Question CPU Performance Being Limited Although Temperatures Are OK

Mar 15, 2023
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Prior to asking the question here is my system:

ASUS X556UQK
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-7500U CPU @ 2.70GHz 2.90 GHz
Intel(R) HD Graphics 620 + Intel(R) NVIDIA GeForce 940MX
12 GB RAM

So I just got my HDD replaced with a Samsung EVO 870 SSD 500 GB and then the following problem arose while playing different games. Normally I get around 150 FPS but after 2-3 minutes my FPS drops down to 5-6 for almost a minute. Prior to chaning my HDD, my FPS was around 70 and although it also dropped 5-10 when played a lot, i never experienced this before.

First, I though it was a thermal throttling issue and dowloaded SpeedFan to check if my temperatures were OK. I opened the game together with the task manager and speed fan. Normally my CPU is around 40% while gaming. Once the core temperatures get around 60 degrees the CPU suddenly drops to 13% and stays constant until temperatures drop once again to 35 degrees and rises back to 35-40% and this loops continues forever.

As far as I know 60 degrees is pretty low for this to happen considering that the maximum is 100 degrees (T-junction). I searched for some solutions on the internet but couldn't find anything useful (already tried playing with power settings, it didn't help).

I will try to replace my thermal paste and get a cooler maybe but I wasn't having this issue before chaning my SSD so I would be honored to hear your recommendations.

View: https://imgur.com/a/HPIPjSv
 
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Mar 15, 2023
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Mar 15, 2023
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So here is an update, it doesn't happen on 60 degrees but on 75, still annoying tho. Also, I believe I observed something important, it doesn't happen when I am on battery. I have less performance around 60 fps but no drops.
 
These CPUs have a low 15W TDP rating. At default settings, they are not designed for consistent long term performance while gaming. Power limit throttling is not temperature related.

Exit SpeedFan and exit the Task Manager. Download and learn to use ThrottleStop.


Post pictures of the TPL and FIVR windows so I can see what settings were left unlocked by the BIOS.

Avoid updating the BIOS. This often times will only make things worse.
 
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Dealman

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Speedfan is not an accurate way to measure temperatures. Get HWInfo instead:

Highly accurate and shows you all the stats you need to know and more.

Care to elaborate? They both poll the same sensors...? It's not like these softwares magically insert physical sensors on the CPU to read the temperatures. I would imagine SpeedFan, HWInfo64 and LibreHardwareMonitor all get these values the same way.
 

KyaraM

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Care to elaborate? They both poll the same sensors...? It's not like these softwares magically insert physical sensors on the CPU to read the temperatures. I would imagine SpeedFan, HWInfo64 and LibreHardwareMonitor all get these values the same way.
For one thing, because SpeedFan is almost 7 years out of date at this point and from my experience with it, getting accurate temperatures has always been a coin toss. SpeedFan can't really deal with temperature sensor drivers on new mainboards. People really should just let it die at this point. For fan control software, I personally use FanSpeed, which has a nicer, more modern user interface, and also reads out temperatures, naturally. From what I have observed, it comes pretty close to HWInfo and CoreTemp, so I fell it is rather trustworthy in that regard.

On the topic of HWInfo, it's professional grade software that is free to use for non-commercial purposes like monitoring your private rig. It is continually developed and highly trusted by pretty much anyone with a name in the business. Also, coupled with RTSS, it can give you a very nice overlay for temperature monitoring (also works with Afterburner, another good monitoring program).

For more info, also read here:
 

Dealman

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For one thing, because SpeedFan is almost 7 years out of date at this point and from my experience with it, getting accurate temperatures has always been a coin toss. SpeedFan can't really deal with temperature sensor drivers on new mainboards. People really should just let it die at this point. For fan control software, I personally use FanSpeed, which has a nicer, more modern user interface, and also reads out temperatures, naturally. From what I have observed, it comes pretty close to HWInfo and CoreTemp, so I fell it is rather trustworthy in that regard.

Ah, I was confusing SpeedFan and FanControl, my bad. I just gave SpeedFan a shot and yes, you are indeed correct - it reads my cores as being <10*c.

It's actually kind of funny because I've been working on my own program which poll these sensors and renders your temperatures in a customizeable overlay. So I'm rather curious as to how they've messed it up to show almost a 20 degree inaccuracy... They're just sensors, so SpeedFan must be doing some weird arithmetic shenanigans.

All that said then yes, I wholeheartedly agree to put SpeedFan in the bin and grab FanControl instead. (y)
 
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