CPU core frequency.

[iBlitz Bot]

Hey!
So i recently have been experiecing some lag input and mini freezes on my laptop and i believe that i found what is causing it. Note that this only happens in heavy tasks like gaming. My CPU can't keep the 3.4 Ghz boost clock when above like 50% usage wich is odd. The max temp was 60 ºC and when i try to game or render something it goes instantly to 1.6 Ghz (Base clock). My Cinebench score is 303Cb when everyone is getting a near 600cb score with this CPU without any tweaking. I tried formating twice and move around with Intel Extreme Tuning Tool but still couldn't fix it.
CPU: i5-8250u
GPU: Nvidia Geforce 940MX 2GB
SSD: Samsung PM961 NVMe PCIe M.2 256GB
RAM: 8GB DDR4 2400Mhz

Can anyone help me with this?
Thank you all for your time!

 

[Eximo]

Re-apply thermal paste, clean all the heatsinks, check the fan for smooth operation. You can usually get replacement fans for laptops from the manufacturer or refurbished ones online if it has gone bad.

 

[Solandri]

Make sure the power mode (right-click battery icon -> power options) is balanced or high performance. I would recommend balanced, use high performance only for testing.

Are you using the original AC adapter? If it can't provide enough power for the CPU and GPU under load, the laptop will auto-throttle to keep power usage under what's being provided. Speaking of which, I'm assuming you're testing with the AC adapter plugged in?

Also, Nvidia introduced some power management utility a couple years ago which tries to scale your laptop's performance based on what it thinks you're trying to do. I don't remember the name of it and have to get going so can't look it up. I had to disable it to get full performance from my games on my laptop. All in all it was more trouble than help.

 

[Eximo]

You might be referring to Nvidia Optimus, usually a helpful program for deciding which GPU to use for specific titles. When traveling I like to play a lot of older titles and don't need my GT740m to run them.

Power brick and/or battery is actually a good suggestion. Failures there can put the computer into low power mode.

 

[iBlitz Bot]

I am using the original AC adapter and the high performance mode for these tests so i guess thats not the problem. I bought this in november and its pretty difficult to acess the CPU. I'm actualy pretty scared to unmount this thing because it's the only laptop that i have and i need it for university work. I'll look into Nvidia Optimus. Thank you for the quick response guys!

 

[Solandri]

Found it. It's an adaptive power mode setting in the Nvidia options. If your framerate is high, it dynamically tweaks up the graphics settings. If your framerate is low, it dynmaically lowers them to increase fps. Completely renders any benchmarking software useless.

https://www.reddit.com/r/nvidia/comments/6wyf9v/power_mode_nvidia_driver_controlled_is_a_real_gem/?st=jd3c0qsv&sh=f9f24523

Unfortunately I can't help with which setting you should use, since Windows 10 insisted on overwriting my vendor-provided graphics drivers with generic Win10 ones, and I no longer have the Nvidia Control Panel.

The first laptop I had had a defective Nvidia GPU which would get stuck at its lowest clock speed immediately after it ramped up to full speed. The vendor determined that couldn't be fixed and I had to do a return and exchange. But you're talking about the CPU, not the GPU right? Sounds like your turbo boost is being disabled any time the processor is under load. A quick search for that problem didn't turn up any solutions, but did find one other report of the same problem.

https://askubuntu.com/questions/972556/turbo-boost-keeps-disabling-itself

Try updating the BIOS. Automatically disabling CPU features to save power on a laptop is usually controlled by the BIOS. Also try a different program to check your CPU temps. Not all utilities do it the same way, and it's possible the one you're using hasn't been updated to monitor the latest Kaby/Coffee Lake CPUs correctly. Turbo boost will shut off if you exceed a temperature threshold.