[SOLVED] Does undervolting my GTX 1650 decrease the power limit consumption?

[samjr]

Does undervolting only decrease the temps or can reduce the power limit consumption as well?

I own Asus ROG Strix G531GT Laptop and noticed that my GPU (having TGP of 50W) always suffers from Power limit throttling. Now since I can't increase the TGP of the laptop, I was thinking whether undervolting the GPU will decrease its TGP consumption at all?

The GPU initially reaches the 1950Mhz but then hit the power limit and drops to 1750 Mhz and stays there. Temps stays around 60ish so that's not a problem for me, I might only undervolt if it will impact the TGP.

 

[JasonNs_]

Does undervolting only decrease the temps or can reduce the power limit consumption as well?

I own Asus ROG Strix G531GT Laptop and noticed that my GPU (having TGP of 50W) always suffers from Power limit throttling. Now since I can't increase the TGP of the laptop, I was thinking whether undervolting the GPU will decrease its TGP consumption at all?

The GPU initially reaches the 1950Mhz but then hit the power limit and drops to 1750 Mhz and stays there. Temps stays around 60ish so that's not a problem for me, I might only undervolt if it will impact the TGP.

Low power consumption = lower temps, also undervolting in some cases might cause instability, it's kinda weird your gpu is throttling at 60ish temp, I suggest you to download msi afterburner and see what's your maximum thermal limit before messing with the voltage.

 

[samjr]

Max temp limit is 85.
Playing any GPU intensive game like GTA 5 or watchdogs, it shows 'Power' in the Limit section of MSI afterburner OSD monitoring (and when this happens temps are around 60s).

Now my query is, whether I would be able to remove this limit by undervolting it [basically it will not reach the Total Graphic Power(TGP) limit and will not show 'Power' in Limit section of MSI OSD].

Thanks in advance!!

 

[InvalidError]

Now my query is, whether I would be able to remove this limit by undervolting it [basically it will not reach the Total Graphic Power(TGP) limit and will not show 'Power' in Limit section of MSI OSD].

Undervolting does not remove the power limit. It does make it more difficult for the GPU to reach the limit.

As Jason pointed out, lowering voltage may cause stability issues - if GPUs could predictably operate at full rated speed reliably at lower voltages under all operating conditions, they would run at that lower voltage out of the box.

Low power consumption = lower temps, also undervolting in some cases might cause instability, it's kinda weird your gpu is throttling at 60ish temp, I suggest you to download msi afterburner and see what's your maximum thermal limit before messing with the voltage.

He's running into POWER limit throttling, not thermal throttling. The GPU reaches the power limit it is set at before temperature ever becomes a concern.

 

[hotaru.hino]

Modern GPUs will boost until it hits a voltage, power, or thermal limit. Hitting a voltage or power limit is not a problem. It just means the GPU is operating at a design limit. Undervolting won't change this, because the GPU will still try to boost until it hits a limit.

 

[Phaaze88]

Undervolting can reduce power consumption and thermals, but it can also introduce performance and stability penalties - at least on cpus. It's a little different on Geforce.
Voltage control has been locked down big time on Nvidia's gpus since 10 series.

Spoiler

^THIS, the voltage/frequency curve is all the control we have on the gpu voltage.
We have the option to pick a voltage point and lock the card to never exceed it.
You're also penalized with a lower boost clock when selecting lower voltage points, but you do have the option to offset this by raising/lowering frequency at a selected voltage point, but then you're introducing instability, thus you have to go out of your way to test for stable operation.

Could be more trouble than it's worth. I'm still playing around with it myself.

 

[humbucker_blues]

Does undervolting only decrease the temps or can reduce the power limit consumption as well?

I own Asus ROG Strix G531GT Laptop and noticed that my GPU (having TGP of 50W) always suffers from Power limit throttling. Now since I can't increase the TGP of the laptop, I was thinking whether undervolting the GPU will decrease its TGP consumption at all?

The GPU initially reaches the 1950Mhz but then hit the power limit and drops to 1750 Mhz and stays there. Temps stays around 60ish so that's not a problem for me, I might only undervolt if it will impact the TGP.

Yes, undervolting WILL help with power limits - because you will be able to hit higher clock speeds at your power limit if you are running it on a lower voltage.

For example, say you can reach 900MHz at 1.1V before it runs into a 50W power limit. If you undervolt your card to 1.0V, you should then be able to hit 1000MHz before you are using 50W of power.

You can use MSI Afterburner OC Scanner tool, and it will automatically search for the lowest stable voltage at all frequencies. Easy as clicking a button and letting it do its thing for 10 minutes or so.

I am amazed so much bad info still gets passed around on undervolting in 2021. It's easy, the risks are minimal, and you will ultimately help your card last longer by stressing it with more power and higher temperatures.

As Jason pointed out, lowering voltage may cause stability issues - if GPUs could predictably operate at full rated speed reliably at lower voltages under all operating conditions, they would run at that lower voltage out of the box.

It's well known that CPU and GPU manufacturers don't set voltages on a per-card basis, because every bit of silicon is different. If they were to set voltages on the limit, a bunch of cards wouldn't be stable. So they set voltages so as to allow for as many chips to work as possible, while still keeping thermals and power consumption in check.

In every GPU I've undervolted, there has been a healthy margin of voltage to take away before you run into any instability issues.

 

[dotas1]

Yes, undervolting WILL help with power limits - because you will be able to hit higher clock speeds at your power limit if you are running it on a lower voltage.

For example, say you can reach 900MHz at 1.1V before it runs into a 50W power limit. If you undervolt your card to 1.0V, you should then be able to hit 1000MHz before you are using 50W of power.

You can use MSI Afterburner OC Scanner tool, and it will automatically search for the lowest stable voltage at all frequencies. Easy as clicking a button and letting it do its thing for 10 minutes or so.

I am amazed so much bad info still gets passed around on undervolting in 2021. It's easy, the risks are minimal, and you will ultimately help your card last longer by stressing it with more power and higher temperatures.

You make too many assumptions in order to make this work.

You don't know if the supposed GPU you undervolt can achieve 1000mhz (silicon lottery) and you don't know if it can be undervolted to 1.0 V @900Mhz (silicon lottery again). But even if both are achievable it doesn't HELP with the power limit. It won't change it but rather hit it again with better performance. So, NO, it doesn't HELP with the power limit.

I do agree that is something easy and helps with temps and performance, that's why I undervolted my 5700XT.

 

[humbucker_blues]

You make too many assumptions in order to make this work.

You don't know if the supposed GPU you undervolt can achieve 1000mhz (silicon lottery) and you don't know if it can be undervolted to 1.0 V @900Mhz (silicon lottery again). But even if both are achievable it doesn't HELP with the power limit. It won't change it but rather hit it again with better performance. So, NO, it doesn't HELP with the power limit.

I do agree that is something easy and helps with temps and performance, that's why I undervolted my 5700XT.

Mate...

Your response was incredibly pedantic. Almost like you cared more about the words used, than what help the OP would find useful with regard to dealing with power limits.

The OP asked if undervolting will help, and it will - the clock speed will be throttled less if the card is undervolted, and that is certainly helpful.

And I was plucking the numbers as an example. None of them were meant to be accurate. The point was, undervolting will allow the clock speed to go up. You have good silicon, it will be by a lot. Not so good silicon - not so much. But I have NEVER come across a CPU or GPU that can not be undervolted AT ALL.

CPU and GPU manufacturers don't use chips on the limit of the voltage range. If it needs 100% voltage to just be stable, it won't make it into any cards. Which is why I have never come across a CPU or GPU that can't be undervolted by a significant amount before running into any stability issues. There is almost invariably a decent margin with which to play with.

 

[dotas1]

Mate...

Your response was incredibly pedantic. Almost like you cared more about the words used, than what help the OP would find useful with regard to dealing with power limits.

The OP asked if undervolting will help, and it will - the clock speed will be throttled less if the card is undervolted, and that is certainly helpful.

And I was plucking the numbers as an example. None of them were meant to be accurate. The point was, undervolting will allow the clock speed to go up. You have good silicon, it will be by a lot. Not so good silicon - not so much. But I have NEVER come across a CPU or GPU that can not be undervolted AT ALL.

CPU and GPU manufacturers don't use chips on the limit of the voltage range. If it needs 100% voltage to just be stable, it won't make it into any cards. Which is why I have never come across a CPU or GPU that can't be undervolted by a significant amount before running into any stability issues. There is almost invariably a decent margin with which to play with.

My response was not pedantic in my opinion but I take that as a compliment, thank you!

As I clearly said in my answer, I do agree that it's something easy that helps with temps and performance.

I disagreed in the part that helps with the power limit. It doesn't. It helps with power CONSUMPTION.
Your numbers were never took as accurate, I just used them to make a point that they might not be achievable. What I forgot to comment on it was that sometimes you might have very small gains from undervolting if you get a bad silicon. So small that it won't make a real difference depending always the model of the card.
If you try undervolting an already low power GPU, your gains both in power and performance may be insignificant (because such GPUs don't perform well in the first place).