Question Power Throttling Intel I7-9700k

[12harvestmoon]

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?

 

[uWebb429]

Exit Intel XTU and try running ThrottleStop instead.

ThrottleStop 9.6 Download

ThrottleStop is a small application designed to monitor for and correct the three main types of CPU throttling that are being used on many lapto

www.techpowerup.com

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.

 

[12harvestmoon]

throttlestop/hwmonitor data
this is what i got this time when i played wow for about 10 minutes, no power throttling yet. did not try to stress test yet. what other settings do you need? i can't figure out how to take a screenshot of bios or if that is possible.

 

[uWebb429]

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.

 

[punkncat]

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?

 

[12harvestmoon]

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.

 

[12harvestmoon]

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.

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.

 

[uWebb429]

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.

 

[12harvestmoon]

throttlestop
this is what i have so far. it does show power throttling

 

[uWebb429]

@12harvestmoon

When you share a file, it is best if you update the permissions of that file to Viewer so people can view it.

it does show power throttling

I am not surprised. Maximum performance is not possible when the turbo power limits are set to their default values.

 

[12harvestmoon]

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Dy5JhSOm7jS11UyBT1djjHM8bh7ICCH0/view?usp=drive_link
this should be better sorry

 

[uWebb429]

When the far right column of the log file shows PL1, that indicates power limit throttling. The long term 95 Watt power limit is being enforced. The CPU is forced to slow down so it does not exceed 95W.

i went as high as 112 on pl1

That is still not high enough. The log file shows that the CPU needs at least 130W so it can run at full speed. At this power level, the maximum core temperature reaches 78°C. The Intel specified temperature when thermal throttling begins is not until 100°C. They consider any temperature less than 100°C to be a "safe operating temperature". You still have lots of thermal headroom. Running a 9700K at 130W is not going to hurt anything.

The PL1 power limit being set to 95W is is why your computer is power limit throttling. Most manufacturers decided to set PL1 equal to the 95W rated TDP. Either Intel or Dell could have decided to lock the power limits to prevent any changes but neither of them did. This allows users to decide if they want to increase the power limits or not.

 

[12harvestmoon]

thanks i am going to crank it up to 130w and start from there. hopefully its just a setting i have not configured correctly.

 

[12harvestmoon]

I just set pl1 at 130 @4.4ghz and ran cpu stress test for a few minutes in Intel Extreme Utility and NO power throttling! Temps stayed at healthy 65c max and 45-49 avg. All this time I was afraid to increase the pl1 limit and that was holding my system back. Thanks so much for your help!

 

[uWebb429]

i have tried changing the psu with an exact match but it continues

You are not the first person to equate power limit throttling with a power supply issue. It was just the default PL1 turbo power limit setting that was holding you back.

I just set pl1 at 130 @4.4ghz

Your temperatures are nowhere near being a problem. Consider bumping the PL1 power limit up a little higher. During a stress test the ThrottleStop reported multiplier should be a steady 46.00. Anything less when the CPU is fully loaded is power limit throttling.

My original recommendation still stands. I would set PL1 and PL2 to 210 Watts and call it a day. Power limit throttling is not necessary if your CPU is not overheating.

The FIVR window you posted shows that all of the turbo ratios are set to 46. This will underclock your CPU. Your CPU will run slower than its Intel default speed when it is lightly loaded. Push the Defaults button at the lower left corner of the FIVR window to use the default Intel turbo ratios.

The C states need to be enabled in the BIOS to take advantage of light load turbo boost. You can use ThrottleStop to check if your C states are enabled when your computer is mostly idle.

Some users prefer a steady CPU speed regardless of load. Leave all the turbo ratios set to 46 if that is what you prefer.