Crazy CPU clock speed fluctuation

[scottjordantx]

I just got a brand new Acer Predator laptop that has a 1660 Ti, i7 9750H, 16Gb of RAM, and uses an SSD. This new laptop is the device causing my issues below.

Pre Story (there may be important information I don't know , you can skip to Current Issues if you'd like)
I first noticed problems when I launched CSGO for the first time and the mouse felt like there was a bit of input lag and I should be getting 300 plus frames in that game. My first thought was that Acer didn't install my GPU drivers and I checked for GeForce Experience and the computer already had it installed. In Geforce Experience I tried to update my graphics drivers and as soon as I hit the update button I got blue screened. Complete deletion and re-installation of Nvidia graphics drivers and two more blue screens later I managed to get everything back and verified that my default GPU is my 1660 Ti. I launched Far Cry 5 thinking that my problem would be solved but it's not, there's still input lag and occasional frame drops down to about 20 FPS. I decided to open the Resource Monitor found in Task Manager to see what culprit is casing me lag. What I found is that my dedicated GPU is definitely being used for the game and in fact never really hit 100% utilization probably due to me only playing on medium settings at 1080p.

Current Issues
None of my components were being fully utilized. What I did notice is that although the CPU usage was only sitting around 30% in game and about 5% as I'm writing this, my CPU Maximum Frequency was hovering around 140% to 150%. I did my research on the topic and decided there must be some default software that's trying to overclock my CPU so I thought maybe it's the performance-power savings bar that's integrated into Windows and sure enough if I turn it on any other setting but the top then CPU Maximum Utilization goes all the way down to 60%. I searched for any other default programs that could be overclocking my CPU I could not find one. I opened a program that came with my computer called "Predator Sense" and found the actual clocks of all of my different cores. My CPU at the time was running an average of about 4.1GHz and up to 4.25GHz which is crazy because my CPU is only supposed to run at 2.6GHz. As I'm writing this my CPU Maximum Utilization is rapidly all over the place between about 60%-120% on the top performance setting whereas my utilization is sitting pretty calmly at about 6%. Do I have a faulty power supply that cannot properly feed a consistent amount of power to my CPU? I'm completely lost at this point and I would rather not do anything that would void my warranty although it would be nice to fix this with software so that I don't have to send the laptop back and then wait until they get it so they can send me a replacement which would take a long time based on how long the initial delivery took.

About my response ability: I'm at school right now and I'll get out at 2:50 CST. After that I will be very busy until late at night but should be available later tonight and all of tomorrow. Thank you for the help SO MUCH!

 

[Eximo]

You have some very mistaken assumptions there. No idea how a CPU can run above 100%, so I can't fathom where that information came from.

2.6Ghz is the guaranteed base clock at a full load with temperature specifications. The CPU can and will run much faster as you have observed, as long as temperature allows.

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/u...9750h-processor-12m-cache-up-to-4-50-ghz.html

Many games do not utilize all available CPU cores. If the game engine runs on a single core, for example, you won't see 100% usage in games.

GPU settings, particularly in regards to V-sync, FreeSync, or G-Sync will lock the frame rate at the max refresh rate. So if you want your GPU to see a full load, turn off all syncing, it will then draw as many frames as possible.

You mentioned that you should have 300FPS in CS:GO, but not what you are actually seeing. FarCry 5 at medium settings 1080p I would expect more than 20FPS, but that isn't what you stated, only that you had 'lag' that showed 20FPS, what was the average.

As for the whole driver install thing, it can actually be wiser to stick with the OEM drivers. Sometimes they use custom ones to control laptop profiles. You can see if Acer offer's the original files. Typically, the latest from Nvidia should work properly though.


Throw Windows into maximum performance mode. Make sure the laptop has room to get air, and monitor temperatures. 1660Ti should be specified as your 'performance' GPU, this may mean setting up a profile for each game.

Try to be descriptive with your observations so it is more clear to those of us reading.

 

[scottjordantx]

You have some very mistaken assumptions there. No idea how a CPU can run above 100%, so I can't fathom where that information came from.

2.6Ghz is the guaranteed base clock at a full load with temperature specifications. The CPU can and will run much faster as you have observed, as long as temperature allows.

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/u...9750h-processor-12m-cache-up-to-4-50-ghz.html

Many games do not utilize all available CPU cores. If the game engine runs on a single core, for example, you won't see 100% usage in games.

GPU settings, particularly in regards to V-sync, FreeSync, or G-Sync will lock the frame rate at the max refresh rate. So if you want your GPU to see a full load, turn off all syncing, it will then draw as many frames as possible.

You mentioned that you should have 300FPS in CS:GO, but not what you are actually seeing. FarCry 5 at medium settings 1080p I would expect more than 20FPS, but that isn't what you stated, only that you had 'lag' that showed 20FPS, what was the average.

As for the whole driver install thing, it can actually be wiser to stick with the OEM drivers. Sometimes they use custom ones to control laptop profiles. You can see if Acer offer's the original files. Typically, the latest from Nvidia should work properly though.


Throw Windows into maximum performance mode. Make sure the laptop has room to get air, and monitor temperatures. 1660Ti should be specified as your 'performance' GPU, this may mean setting up a profile for each game.

Try to be descriptive with your observations so it is more clear to those of us reading.

Thanks for replying, I have it set on performance mode and running the 1660Ti. I’m aware that CPU’s are not supposed to run above 100% of their actual base clock but I’m saying there’s something wrong with the CPU or power supply because every software that I have that can check my base clock speed all check me in at about 4.1GHz give or take a little. It’s fluctuating a lot and I don’t know what could go wrong to cause that.

 

[scottjordantx]

Thanks for replying, I have it set on performance mode and running the 1660Ti. I’m aware that CPU’s are not supposed to run above 100% of their actual base clock but I’m saying there’s something wrong with the CPU or power supply because every software that I have that can check my base clock speed all check me in at about 4.1GHz give or take a little. It’s fluctuating a lot and I don’t know what could go wrong to cause that.

I should clarify, it’s not that my work load is in excess of 100%. As I stated in my original post my actual CPU utilization is not surpassing 30%. One of the softwares im using to monitor my CPU is advanced task manager in the performance tab then you press Resource Manager and at the top it will tell you both your CPU Usage (on the left) and CPU Maximum Utilization (on the right) it’s my Maximum Utilization that is way above 100% as if I’m overclocking the crud out of it.

 

[Eximo]

Thanks for replying, I have it set on performance mode and running the 1660Ti. I’m aware that CPU’s are not supposed to run above 100% of their actual base clock but I’m saying there’s something wrong with the CPU or power supply because every software that I have that can check my base clock speed all check me in at about 4.1GHz give or take a little. It’s fluctuating a lot and I don’t know what could go wrong to cause that.

Again, you are mistaken. Base clock, the lowest clock. 2.6Ghz up to 4.5Ghz. 4.5Ghz usually applies to a single core, 4.4 for two cores, and less as more cores are added to keep power requirements within limits.

Overclocking would be running the CPU above 4.5Ghz, or forcing to run 4.5Ghz constantly, against the rated design specifications. This would exceed the thermal design specified by Intel, and likely lead to rapid overheating. Why the K series CPUs exist.

 

[Eximo]

I should clarify, it’s not that my work load is in excess of 100%. As I stated in my original post my actual CPU utilization is not surpassing 30%. One of the softwares im using to monitor my CPU is advanced task manager in the performance tab then you press Resource Manager and at the top it will tell you both your CPU Usage (on the left) and CPU Maximum Utilization (on the right) it’s my Maximum Utilization that is way above 100% as if I’m overclocking the crud out of it.

You can safely ignore that tool. No idea what concept it is using to determine percentage use.

The computer doesn't 'know' how fast the CPU is running or how much is being used. That 100% comes from instructions being delayed, meaning no more CPU time available. Not possible to measure it above 100% unless you establish a baseline somewhere below the CPUs maximum capabilities.

 

[scottjordantx]

Again, you are mistaken. Base clock, the lowest clock. 2.6Ghz up to 4.5Ghz. 4.5Ghz usually applies to a single core, 4.4 for two cores, and less as more cores are added to keep power requirements within limits.

Overclocking would be running the CPU above 4.5Ghz, or forcing to run 4.5Ghz constantly, against the rated design specifications. This would exceed the thermal design specified by Intel, and likely lead to rapid overheating. Why the K series CPUs exist.

Thank you, do you have any idea why my PC is lagging so much? I definitely think it’s CPU lag I just don’t know what’s causing it.

 

[Eximo]

Monitor CPU temperatures.

Monitor storage performance.

Monitor memory usage.

Check all the default applications that came with the computer, remove any that you don't want or need. OEM software is often riddled with bugs and errors as they rush them to market.

OEM driver updates, computer likely sat in a box for many months, get the latest for the system. Often bugs get fixed while hardware is being assembled and boxed.

Beyond that, check your games for settings and faults.