# How do I use throttlestop?



## Thermite (Aug 29, 2022)

I've had it installed for a while now and iv'e had a few periods of success when i can go a month or two with good framerates but often i get really bad frame drops and the red "power" throttling thing comes one and all the pl thing go red then yellow than red also when i click on the GPU button on the bottom right nothing happens. i'm sure there is something i can be doing correctly to lower temperatures and combat throttling on my pc but right now I feel like a Monkey with a typewriter when using it as nothing i seem to do really fixes the problem, i'm not even sure if what i'm doing even has an effect.

If anyone has any tips on how to get this working for me it would be greatly appreciated.

Put my specs below

GPU: Geforce GTX 1050 (Don't laugh i know it's trash)


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## unclewebb (Aug 30, 2022)

How about post some pictures of ThrottleStop and if you really want to help me, turn on the Log File option on the main screen and run a log file while you are using your computer or playing a game. It is impossible for me to make any recommendations if you do not show me where you are at.

If you have a Nvidia GPU, open the Options window and check the Nvidia GPU box. Monitoring your GPU is optional so you have to turn this feature on separately if you want that GPU button on the main screen to do anything useful.

What laptop model do you have? When you go see a doctor do you ask him to try and guess what might be wrong with you? If you are paying him by the hour, I hope not. Screenshots and log files would help a lot.


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## Thermite (Aug 30, 2022)

unclewebb said:


> How about post some pictures of ThrottleStop and if you really want to help me, turn on the Log File option on the main screen and run a log file while you are using your computer or playing a game. It is impossible for me to make any recommendations if you do not show me where you are at.
> 
> If you have a Nvidia GPU, open the Options window and check the Nvidia GPU box. Monitoring your GPU is optional so you have to turn this feature on separately if you want that GPU button on the main screen to do anything useful.
> 
> What laptop model do you have? When you go see a doctor do you ask him to try and guess what might be wrong with you? If you are paying him by the hour, I hope not. Screenshots and log files would help a lot.


I figured out how to attach a log went into the apex legends firing range while throttlestop was one and it did the same smooth 60 frames on min and low frame hellhole mess the next. not sure what anything in the log actually means but maybe you can make sense of it. I also ticked my gpu box and it says it's max is 58oC.

Also my laptop is a Dell Inspiron 7577

hope this sheds some light on whatever is going on.


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## unclewebb (Aug 30, 2022)

Your main problem is your computer is overheating. Have you ever disassembled your laptop to clean it out? Replacing the thermal paste between the CPU and the heatsink is a common maintenance procedure. This needs to be done if cleaning the dust out of the heatsinks does not solve your problem.

One quick look at the log file and right away I know that you have a poorly engineered Dell laptop. Intel created a fantastic thermal throttling method that allows the CPU to run as fast as possible without the CPU temperature ever crossing over into dangerous territory. The Dell engineers did not like this so they created their own thermal throttling scheme that can make using one of their laptops a truly miserable experience. Sound familiar?

Instead of graceful thermal throttling by Intel, Dell has decided that when your CPU gets too hot, they will implement their own power limit based throttling scheme. The turbo power limits are reduced so your CPU with a 45 watt TDP rating is forced to run at less than 10 watts. The CPU must slow down to approximately 800 MHz to keep power consumption as low as possible. It seems to get stuck at this speed for 30 second periods at a time. This is when your frame rates hit the toilet and your computer becomes unusable.

The MULTI column is the log file represents the CPU multiplier which represents the CPU speed. The far right column in the log file shows the reason for throttling. You will see PL1 power limit throttling as the reason and the multiplier (8.00) in the MULTI column is being forced down to its minimum so the CPU runs as slow as possible. There is no logical reason for a throttling scheme that is so excessive. No other manufacturer does this. Only Dell.

Dell introduced this power limit based extreme throttling scheme when their laptops with Intel 7th and 8th Gen processors were released. This new and improved throttling method often times cannot be fixed by using ThrottleStop.

To try to fix your problem, improve your cooling and do whatever it takes so your CPU never goes over 90°C. Anytime it is allowed to hit 100°C, this seems to trigger the extreme power limit throttling scheme that Dell is using. You might be forced to use some ThrottleStop features like Disable Turbo to help keep the temperature down. If you choose to deliberately run your CPU at a slower speed, that might be better than Dell randomly deciding to run your CPU at its slowest possible speed.

In the TPL window check the MMIO Lock box and also check the Speed Shift box. Post some screenshots of ThrottleStop if you need some more suggestions.


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## Thermite (Aug 31, 2022)

unclewebb said:


> Your main problem is your computer is overheating. Have you ever disassembled your laptop to clean it out? Replacing the thermal paste between the CPU and the heatsink is a common maintenance procedure. This needs to be done if cleaning the dust out of the heatsinks does not solve your problem.
> 
> One quick look at the log file and right away I know that you have a poorly engineered Dell laptop. Intel created a fantastic thermal throttling method that allows the CPU to run as fast as possible without the CPU temperature ever crossing over into dangerous territory. The Dell engineers did not like this so they created their own thermal throttling scheme that can make using one of their laptops a truly miserable experience. Sound familiar?
> 
> ...


Ok cleaned out the fans as best I could got quite a bit of dirt n dust out,its still getting hot even when not gaming though not as hot as usual but something i've noticed is throttlestop going nuts rn for some reason the temperature kept going up and down and the wattage or PKG power was going up and down like crazy.

not sure what caused it, maybe i need to go into the BIOS and tweak some things I may have previously tweaked and forgot about.

added a log of it going nuts.


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## unclewebb (Sep 1, 2022)

Thermite said:


> added a log of it going nuts


Turn off the More Data option. This creates 8 times as much data and makes it a lot harder to see what is going on.

The log file shows that you were on battery power for the first half of the log and then you plugged your laptop in and it was charging the battery for the second half. Some laptops throttle the CPU when running on battery power and some throttle when the laptop is being charged. It is not dropping down to 800 MHz in the log file so that looks like an improvement.

Did you replace the thermal paste or did you only do half a job? The temperatures are better so if you did not replace the thermal paste, that is OK.

Where are some pictures of ThrottleStop including the FIVR and TPL windows?


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## Thermite (Sep 1, 2022)

unclewebb said:


> Turn off the More Data option. This creates 8 times as much data and makes it a lot harder to see what is going on.
> 
> The log file shows that you were on battery power for the first half of the log and then you plugged your laptop in and it was charging the battery for the second half. Some laptops throttle the CPU when running on battery power and some throttle when the laptop is being charged. It is not dropping down to 800 MHz in the log file so that looks like an improvement.
> 
> ...


Didn't replace the thermal paste, as much as i would like to im not very good with taking laptops apart and i didn't warisk not being able to put it back together again, i did remove the bottom cover amd the heat eink but thats all i could manage, tbh im not even sure where the cpu is as for the other two windows I'll get eome screenshots.

Oh also is there anything i could do in the bios that msy help?






Here are the screenshots as requested.


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## unclewebb (Sep 2, 2022)

In the TPL window, check the MMIO Lock box.

In the FIVR window, set IccMax for both the core and the cache to the maximum, 255.75

Do some more testing with your computer plugged in and preferably fully charged.

On the main screen of ThrottleStop check the Speed Shift EPP box and to the right of that, set EPP to 84. You can edit the EPP value by clicking on it.

Post a log file while you are using these settings. If your -90 mV undervolt is stable, check the OK - Save voltages immediately box so your voltages will be saved for future use. If you are not yet 100% sure that your voltages are stable then wait before saving them to ThrottleStop.

I think blowing some dust out has helped your cooling. No need to replace the paste quite yet. Do some more testing first.


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## Thermite (Sep 2, 2022)

unclewebb said:


> In the TPL window, check the MMIO Lock box.
> 
> In the FIVR window, set IccMax for both the core and the cache to the maximum, 255.75
> 
> ...


Here is the log as requested, its only at the end  in the last few 10 or 20 or 30 mins or so I was using your adjustments and i was playing apex to test it out, it still throttled despite this, perhaps there is something in the Bios i can edit to prevent this? or another idea that may help.


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## unclewebb (Sep 2, 2022)

If you have checked the MMIO Lock box like I suggested and your laptop is still throttling down to 800 MHz then there is nothing else you can do. Dell built thousands and thousands of laptops with this severe throttling issue. Best to sell your laptop and get something else. There was never a proper solution for this common Dell laptop problem.


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