Lower Frequency VS CPU Throttling

[Thazak]

Hi guys,
I have an i7-4980HQ in my laptop which is suppose to run at 4,0GHZ to 3,8GHZ on turbo (1 core to 4 cores) but I noticed while stress testing and monitoring with Intel XTU that it won't go above 3,5-3,6GHZ on 4 cores instead of the 3,8 announced due to Power Throttling and turning on TDP to make it reach his 3,8GHZ makes the CPU heat too much.

So my question is: for all day gaming, is it better to have the CPU on turbo, changing constantly from 2,8GHZ to 4GHZ and always Power Throttling (and I mean ALWAYS) or should I just dwonclock it to like 3,4 GHZ (on 4 cores) but constant? What is better gaming-wise? Does the Throttling affects in-game performance?

 

[utroz]

You could try using throttle stop and lowering the voltage some to get cooler temps which will allow higher speeds without throttling. To answer your question about what is better a single higher speed core throttling or a bunch of cores at a lower but steady speed, it all depends on how the game is coded. Some games need a really fast single thread but if that core throttles way down it is going to slow the game down, other games need 2+ threads and will like all the cores at a slightly lower but stable speed. Also stress testing usually puts a much higher load on the cpu cores than a game will so the throttling might not happen during gaming. You should use a monitoring program in the background like AIDIA 64 to see if your cpu throttles during gaming.

 

[Thazak]

You could try using throttle stop and lowering the voltage some to get cooler temps which will allow higher speeds without throttling. To answer your question about what is better a single higher speed core throttling or a bunch of cores at a lower but steady speed, it all depends on how the game is coded. Some games need a really fast single thread but if that core throttles way down it is going to slow the game down, other games need 2+ threads and will like all the cores at a slightly lower but stable speed. Also stress testing usually puts a much higher load on the cpu cores than a game will so the throttling might not happen during gaming. You should use a monitoring program in the background like AIDIA 64 to see if your cpu throttles during gaming.

Thank you for your answer Utroz, I mostly play WoW and D3... During gaming, the Throttle is less present like you said but still, I just don't like to see CPU Throttle and I managex to make the CPU run constantly at 3,4 on 4 cores yesterdsy without any Throttle but I didn't know what was best.

 

[utroz]

You could try using throttle stop and lowering the voltage some to get cooler temps which will allow higher speeds without throttling. To answer your question about what is better a single higher speed core throttling or a bunch of cores at a lower but steady speed, it all depends on how the game is coded. Some games need a really fast single thread but if that core throttles way down it is going to slow the game down, other games need 2+ threads and will like all the cores at a slightly lower but stable speed. Also stress testing usually puts a much higher load on the cpu cores than a game will so the throttling might not happen during gaming. You should use a monitoring program in the background like AIDIA 64 to see if your cpu throttles during gaming.

Thank you for your answer Utroz, I mostly play WoW and D3... During gaming, the Throttle is less present like you said but still, I just don't like to see CPU Throttle and I managex to make the CPU run constantly at 3,4 on 4 cores yesterdsy without any Throttle but I didn't know what was best.

Glad to be of help. Be sure to try Throttle Stop as I was able to drop my latops cpu temps by 8C and it also runs at a faster turbo speed, my top cpu voltage went from 1.25V to 1.1V and it is all stress tested stable. If you lower the voltage too much your computer will crash and restart. With Throttle stop I have to open the program and hit the turn on button to have it change the settings so no worries about windows getting stuck in a crashing loop because the voltage is set too low. It has a ton of great settings that can allow you to tweak your cpu for the max performance..