmark. For instance CPUZ will show CPU frequency and can run a simple bench to get some idea.
 
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_D_D said:
Depending how bad your laptops cooling is undervolting may reduce temperature and or increase max frequency. Would you post a manufacturers link to your current BIOS?

99% max usually means Windows disables turbo boost leaving your laptop to run at HFM aka base clock. Check CPU performance with a benchmark. For instance CPUZ will show CPU frequency and can run a simple bench to get some idea.
Click to expand...
I WOULD want to undervolt, however I legit can't with this laptop. I tried everything I could find/think of and nothing worked. The only thing I can think of is downgrading my BIOS. However HP doesn't have older versions of bios on the website + it's risky AF


EDIT: Ran the benchmark at it capped my temps at about 65c @2.90 ghz. But temps was increasing quite a bit (from 40 when I powered it on all the way to 65 in 1 minute)
 
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