# PL2 and EDP Other yellow (red while gaming) help for i5-7200u



## viktorjack68 (Aug 25, 2021)

Hello. I would like to ask for help regarding my situation. I've owned an Acer Aspire E5-475G for nearly 5 years now. It could run games pretty ok at medium back then. Now when I boot games like Rise of the Tomb Raider or Titanfall 2, it would lag at places where it shouldn't lag, especially if there are many things happening on screen (heavy snow, big explosions). I checked on ThrottleStop and found that after gameplay, PL2 were yellow on both CPU and GPU, and EDP Other was on RING.
I've sent the laptop to the shop to clean the fan and replace the thermal paste, but even that didn't work. My specs are:
i5-7200u
NVIDIA GeForce 940MX
8GB RAM

I'm also using a third-party charger for my laptop as the old, original charger died out and couldn't charge the laptop anymore. Now the laptop needs to be plugged in as the battery is dead.
I've included the relevant screenshots and log file, if there's anything else that needed explaining please let me know

Addendum: A bit of a weird development

Apparently, plugging in my Cooler Master laptop cooling pad actually reduces performance. If I unplug the cooling pad, performance increases, though not by much. However, it does quite help

Odd....it could be related to the power the laptop gets, since I'm using a third party charger and my battery is already dead. Would these two things influence performance?


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## unclewebb (Aug 25, 2021)

Download the latest version of ThrottleStop. It has a new feature that might help.









						ThrottleStop (9.5) 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
				




This chunk of the log file explains what is going on. The MULTI column is the CPU multiplier which represents the speed of your computer. It starts out running at close to 3100 MHz. When PL2 power limit throttling hits, the multiplier quickly drops. Power consumption is being limited to 3W which forces the CPU to throttle down to 400 MHz to 500 MHz. At this speed, your laptop becomes unusable.


```
DATE       TIME    MULTI   C0%   CKMOD  BAT_mW  TEMP    VID   POWER
2021-08-25  17:18:34  30.93   61.3  100.0       0   66   0.9019   11.4
2021-08-25  17:18:35  30.30   60.6  100.0       0   61   0.8757   11.2
2021-08-25  17:18:36  29.63   56.9  100.0       0   57   0.8823   10.3
2021-08-25  17:18:37  19.92   90.3  100.0       0   54   0.5426    7.6   PL2
2021-08-25  17:18:38   4.29   99.4  100.0       0   53   0.5432    2.9   PL2
2021-08-25  17:18:39   4.19   99.4  100.0       0   53   0.5430    2.9   PL2
2021-08-25  17:18:40   5.06   99.5  100.0       0   54   0.5443    3.0   PL2
```



viktorjack68 said:


> third party charger and my battery is already dead


Both of those items can influence performance. Some laptops will go into limp mode when they cannot detect a properly functioning OEM charger and battery.

There are multiple sets of turbo power limits. TS 9.4 lets you look at the secondary MMIO power limits. Using the MMIO Lock option might help with your power limit throttling problem. I would also suggest using the Lock option below that one. Try locking these power limits. Your screenshot above shows that these are both already set to 25W which is OK. Just check Lock and Lock and press OK.





The rest of your settings look OK. Run another log file after you get these power limits locked down and see if it makes any difference.

The sad part is that there is a third set of turbo power limits managed internally by an embedded controller (EC). This third set of turbo power limits can override the other two so you might still be screwed. At this point, you can try buying a proper adapter and battery but there is no guarantee that will solve your throttling problem.


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## viktorjack68 (Aug 25, 2021)

Just done according to what you said. Downloaded the new ThrottleStop version and locked those MMIO and PL settings, still no dice.
Another thing to note is that I enabled BD PROCHOT, and PROCHOT hits yellow even before I reach higher temperatures.
So that means that EC you mentioned could be the problem.

Guess I'm screwed out of luck here, huh?

Another thing, could removing the dead battery from the laptop fix this problem?


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## unclewebb (Aug 25, 2021)

viktorjack68 said:


> BD PROCHOT, and PROCHOT hits yellow even before I reach higher temperatures.


BD PROCHOT allows other sensors on your motherboard to throttle your CPU. This can happen at any CPU temperature. Best to leave that box clear in ThrottleStop.



viktorjack68 said:


> Guess I'm screwed


Yes.

I have no idea when EC power limit throttling started. All I know is that it is happening now and it is severe. No laptop should be throttling down to 400 MHz but your laptop is.

Is the dead battery causing this? Maybe it is the non Acer power adapter that you are using. There is no way to troubleshoot this further without buying a new battery and a new Acer power adapter. This might not fix this problem. That is why I would hesitate to invest any money in a 5 year old laptop. Sell it as is and get something else that has a warranty. It is not very usable in its present state, especially for gaming.


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## viktorjack68 (Aug 25, 2021)

unclewebb said:


> BD PROCHOT allows other sensors on your motherboard to throttle your CPU. This can happen at any CPU temperature. Best to leave that box clear in ThrottleStop.
> 
> 
> Yes.
> ...


I see. Thanks for the advice unclewebb, you are helpful with best you can.

Well, I still need to use it for work, so guess heavy gaming is out of the question. Maybe light gaming like older games and emulation would still work I reckon.

Anyways, thanks again


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