# Undervolt Doesn't Work



## muhlisgursoy (Apr 17, 2022)

Hi,

I've been using Throttlestop for 3 years. I used to use my laptop (Intel i5-8250U) with undervolting last year, it does work. But recently I tried to undervolt my CPU again but it just don't work. I applied it, checked the voltage on both HWinfo and HWMonitor and there are no undervolting on action. Why is that? It used to work but it doesn't working right now.






This was on TS 9.4.6, and I also tried TS 8.4 and still the undervolting doesn't work. I restarted my laptop, I even set the offset to -1000mV just to make sure if it works and it didn't crash -meaning that undervolt does not apply-.

@unclewebb


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## dismission (Apr 17, 2022)

try to disable the _Windows Hypervisor Platform_

Press the Win + R to open Run.
Type control and click OK to open the Control Panel.
In the Control Panel, go to Programs > Programs and Features.
In the left panel, click on Turn Windows features on or off.
In the Windows Features dialog, select/deselect Hyper-V
_I am currently unable to change the cache voltage....a few days ago everything worked_


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## muhlisgursoy (Apr 17, 2022)

dismission said:


> try to disable the _Windows Hypervisor Platform_
> 
> Press the Win + R to open Run.
> Type control and click OK to open the Control Panel.
> ...


Nope, I just disabled it and restarted the laptop, and still, Throttlestop doesn't applying the undervolt.


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## dismission (Apr 17, 2022)

muhlisgursoy said:


> Nope, I just disabled it and restarted the laptop, and still, Throttlestop doesn't applying the undervolt.


try to disable  Intel VT in BIOS

what brand/model is your laptop? have you updated all the drivers?


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## unclewebb (Apr 18, 2022)

@muhlisgursoy 
The default Windows 11 virtualization features disable CPU voltage control. This prevents ThrottleStop from reading and  writing to the CPU voltage control register. 

There are threads in the ThrottleStop forum that explain what Windows 11 features need to be disabled. Virtual Machine Platform,  Hyper-v, core isolation memory integrity and WSL2 are some of the things that have to go.

Delete the ThrottleStop.INI file and try again. If the FIVR monitoring table shows a column of voltages like 0.3799, you need to disable more stuff.


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## muhlisgursoy (Apr 19, 2022)

unclewebb said:


> Virtual Machine Platform, Hyper-v, core isolation memory integrity and WSL2


All disabled, deleted the .ini file and tested again, still it isn't working. I read on some threads that a BIOS flashback is required but the latest version of the BIOS on my laptop is 1.08, it was 1.08 when TS undervolt was working and now it's on 1.08 too.


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## dismission (Apr 19, 2022)

muhlisgursoy said:


> All disabled, deleted the .ini file and tested again, still it isn't working. I read on some threads that a BIOS flashback is required but the latest version of the BIOS on my laptop is 1.08, it was 1.08 when TS undervolt was working and now it's on 1.08 too.


flash the previous version then the last
try older versions of TS.... 9.3...9.4...9.4.3..it worked for me


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## unclewebb (Apr 19, 2022)

muhlisgursoy said:


> still it isn't working


Post another screenshot of the FIVR window. That will show if ThrottleStop is not working because of a Windows virtualization setting or if ThrottleStop is not working because your BIOS has locked out CPU voltage control. Installing a previous BIOS version does not always disable the voltage control lock.  



dismission said:


> try older versions of TS


No need to. This is not a ThrottleStop problem.


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## muhlisgursoy (Apr 19, 2022)

unclewebb said:


> Post another screenshot of the FIVR window.


Here it is.


dismission said:


> try older versions of TS.... 9.3...9.4...9.4.3..it worked for me


It's not working because I tested TS 8.4 and still the undervolt doesn't apply as I said in the first post.


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## unclewebb (Apr 19, 2022)

The voltage column in the FIVR monitoring table still shows a column of 0.3799. That means there are more Windows 11 features that you still need to disable. 

Where is a screenshot of the Windows 11 Features window? You still have something enabled in Windows 11 that needs to be disabled. I am only on Windows 10 at the moment. My Features list looks like this. You have to look through that list for anything virtualization related.


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## muhlisgursoy (Apr 19, 2022)

unclewebb said:


> The voltage column in the FIVR monitoring table still shows a column of 0.3799. That means there are more Windows 11 features that you still need to disable.
> 
> Where is a screenshot of the Windows 11 Features window? You still have something enabled in Windows 11 that needs to be disabled. I am only on Windows 10 at the moment. My Features list looks like this. You have to look through that list for anything virtualization related.
> 
> View attachment 244147





This is how it looks like.


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## dismission (Apr 19, 2022)

muhlisgursoy said:


> View attachment 244151
> This is how it looks like.



remove windows hypervisor platform.....


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## muhlisgursoy (Apr 20, 2022)

dismission said:


> remove windows hypervisor platform.....


I disabled it, restarted, and tried undervolting again... FIVR still looks the same, and undervolt isn't applying.


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## unclewebb (Apr 20, 2022)

muhlisgursoy said:


> FIVR still looks the same


Did you delete the ThrottleStop.INI configuration file? This file seems to get corrupted when you run with the virtualization features turned on.

Does your bios have any VT settings in it?


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## muhlisgursoy (Apr 20, 2022)

unclewebb said:


> Did you delete the ThrottleStop.INI configuration file? This file seems to get corrupted when you run with the virtualization features turned on.


Yes, every time I disabled something and restarted the laptop, I delete the .ini file before trying to undervolt again.


unclewebb said:


> Does your bios have any VT settings in it?


Yes, there are VTX and VTD settings on the BIOS which are both enabled. But it was both enabled when the undervolt worked.


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## unclewebb (Apr 20, 2022)

muhlisgursoy said:


> there are VTX and VTD settings on the BIOS which are both enabled


Try disabling them.

When you reboot, hold down the Shift key on your keyboard to do a full reboot.


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## muhlisgursoy (Apr 20, 2022)

unclewebb said:


> Try disabling them.
> 
> When you reboot, hold down the Shift key on your keyboard to do a full reboot.


Thanks a lot! It worked!





But disabling them, what features are now unavailable on my laptop? Is it gonna affect the daily use, or can it degrade the performance?


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## unclewebb (Apr 20, 2022)

muhlisgursoy said:


> can it degrade the performance?


Turning all that crap off will likely improve performance.

If you are not using any of those virtualization functions then they do not need to be enabled. There was no reason for Microsoft to block access to the voltage control register. Why that register? If you are going to block access to the voltage control register then they should block access to the 101 other registers.

If you are bored you can go back and try turning on some of the Windows 11 features one by one to see which ones block voltage control. 



dismission said:


> try to disable Intel VT in BIOS


You should have listened to this advice on Sunday.

Thanks for sticking it out to the end. This will help other users in the future. I will send them to this thread. Avoid updating your bios. Not worth the risk of losing voltage control.


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## muhlisgursoy (Apr 20, 2022)

unclewebb said:


> You should have listened to this advice on Sunday.


Yes, I didn't think that would be the reason because the setting was exactly the same when the undervolt worked on Windows 10. I should have done that.

Thank you @unclewebb and @dismission for your help. I appreciate it a lot


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## randomA (Apr 22, 2022)

Hi folks, having a similar problem as the OP.
Here is my screenshots:











Running Win11 and even tried deleting the .ini file as well. What should I do here?

Thanks in advance.


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## phanbuey (Apr 22, 2022)

randomA said:


> Hi folks, having a similar problem as the OP.
> Here is my screenshots:
> 
> View attachment 244518
> ...



Turn off Intel Virtualization Technology (VT).


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## randomA (Apr 22, 2022)

phanbuey said:


> Turn off Intel Virtualization Technology (VT).


You mean in bios? As you can see from the photo, it's already off.


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## muhlisgursoy (Apr 22, 2022)

randomA said:


> You mean in bios? As you can see from the photo, it's already off.


What is your processor model? Looks like even the FIVR option is locked.


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## randomA (Apr 22, 2022)

muhlisgursoy said:


> What is your processor model? Looks like even the FIVR option is locked.


Intel Core i7-9750H 6 x 2.6 - 4.5 GHz, Coffee Lake-H

for the record, throttlestop has always worked (i think up til  win11 )


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## Chrispy_ (Apr 22, 2022)

muhlisgursoy said:


> Yes, I didn't think that would be the reason because the setting was exactly the same when the undervolt worked on Windows 10. I should have done that.



Those BIOS settings were completely ignored by windows 10 unless you were running _W10 Enterprise_ or _W10 Pro for Workstations_ editions.


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## unclewebb (Apr 22, 2022)

When the FIVR window says Locked, it is the BIOS that has locked out CPU voltage control. Need to modify the BIOS  to remove the lock bit. This is a gift from Microsoft for installing Windows 11. Some users try to go back to Windows 10 but find this is still locked.


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## dismission (Apr 22, 2022)

undel b


randomA said:


> Hi folks, having a similar problem as the OP.
> Here is my screenshots:
> 
> View attachment 244518
> ...



Bios, Advanced -> check "voltage configuration" > "on" then 0 offset


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## randomA (Apr 23, 2022)

dismission said:


> undel b
> 
> 
> Bios, Advanced -> check "voltage configuration" > "on" then 0 offset


with reference to the screenshot i posted , i do not seem to see that 'voltage configuration' item : https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/attachments/244520/


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## dismission (Apr 23, 2022)

randomA said:


> with reference to the screenshot i posted , i do not seem to see that 'voltage configuration' item : https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/attachments/244520/



scroll down.....they are more settings


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## randomA (Apr 23, 2022)

Sata configuration is the bottom and last setting 


dismission said:


> scroll down.....they are more settings


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## dismission (Apr 24, 2022)

randomA said:


> Sata configuration is the bottom and last setting


what is the model of the laptop?


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## randomA (Apr 25, 2022)

dismission said:


> what is the model of the laptop?


Asus ROG Zephyrus S GX701GX-XB78


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## dismission (Apr 25, 2022)

randomA said:


> Asus ROG Zephyrus S GX701GX-XB78


I saw that Armory Crate in Turbo profile make an overclock of your CPU (+100Mhz) and GPU (+124Mhz) so have you tried TS in different Armory Crate profile?
You can try also to uninstall Armory Crate (use the uninstall tools by Asus) just to understand if the last version of Armory Crate lock the FIVR mod.


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## randomA (Apr 25, 2022)

dismission said:


> I saw that Armory Crate in Turbo profile make an overclock of your CPU (+100Mhz) and GPU (+124Mhz) so have you tried TS in different Armory Crate profile?
> You can try also to uninstall Armory Crate (use the uninstall tools by Asus) just to understand if the last version of Armory Crate lock the FIVR mod.


I can try tho what I'm looking for is undervolting, not overclocking.
Will report results.


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## randomA (Apr 27, 2022)

randomA said:


> I can try tho what I'm looking for is undervolting, not overclocking.
> Will report results.





dismission said:


> I saw that Armory Crate in Turbo profile make an overclock of your CPU (+100Mhz) and GPU (+124Mhz) so have you tried TS in different Armory Crate profile?
> You can try also to uninstall Armory Crate (use the uninstall tools by Asus) just to understand if the last version of Armory Crate lock the FIVR mod.






I set Armoury crate to Turbo and then turned on TS. This is what it looks like. I guess no difference.

However see the difference in CPU Frequency between Turbo (above) and Silent (here):





Also, when I try to use Armoury Crate in MANUAL mode, the only setting i can customize is the fan speed. This is ridiculous!


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## dismission (Apr 27, 2022)

randomA said:


> Asus ROG Zephyrus S GX701GX-XB78



on Asus website the manual for GX701GX-*XB*78 does not exist....
I have seen in other GX701GX models that Armory Crate allows you to make more complete custom profiles
Have you tried if the intel XTU works?


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## unclewebb (Apr 27, 2022)

dismission said:


> if the intel XTU works?


ThrottleStop shows that the lock bit has been set. If ThrottleStop is locked from adjusting the voltage then Intel XTU will also be locked out.


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## randomA (Apr 28, 2022)

unclewebb said:


> ThrottleStop shows that the lock bit has been set. If ThrottleStop is locked from adjusting the voltage then Intel XTU will also be locked out.


any ideas on how to resolve?



dismission said:


> on Asus website the manual for GX701GX-*XB*78 does not exist....
> I have seen in other GX701GX models that Armory Crate allows you to make more complete custom profiles
> Have you tried if the intel XTU works?


Just as imagined, XTU is also locked:


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## unclewebb (Apr 28, 2022)

randomA said:


> any ideas on how to resolve?


This is how to unlock CPU voltage control in many Dell laptops.









						Undervolting 2020 Dell Laptops like the Vostro 7500 and More Tips to Improve Thermals, Battery Life, and Speed - Brendan Greenley
					

2021 Update: Based on post and Reddit comments, the approach to unlock undervolting works for a number of models, including the XPS, Inspiron, G5, 11th Generation Intel processors, and 2021 Dell models and other lines. If it works for you, please leave a comment below so others may know...




					brendangreenley.com
				




Not sure if something similar is possible with your Asus laptop. Do some Google research and maybe you can find someone that has done something similar to their Asus laptop.


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## Thrasher (Sep 24, 2022)

help please, I understand that deactivating virtualization works, but for my work to build containers with docker etc I need hyper-v, the temperature rises a lot and I need undervolt


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## unclewebb (Sep 24, 2022)

Thrasher said:


> I need undervolt


Do some Google searching for PowerMonkey.






						Undervolting on Windows 11 with PowerMonkey | Mr Eggtart.
					

How to undervolt in Windows 11 with Hyper-V, WSL or WSL2 enabled, when ThrottleStop and Intel XTU stopped to function properly.




					mreggtart.com
				




I am happily running ThrottleStop in Windows 10 so I have never experimented with PowerMonkey. It looks complicated compared to using ThrottleStop. Basically you have to set the voltage control register before Windows 11 starts up. Good luck.


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## Eraserhead (Oct 1, 2022)

Hey there

12700K on Asus B660-i Windows 11 (not yet updated to 22H2).
Disabled virtualization in Bios and all VT options I could find.

I’m having the same problem as OP.
Voltage control is *not* locked, but anything lower than 0 is ignored. Positive values work (also visible in HWInfo).

XTU says „Undervolt protection is enabled“. Does not let me alter core/cache voltages.
I know B660 chipset is limited but I thought undervolting should work.

My Bios has no Core/Cache adaptive offset options, only Auto/Manual. There is an „Actual VRM core voltage“ option with offset mode but it is buggy, as any negative values crash on boot.


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## unclewebb (Oct 1, 2022)

@Eraserhead 
Can you post a screenshot of the ThrottleStop FIVR window while you are trying to use a negative offset voltage? Enter the voltage and press the Apply button so I can see what it shows. 



Eraserhead said:


> XTU says „Undervolt protection is enabled


Have you tried uninstalling XTU and only running ThrottleStop? I am not sure if it is XTU locking things down or if the B660 chipset has the undervolting feature deliberately locked out. 

Either Intel is trying to protect their customers from any Plundervolt exploits or they would like their customers to spend some more money and buy a Z series motherboard which should have the undervolt feature unlocked.


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## Eraserhead (Oct 1, 2022)

Uninstalled XTU, no change.

Minus 50.8 mV on core and cache:





Here's one with a positive offset on core:


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## unclewebb (Oct 2, 2022)

@Eraserhead
Thanks for posting those images.

Interesting that Intel allows you to add voltage but they do not allow you to reduce voltage. This seems to be by design. I do not think there is any way to fix this limitation with the B660 chipset that you are using.

I assume that any CPU multiplier overclocking will also be ignored by the B660 chipset.


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## Eraserhead (Oct 2, 2022)

unclewebb said:


> Thanks for posting those images.
> 
> Interesting that Intel allows you to add voltage but they do not allow you to reduce voltage. This seems to be by design. I do not think there is any way to fix this limitation with the B660 chipset that you are using.
> 
> I assume that any CPU multiplier overclocking will also be ignored by the B660 chipset.



Thank you anyway!

Yep, OC is locked. I knew that though.
TPL are unlocked and some voltage controls in Bios. I now have to wait for Asus to fix that bug, apparently they’re working on it (saw some comments on their Forum).


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