[SOLVED] Gaming Laptop Performance Optimisation

[Budgeteer_262]

Hi All,

I just got my first gaming laptop, and having only ever built performance orientated desktops, I am used to having a lot of control over my voltages on clocks, voltages and fan speeds on my systems.

However, with my new Acer Nitro 5 I don't (yet) know how to set a custom fan curve or to control my voltages on the CPU or GPU.

I've been trying to optimize my Laptop for maximum performance but have had some issues because of the above.

I've been running Assassins Creed Odyssey benchmark but I'm not getting 100% utilisation on my GPU or CPU.

I've maxed out and removed all the laptop power saving options (windows 11) and also preferred max performance in Nvidia control panel, and running benchmarks while plugged in.

I also ensured that it's not using integrated graphics for the Benchmark and installed the latest GeForce and AMD chipset drivers.

While the benchmark was running, CPU and GPU were both around 70% utilisation. However, I don't think the GPU was throttling as it was at about 68* and at about 1900mhz (i think that's the max turbo.) The CPU went up to about 85* and also turbos fully to 3.7Ghz, but still no 100% utilisation.

If thermal throttling is the issue, how do I increase the throttle threshold? Alternatively, can I undervolt my Ryzen 5 3550h? Theoretically, this would reduce heat at the same clock and allow for a higher % utilisation? Ryzen Master says my GPU is not supported, probably because it is locked.

Or, is this a Ryzen bug with Windows 11? I just updated the latest chipset drivers and am running 10.0.22000 Build of W11. Is windows game mode a hinderance or a benefit? (conflicting sources)

Also, my GTX 1650m seems to have a little thermal overhead which I would like to use so if anyone knows how to get voltage control in msi afterburner I would also be grateful. (I can change clock but not core voltage) . No point of that though if it wont 100% utilise.

Also, I only have generic fan profiles with acer software but would like a custom fan curve. Speed fan won't work and and neither will MSI afterburner. Anyone know how I get that control?

There are a lot of these issues so I am also looking into a custom bios. This Acer Nitro 5-43 (R5 3550h and GTX 1650M and 8GB 2400MHZ) runs an Insyde h20 bios. Apparently there's a way to unlock hidden controls without a mod for this bios? If not, how do I mod this bios to unlock gpu voltage, cpu voltage, fan control, ram xmp overclock and cpu clock? FYI, it may be possible to change locked CPU multiplier from the OS if overclocking is enabled in the bios.

Additionally, while 8GB of RAM should be enough to run Assassins Creed Odyssey, can I cut down on hardware reserved and system ram usage by reducing the vram I assign to the integrated Vega 8 in the bios so there's more for the game? I'm asking becuase iGPU uses RAM for VRAM. Or will it auto reassign when GTX 1650 is being used?

Disclaimer: I would only ever ask about doing overclocking, undervolting and bios mods if I was aware of the risks and was willing to proceed, which I am.

I know that I'm asking about a range of issues and niche fields so feel free to just address the part of the post you understand.

Thanks

 

[sizzling]

Is that 1x8gb RAM? Single channel ram vs dual channel will limit gaming performance. Also total cpu usage is fairly meaningless, it’s possible for a single core/thread to be close to 100% and limit performance while other cores/threads are running much lower. Try monitoring all cores and threads.

 

[Budgeteer_262]

It's 2X4GB Modules . I assume it's in dual channel because it would be cheaper for Acer to put in 1X8GB if there was no benefit from two modules anyway. No way to confirm in the bios yet.

I've rerun a benchmark on Assassins Creed Odyssey at the High preset @ 1080p and I'm getting 41 FPS. Having monitored all of the CPU threads, they're all between 80-50% with none of them reaching 90%. The CPU was at around 78* on this run. I'm not sure what this really means. Again, GPU was around 70-60% at around 67*.

Given that the CPU is supposedly the bottleneck, that would explain why GPU utilisation is not at 100%. Increasing CPU utilisation may increase GPU utilisation?

I also checked using GPUID and my GTX1650 m appears to be the 40w variant because it says that it is 12nm rather than the 14nm of the 50W variant.

On the loading screen for the benchmark, some of the CPU cores are able to reach 100% alongside the GPU also close to 100%, but not in the benchmark itself. API issue? I think that Assassins Creed Odyssey only runs on Vulcan?

 

[geofelt]

Temper your expectations.

I see many complaints about gaming laptops not performing well.
Usually gaming while plugged in.
One common cause is thermal throttling.
Laptop coolers must, of necessity be small and light.
The coolers are also relatively underpowered.
If you run an app such as HWMonitor or HWinfo, you will get the current, minimum, and maximum cpu temperatures.
For amd processors, if you see a max of 90c(?) in red it suggests that you have throttled.
The cpu will lower it's multiplier and power draw to protect itself
until the situation reverses.
At a lower multiplier, your cpu usage may well be at 100%
What can you do?
First, see that your cooler airways are clear and that the cooler fan is spinning.

You do not really want to see your cpu and gpu both running at 100%
That would mean that there is no extra capability to handle peak demands and stuttering will result.
Then, also a game will alternate between being cpu limited for a few momentsw and then become gpu limited.

Overclocking is fruitless on a laptop.
Even if it were possible, the coolers are not robust enough to handle anything more than the supplied components.

It is counter-intuitive, but, try changing the windows power profile advanced functions to a max of 90% instead of the default of 100% and see how you do.
You may not notice the reduced cpu performance.

If you are running plugged in, the windows balanced power profile should select the discrete graphics adapter and not the cpu integrated adapter.

If you will be running a game alone, 16gb should be fine.
If you are also running other apps then, it might not be enough.
Check the resource monitor/memory tab and look at the hard fault page rate.
If you see anything north of zero, you need more ram.

 

[Budgeteer_262]

You're right in saying that I need more ram. The resource monitor fault rate was above zero and I also get sudden FPS drops to 10FPS for a few seconds in a variety of games which almost always run above 60fps.

I have also discovered that my bios reserves 2gb ram (I have 8gb total in dual channel) for the iGPU. After monitoring game stats, I can see that my RAM usage never exceeds 5.5gb ram. This confirms that games can't "borrow" the last 2gb of ram from the iGPU, even when it is idling (while I use integrated gtx 1650 ) and using a tiny fraction of the 2gb that has wastefully been assigned to it.

I could buy a 16gb ram kit but that seems a bit of a waste given that I have 2gb of ram doing absolutely nothing in my PC as it is, and because that would be a victory for the geniuses at acer who caused the problem in the first place
I'd like to ask someone on the mod forums to help me fix this iGPU vram issue however I don't know how to create a bios dump file (extact the bios) in order for them to take a look and mod it. I've tried hard to find a way to extract a bios dump file but i still have no idea.

Can anyone help me extract my Insyde h20 bios image?