Question Power Throttling Intel I7-9700k

Dec 15, 2024
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I have a alienware aurora r8 with this inside:
intel i7-9700k
hyperx 32g 2900 ddr4 ram
alienware liquid cooler
rtx 2080 oc gpu
850w gold rated dell psu
The cpu keeps power throttling no matter what setting i have used. temps stay fairly normal and i have tried changing the psu with an exact match but it continues. it doesn't just do it under stress testing it does it no matter what after a while of being on. every time i have stressed tested through dell diagnostics and intel extreme utility it power throttles after about 1.3 minutes regardless of what settings i have tried. the bios doesn't offer many options for power management, only to manage speedstep(i have tried disabling it) and some basic OC functions. If i use the intel utility it maintains a more stable clock speed of 4.6 but still power throttles. Any ideas?
 
Exit Intel XTU and try running ThrottleStop instead.


Post pictures of the main window, the FIVR and TPL windows so I can see your default settings. Check the Log File box on the main screen and try to play a game for at least 15 minutes while logging data. The more data the better. When finished testing, exit ThrottleStop and you can copy and paste the log file data to www.pastebin.com

You can upload images to www.imgur.com or any similar image hosting site.

it power throttles after about 1.3 minutes
At default settings, that is what Intel CPUs are designed to do. Usually the Alienware line is not too bad when they are setup correctly. For many other Dell computers, the power limits are aggressively enforced and there is little you can do about it. Post some screenshots so I can show you what your options are.
 
I need to see a ThrottleStop log file. The HWMonitor data does not help.

ThrottleStop shows that the PL1 turbo power limit is set to the default value of 95 Watts. That is not enough power to run a 9700K at full speed. That is why it is power limit throttling.

To fix this problem, in the ThrottleStop TPL window, clear the Disable Controls box and increase the Long Power PL1 value from 95 to 210. That should be OK as long as your liquid cooler is decent.

If this creates too much heat, set PL1 to somewhere between 95 and 210. I set both of my turbo power limits to 300 so they do not get in the way of maximum performance.

crSSSS4.png
 
My experience with the modern Dell/Alienware is that the case has really poor airflow. They also have big tendency to put a small AIO (think one fan) alongside that poor air flow.

What happens when you open the case fully and check temps under the load?
 
My experience with the modern Dell/Alienware is that the case has really poor airflow. They also have big tendency to put a small AIO (think one fan) alongside that poor air flow.

What happens when you open the case fully and check temps under the load?
temps stay pretty consistent at 31-34 idle and 68-71 under load.
 
I need to see a ThrottleStop log file. The HWMonitor data does not help.

ThrottleStop shows that the PL1 turbo power limit is set to the default value of 95 Watts. That is not enough power to run a 9700K at full speed. That is why it is power limit throttling.

To fix this problem, in the ThrottleStop TPL window, clear the Disable Controls box and increase the Long Power PL1 value from 95 to 210. That should be OK as long as your liquid cooler is decent.

If this creates too much heat, set PL1 to somewhere between 95 and 210. I set both of my turbo power limits to 300 so they do not get in the way of maximum performance.

crSSSS4.png
set it from 95 to 210? that seems like a really big jump in power. i am afraid of killing my system that high. i went as high as 112 on pl1 and it did not make much of a difference except in heat. that much raised my temps up about 10c easily. i have always kept pl2 at 210. pastebin will not work for the log file.
 
pastebin will not work
Did you try to copy and paste the log file data into pastebin? If that does not work then upload the log file to Google Drive or any other file sharing site.

i am afraid of killing my system that high.
That is not likely. You are just playing a game. You are not running a full load Prime95 torture test.

Hopefully you can find a way to share the log file. That will show if the CPU is throttling. Perhaps the problem is elsewhere.