[SOLVED] CPU clock speed drops to base

[PavanY]

I have an asus laptop i7-8750HQ and 1050ti. I play Valorant 720p at all low and still not hitting 120fps. When I launch game, CPU runs at around 3.6Ghz but after some time it drops to 2.2Ghz(base clock) . I use Ultimate performance battery mode and fans are set to max. I disable my antivirus while gaming and Nvidia control panel settings are also optimised. CPU temps are 80-90 and gpu is in 80s. There is no thermal throttling I checked using HWInfo.

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

Hey there,

Welcome to the Forum

So there's possibly a few things going on. Firstly how old is the laptop? A few years? 2018/19?
Have you been keeping it clean? Disassembling, cleaning out fans etc? If you haven't done that yet, or regularly, I'd start there. After just 6 months, the fans and the exhaust vents will clog up with dust, grit, and what will eventually look like little hairs. When that happens the fans struggle to dissipate the heat, and this can cause additional throttling, on top of already temp throttling from the CPU.

Are the 80-90c temps at 3.6ghz or base (2.2)? Either way, although you're thinking your CPU isn't throttling, I'm afraid it is, and that's why it goes to base. Lets say it's 3.6ghz at 90c. Your CPU has a max temp of 100c (Tjunction) before it should throttle (at least that's how intel sets it). Most manufacturers set an offset on T junction to maybe 97c or even 95c in some cases. So when your CPU hits 90c at any clockspeed (that's pretty close to 95c), it will immediately dial back to prevent it from shutting down. The manufacturers use this offset, because often the cooling system (heatsink pipes/fans) aren't sufficient for the CPU they are using.

With all of that said, there are a few things you can do which can/may help.

1. Do as outlined above. Disassemble your laptop (there may be guides for it, so post your exact laptop model so we can check). Take out the fans and clean them with a can of compressed air. Do the same with the exhaust grid/frames with the compressed air. make sure all the dust is blown out and they are clean before putting them back. By cleaning them regularly, the airflow whilst the fans are spinning will be much better with the hot air escaping as it should.

2. Get a good laptop cooling pad. This will help with temps, and reduce temps by maybe 5-10c at idle, and maybe 3-5c gaming. Airflow is everything in a laptop. With the cooling pad raising the rear of the laptop, more cool air can flow through intakes on the bottom of the laptop. Cooler air then goes through the heatpipes and fans, and further cools the CPU. You can test this effect by simply lifting the back of your laptop up whilst a heavy task is running and compare when it's not raised. You most likely will see a difference straight away.

3. Consider whilst disassembling, replacing the thermal paste on both your CPU and GPU. Your GPU temps are on the high side, as are your CPU temps. Replacing the thermal paste with good quality paste will reduce your temps massively, by maybe up to 10-15c depending on which paste you use. This is not an easy task, but certainly doable with enough research. Knowing the laptop model will help here to get the right resource to help you.

4. Consider undervolting your CPU. To undervolt you can use Throttlestop or Intel XTU. Essentially, you are reducing the voltage going to the CPU, this has a number of positive effects. It reduces the temp of the CPU over all, this allows the CPU to boost to higher speeds and for longer periods, all the while your temps are lower than they normally would be! It takes some tricking around, but again there are lots of guides for it. This is just an example : Undervolt i7 8750H with ThrottleStop - YouTube . TS is actually quite useful in many ways. It has a built in benchmark which pushes the CPU, and simultaneously you can watch the clock speed on the fly to see how it throttles.

Get back to us and fill in the blanks, and we can advise further.

 

[PavanY]

Hey there,

Welcome to the Forum

So there's possibly a few things going on. Firstly how old is the laptop? A few years? 2018/19?
Have you been keeping it clean? Disassembling, cleaning out fans etc? If you haven't done that yet, or regularly, I'd start there. After just 6 months, the fans and the exhaust vents will clog up with dust, grit, and what will eventually look like little hairs. When that happens the fans struggle to dissipate the heat, and this can cause additional throttling, on top of already temp throttling from the CPU.

Are the 80-90c temps at 3.6ghz or base (2.2)? Either way, although you're thinking your CPU isn't throttling, I'm afraid it is, and that's why it goes to base. Lets say it's 3.6ghz at 90c. Your CPU has a max temp of 100c (Tjunction) before it should throttle (at least that's how intel sets it). Most manufacturers set an offset on T junction to maybe 97c or even 95c in some cases. So when your CPU hits 90c at any clockspeed (that's pretty close to 95c), it will immediately dial back to prevent it from shutting down. The manufacturers use this offset, because often the cooling system (heatsink pipes/fans) aren't sufficient for the CPU they are using.

With all of that said, there are a few things you can do which can/may help.

1. Do as outlined above. Disassemble your laptop (there may be guides for it, so post your exact laptop model so we can check). Take out the fans and clean them with a can of compressed air. Do the same with the exhaust grid/frames with the compressed air. make sure all the dust is blown out and they are clean before putting them back. By cleaning them regularly, the airflow whilst the fans are spinning will be much better with the hot air escaping as it should.

2. Get a good laptop cooling pad. This will help with temps, and reduce temps by maybe 5-10c at idle, and maybe 3-5c gaming. Airflow is everything in a laptop. With the cooling pad raising the rear of the laptop, more cool air can flow through intakes on the bottom of the laptop. Cooler air then goes through the heatpipes and fans, and further cools the CPU. You can test this effect by simply lifting the back of your laptop up whilst a heavy task is running and compare when it's not raised. You most likely will see a difference straight away.

3. Consider whilst disassembling, replacing the thermal paste on both your CPU and GPU. Your GPU temps are on the high side, as are your CPU temps. Replacing the thermal paste with good quality paste will reduce your temps massively, by maybe up to 10-15c depending on which paste you use. This is not an easy task, but certainly doable with enough research. Knowing the laptop model will help here to get the right resource to help you.

4. Consider undervolting your CPU. To undervolt you can use Throttlestop or Intel XTU. Essentially, you are reducing the voltage going to the CPU, this has a number of positive effects. It reduces the temp of the CPU over all, this allows the CPU to boost to higher speeds and for longer periods, all the while your temps are lower than they normally would be! It takes some tricking around, but again there are lots of guides for it. This is just an example : Undervolt i7 8750H with ThrottleStop - YouTube . TS is actually quite useful in many ways. It has a built in benchmark which pushes the CPU, and simultaneously you can watch the clock speed on the fly to see how it throttles.

Get back to us and fill in the blanks, and we can advise further.

Thanks for your reply! I got my laptop cleaned a week ago and I made sure all the fans and heatsink are opened and cleaned and repasted using Thermal Grizzly. CPU and GPU temps max at 87 degrees now and the laptop is 3 years old.

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

Thanks for your reply! I got my laptop cleaned a week ago and I made sure all the fans and heatsink are opened and cleaned and repasted using Thermal Grizzly. CPU and GPU temps max at 87 degrees now and the laptop is 3 years old.

Okay, all good that you did those things. Grizzly is a great paste. If you haven't tried undervolting, then that and laptop cooler are the best chance of results from here.

With TS (Throttlestop) you can set specific clockspeed for different profiles. This can help with temps, in that you can expect certain temps at a certain clock. For example. I have 3 settings. One for 3.2ghz all core (cpu temp max 72c, another for 3.6ghz all core (cpu max temp 78-80c). 4ghz all core (cpu temp max 80-85c). So you can set the speed accordingly to the app/game your using. But the main benefit is as mentioned before. Reducing the voltage to CPU, thus reducing temps.

 

[PavanY]

Okay, all good that you did those things. Grizzly is a great paste. If you haven't tried undervolting, then that and laptop cooler are the best chance of results from here.

With TS (Throttlestop) you can set specific clockspeed for different profiles. This can help with temps, in that you can expect certain temps at a certain clock. For example. I have 3 settings. One for 3.2ghz all core (cpu temp max 72c, another for 3.6ghz all core (cpu max temp 78-80c). 4ghz all core (cpu temp max 80-85c). So you can set the speed accordingly to the app/game your using. But the main benefit is as mentioned before. Reducing the voltage to CPU, thus reducing temps.

How do I set clock speed with throttlestop? Any tutorial on that? When I start the game CPU is at 3.9 GHz at 75 deg. After 5 minutes, CPU drops to base clock at 80 degrees. I undervolted it at -100mv

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

How do I set clock speed with throttlestop? Any tutorial on that? When I start the game CPU is at 3.9 GHz at 75 deg. After 5 minutes, CPU drops to base clock at 80 degrees. I undervolted it at -100mv

You set clocks in FIVR, under turbo boost limits.

https://imgur.com/4XGuPxj

View: https://imgur.com/4XGuPxj


This is my mid temp speed. 3.6ghz on a 6 core processor with HT is ample to play even BF V with maxed out FPS. So that is my standard game setting. For ultimate FPS, i set those same clocks at 4ghz, which is my all core max boost on my I7 9750h. Temps at 3.6ghz typically stay about 80-83c after an hour or two of playing BF V. 45.ghz is my max boost on a single core, but at those temps, it rarely reaches that. So I use 4ghz as my max. Your all core max is 3.7ghz IIRC, so use that as your baseline and work back from there in terms of temps and how effective the CPU speed you choose is for your applications.

Guides:

The ThrottleStop Guide | NotebookReview

Need guidance undervolting i7 9750H with ThrottleStop | TechPowerUp Forums Some very relevant info in this thread, so read it through a few times and pick up some tips.

Here's another on TS with my CPU (which is essentially the same as your CPU). This one has unclewebb (TS author) responding directly and giving sound advice Undervolting i7 9750H | TechPowerUp Forums

Once you fully understand and follow the guidance, you will be able to increase your undervolt, and set clock limit to suit different apps, using different profiles.

 

[PavanY]

You set clocks in FIVR, under turbo boost limits.

https://imgur.com/4XGuPxj

View: https://imgur.com/4XGuPxj


This is my mid temp speed. 3.6ghz on a 6 core processor with HT is ample to play even BF V with maxed out FPS. So that is my standard game setting. For ultimate FPS, i set those same clocks at 4ghz, which is my all core max boost on my I7 9750h. Temps at 3.6ghz typically stay about 80-83c after an hour or two of playing BF V. 45.ghz is my max boost on a single core, but at those temps, it rarely reaches that. So I use 4ghz as my max. Your all core max is 3.7ghz IIRC, so use that as your baseline and work back from there in terms of temps and how effective the CPU speed you choose is for your applications.

Guides:

The ThrottleStop Guide | NotebookReview

Need guidance undervolting i7 9750H with ThrottleStop | TechPowerUp Forums Some very relevant info in this thread, so read it through a few times and pick up some tips.

Here's another on TS with my CPU (which is essentially the same as your CPU). This one has unclewebb (TS author) responding directly and giving sound advice Undervolting i7 9750H | TechPowerUp Forums

Once you fully understand and follow the guidance, you will be able to increase your undervolt, and set clock limit to suit different apps, using different profiles.

Thanks for the reply!! I am not able to adjust turbo ratio limits. Its locked. Any suggestions?

 

[PavanY]

You set clocks in FIVR, under turbo boost limits.

https://imgur.com/4XGuPxj

View: https://imgur.com/4XGuPxj


This is my mid temp speed. 3.6ghz on a 6 core processor with HT is ample to play even BF V with maxed out FPS. So that is my standard game setting. For ultimate FPS, i set those same clocks at 4ghz, which is my all core max boost on my I7 9750h. Temps at 3.6ghz typically stay about 80-83c after an hour or two of playing BF V. 45.ghz is my max boost on a single core, but at those temps, it rarely reaches that. So I use 4ghz as my max. Your all core max is 3.7ghz IIRC, so use that as your baseline and work back from there in terms of temps and how effective the CPU speed you choose is for your applications.

Guides:

The ThrottleStop Guide | NotebookReview

Need guidance undervolting i7 9750H with ThrottleStop | TechPowerUp Forums Some very relevant info in this thread, so read it through a few times and pick up some tips.

Here's another on TS with my CPU (which is essentially the same as your CPU). This one has unclewebb (TS author) responding directly and giving sound advice Undervolting i7 9750H | TechPowerUp Forums

Once you fully understand and follow the guidance, you will be able to increase your undervolt, and set clock limit to suit different apps, using different profiles.

I am not able to use turbo ratio limits. Instead I am using TPL to set min clock speed 2.3GHZ and max 2.6 GHZ with -130mv undervolting and turbo long power max at 26W. Game starts at 2.6 GHz(controlled using tpl) and 75 deg and when it reaches to 85 deg after 10 min, clock speed drops to 2.2 Ghz(base clock). Any suggestions?

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

hmmm. To me, there's something not right (obviously)!

At those low (base)speeds, your CPU should not be hitting anywhere in the 70/80 range. You might consider re-pasting again. If it's not done properly it could cause your issue.

What way did you use TPL to downclock, by using speed shift?

Your CPU at 25w shouldn't be getting so hot. Heck even at TDP down (35w) for your CPU, you should still be able to hit 3/3.2ghz with ease and temps staying in the 60-70 range.

I can only think it's a bogey fan, or as mentioned the re-pasting.

 

[PavanY]

hmmm. To me, there's something not right (obviously)!

At those low (base)speeds, your CPU should not be hitting anywhere in the 70/80 range. You might consider re-pasting again. If it's not done properly it could cause your issue.

What way did you use TPL to downclock, by using speed shift?

Your CPU at 25w shouldn't be getting so hot. Heck even at TDP down (35w) for your CPU, you should still be able to hit 3/3.2ghz with ease and temps staying in the 60-70 range.

I can only think it's a bogey fan, or as mentioned the re-pasting.

Yeah.. I think the paste works fine because previously ,CPU was running at 95+deg at 2.2 GHz while gaming .Now it is mid 80's. Fan speeds are fine in ROG Gaming center. I can actually hear fans ramping up when I game and lower when I stop gaming .

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

Yeah.. I think the paste works fine because previously ,CPU was running at 95+deg at 2.2 GHz while gaming .Now it is mid 80's. Fan speeds are fine in ROG Gaming center. I can actually hear fans ramping up when I game and lower when I stop gaming .

I wonder are the pipes/heatsink damaged? It's hard to know without disassembling it. That's the only other thing I can think of. Who did the cleaning for you? Local store?

Try disabling the ROG gamer, even uninstall and test again. Does the ROG software allow for different performance profiles?

 

[PavanY]

I wonder are the pipes/heatsink damaged? It's hard to know without disassembling it. That's the only other thing I can think of. Who did the cleaning for you? Local store?

Try disabling the ROG gamer, even uninstall and test again. Does the ROG software allow for different performance profiles?

I've got it cleaned from authorized service center, and engineer said nothing about any damage. ROG gaming center has no profiles. It just shows what are the CPU,GPU temps , fan speed

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

Hey there,

We're running out of options here. If it were me, and because your laptop is out of warranty, I would simply be taking it apart and checking for myself. That is literally the last thing you can do, or bring it back to service center. There is still something wrong.

Sorry I can't be more helpful.

As a last resort you might try a windows repair or re-install altogether to see if that works.