Question Is it worth to upgrade to dual-channel, 3200MHz for better iGPU performance?

[Myronazz]

I have an HP laptop with single-channel 8GB memory, running at around 2200MHz if memory of the label serves. The model is HP 15 dw1200na. That should give a full range of specs.

I want to emulate Mario Kart Wii. It runs it at around 55fps/vps which appears to be enough, but it isn't because I want to play on Wiimmfi, which prohibits emulators running on anything less than 60fps.

So, I want to invest in a 3200MHz dual-channel memory kit. But will that improve the performance to a good degree? A 5fps improvement isn't enough. I need to have headroom so it never drops below 60fps, so if replacement memory doesn't achieve that, it isn't worth it.

Furthermore, is my laptop even compatible with that speed?

Thank you.

 

[BurningSoul]

I would suggest buying new memory will not solve your problem.
Your game will be either CPU or GPU limited - you can easily check this by playing Mario, have task manager running in background and afterwards check which one was used at 100%
In either case, I am afraid the answer will be buying a new better laptop/PC as the CPU or GPU cannot be upgraded.

 

[geofelt]

Crucial can check to see what compatible upgrades may be applicable to you:

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Changing to dual channel ram greatly increases effective ram speed, and would also help integrated graphics performance.
Certainly would not hurt.

But, your Celeron N4020 processor is abysmally slow and may well be your limiting factor.

 

[Myronazz]

Ah, I'm so sorry for not replying. I didn't get notifications for some reason.

Your game will be either CPU or GPU limited - you can easily check this by playing Mario, have task manager running in background and afterwards check which one was used at 100%
In either case, I am afraid the answer will be buying a new better laptop/PC as the CPU or GPU cannot be upgraded.

My CPU is fast enough to emulate PowerPC, at least for the Dolphin emulator. The problem is graphics. It isn't fast enough to render them. RAM matters for iGPUs.

Changing to dual channel ram greatly increases effective ram speed, and would also help integrated graphics performance.
Certainly would not hurt.

But, your Celeron N4020 processor is abysmally slow and may well be your limiting factor.

I don't have a Celeron. I have an i5 8125u. But that isn't your fault. I put the model number down the wrong way! Whoops... it's a dw0012na. Not a dw1200na. I'll update the original post to reflect this.

In any case, it appears that my processor is limited to 2400MHz memory speed. Which is a huge shame... How much of a difference would dual-channel memory make? I guess it comes down to that.

 

[geofelt]

On a laptop, you need to play while plugged in.
Otherwise performance is reduced to conserve battery life.

Since IGPU relys on system ram, making your ram operate in dual channel mode is about all you can do.
Laptop ram is not particularly expensive.
There may be settings available to increase the amount of ram available for the IGPU to use; that is also a good thing to do if possible.

 

[Myronazz]

Actually, to verify my claims (A lot of the times I'm wrong) I did some testing as @BurningSoul suggested.

Here is the game. It's mostly okay (55 fps, 55 vps) but it struggles and that's not allowed in Wiimmfi:

Now here are some measurements:

Ignore how it says that Cinnamon (the desktop environment) takes more GPU power than Dolphin. It spikes like that when I take a screenshot. With Dolphin off, the Render/3d Engine is at 4% usage. So Dolphin uses about 80% of the GPU.

The CPU doesn't boost to 3.9 GHz like its supposed to. It mostly floats at around 2.8GHz to 3.0GHz, with around 30% CPU usage. Is it throttling? I don't think so as the temps are 80C max. 100C is the critical temp.

So I ran an intense CPU-encoded x264 video stream to /dev/null. And now unlike with Dolphin, CPU usage is at 100%

But despite this, the CPU STILL doesn't boost to 3.9 GHz:

Temps are:

Which is 20C below critical, so why's it throttling? I think my CPU governor is playing games with me...

So is this the problem? I don't think so because with Dolphin, it doesn't hit 100% usage, so I don't think that it stresses the CPU as much as the x264 video encode.

I hate how laptop manufacturers prioritize looks over functionality. My laptop is thin but it can't freaking cool itself!

 

[geofelt]

I note in your listings that the high core temperature was 100c.
That is the throttle point for Intel processors.
I suspect that you are throttling.
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%
Not much you can do about that except to verify that the cooling airways are clear and that the cooling fan is running.

Use a windows balanced power profile, not the performance profile.
Set a minimum cpu performance to something like 20%

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

 

[Myronazz]

It is counter-intuitive, but, try changing the windows balanced power profile advanced functions to a max of 90% instead of the default of 100%

I'm not using Windows, I'm using Linux. Sorry... should have mentioned it from the beginning.

The 100C highs you are seeing aren't "Max temps" like you would see in HWMonitor for example. They just report what the highest possible temp is. It's always 100C because it isn't a stat, but information. I've seen my CPU go to 95C but that's only because the fans take a while to kick in. Once they do, it stays at around 80-90C, which is safe.

My processor's scaling is controlled by a Linux driver known as intel_pstate. This has power profiles similar to Windows, known as governors. I checked the governor and it was powersave mode. I set it to performance to see if it would boost to 3.9GHz but it didn't.

I've had terrible luck with intel_pstate. In one of my old i3 laptops, it throttled my 1.4Ghz to 600Mhz!!!! It was crazy and once I replaced it with acpi-cpufreq, it worked much better (And I could make it go above safe temps, but don't tell anyone).

I'll disable intel_pstep and configure acpi-cpufreq and see if I can get it to boost higher.

 

[geofelt]

Sorry, I do not have the expertise to help you with linux.

 

[Myronazz]

After messing around for a few hours installing the cpufreq scaling driver, disabling Intel powerclamps, and trying to figure out why my system won't boost to 3.9 GHz, I figured it out. I am being power limited by my motherboard's Embedded Controller during heavy loads. But it will boost to 3.9 GHz when loads are not heavy, which is strange. Why would I need my clock to boost that high when I don't need it to...?

Here is the laptop not being stressed. You can see the clocks jump around 3.8GHz as advertised:

Now here is the laptop being stressed:

For a while after the stress test starts, the CPU power is around 30W. But then the power limitter kicks in and it drops to 17.5W and the CPU clock is set to 2.4GHz, which is a real shame. I'm not sure there is a way around this since its hardware-imposed. Or so I think. I removed all possible kernel modules that prevent me configuring the clock as I please.

I looked at Intel's website and this CPU has a "configurable TDP" set by the manufacturer. So, HP is screwing me over here. Sad that they have to do this. I paid for a 3.9GHz processor but under load, its actually 2.4GHz.

Stress tests aside, I also tested the emulator, which I'm actually interested in, and the power limit doesn't kick in:

It's just the current limit that does. The CPU itself is still at 17W of power though, so no matter what, my EC doesn't allow it to boost at 3.9GHz. Shame but might be enough if I upgrade to dual-channel RAM.

One thing's for sure, this is the last time I buy Intel.