# Help optimize i5-8250u. Scores poorly on Cinebench



## Shnxxx (Feb 17, 2021)

My Cinebench score is only *1884pts *compared to the attainable score of *3118pts *of an Intel i5-250u.

My laptop specs:
*Acer Aspire E-15 E5-576G*​Intel i5-8250u​Nvidia MX150 2GB VRAM​
My laptop only sits at *~68°C* while running the Cinebench R23. Here are the screenshots while Cinebench is running.

I'm using *ThrottleStop 9.3

FIVR SETTINGS:*







*TPL SETTINGS:*





*ALL PL2 BECOMES YELLOW EVEN BENCHMARK IS STILL RUNNING:*





*BENCHMARK FINISHED:*





Any help would be greatly appreciated!


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## unclewebb (Feb 18, 2021)

Intel gave the 8250U a 15W TDP rating. Your first screenshot shows power limit throttling (PL2), right at 15.0W. Your CPU is working as intended.

Some laptop manufacturers enforce the TDP limit and there is nothing you can do to go beyond this limit. You can try setting the TDP Level Control to 2 but long term, I think you will still be limited to 15W.

Kind of sucks when manufacturers do stuff like this. When the low power 8th Gen U series are left unlocked, they are capable of so much more. 
Here is a Lenovo C930. It only throttles when it gets too hot which is how it should be.


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## Shnxxx (Feb 18, 2021)

Is this correct? I could only change the 2nd box. The first box just copies what I entered on the 2nd box.


I tried Cinebench and I noticed TDP reached 18.7 but it lasted only a few seconds :/


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## Shnxxx (Feb 18, 2021)

SHIIITT1 I DISCOVERED SOMETHING!!!!

I switched profile (from [HP]High-performance profile to [NP]Normal profile) while running the benchmark and the FID became 24 (which I set to because it was intended for normal uses) and It stayed there! Unlike the HP where when the power limit hits the FID value becomes 13, which is very low.

The only difference between the profiles was:

the FID/Turbo Ratio Limits (HP = 34 all cores; NP = 24 all cores)
Cache Ratio (HP = 31/31; NP = 1/31)
Speed Shift - EPP (HP = 0; NP = 64)
High-performance unchecked when NP is being used.

I tried changing profiles on TPL but it only says "Coming soon!".

I also noticed that if "BD PROCHOT" is checked, it stays longer for a few seconds at 27(FID) before it becomes 24.74(FID) without power limit than unchecked.

And from the previous settings (HP), the Limit Reasons is PL2. But with the current settings (NP), the limit reasons is PL1.

Can I do something about it?






I would also like to ask, what does 9 and 31 means? I searched for it and learned that you could set it to 0 to 31. It is like a ratio between CPU and iGPU. Does the value of '13' is for iGPU? or vice-versa? Can I set them both 31?


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## Shnxxx (Feb 18, 2021)

After some extensive testing, decreasing offset voltage decrementally, playing numbers on PL1, PL2 and Turbo Time Limit(setting both PP0 and non PP0 at same value), this is currently my settings:







I just noticed that when I start Cinebench benchmarking, for a few seconds my *PKG Power is capped at 18.7W*, maybe for a good 9-10 seconds and the Limit Reasons are Core's and GPU's PL2 and RING's EDP OTHER. After that, it is capped to 15W, playing around 14.7-15W. I also noticed that the PL1 and PL2 of CORE and GPU, and EDP OTHER of RING is changing YELLOW to RED, RED to YELLOW at some random times (Maybe every after 1-2 minutes).


I should have posted it an hour ago, but right now I couldn't get past the 15W PKG Power. I don't know what happened. Earlier the '*C0%*', when benchmarking, reaches *100.0*. Right now it is *capped at ~99.3*. I tried resetting ThrottleStop by deleting the folder and shutting down my laptop completely. I tried replicating what I've done earlier but to no avail. I'm still trying right now.


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## unclewebb (Feb 18, 2021)

Shnxxx said:


> After that, it is capped to 15W







unclewebb said:


> Some laptop manufacturers enforce the TDP limit and there is nothing you can do to go beyond this limit.


Acer is enforcing the 15W TDP limit. If you need to go beyond this number, you will need to buy a different laptop. When the EC is internally programmed to power limit throttle at 15W, that is all you get to work with. Lowering the voltage helps a little because it allows the CPU to run a little faster without having to exceed 15W. With an unlocked computer, you could easily run this same CPU at over 30W. In your laptop, that is never going to happen.

When throttling is in progress, it is normal to see a slight drop in the C0%.

The short term turbo power limit is set higher than 15W so you will briefly see values greater than 15W. Long term, the 15W limit kicks in and that is that. If you run back to back tests, the 15W limit will kick in much sooner. If you run an extremely demanding app, this will also kick the 15W limit in much sooner. Your temperatures are great when stress testing so there was really no reason for Acer to set this limit so conservatively. If you are disappointed by this, shop elsewhere next time and do lots of testing when you first buy a laptop. Make sure it performs the way you want it to perform without any limitations like this.


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## Shnxxx (Feb 19, 2021)

unclewebb said:


> View attachment 188923


Nice? Jk. Yah, I understand now and that's a bummer. 



unclewebb said:


> When the EC is internally programmed to power limit throttle at 15W, that is all you get to work with.


Do you think that it is possible in the near future that software could bypass/disable it?



unclewebb said:


> Your temperatures are great when stress testing so there was really no reason for Acer to set this limit so conservatively.


I'm using a software called "NoteBookFanContol" that I was so lucky to find out, and very lucky that someone made a profile for the same model of my laptop. I could control my laptop's fan with this app and can even max out the fan when needed. It has been not updated since 2019 but still working!



unclewebb said:


> If you are disappointed by this, shop elsewhere next time and do lots of testing when you first buy a laptop. Make sure it performs the way you want it to perform without any limitations like this.


Truthfully, I researched laptops to buy under a specific budget ($300) and here I came across this Acer laptop. It was a bang in a buck! But as I experienced right now, it just means that I didn't research enough for it. I didn't know manufacturers put limits like this.

At least I figured out how to optimize this CPU and not only that, before, I could only get *1884pts *at Cinebench but right now, I have surpassed the attainable score of *3118pts! *I got *3461pts *on the latest benchmark! I'm already happy about it. But still hoping that there would be a solution to surpass OEM's limits.

Anw, thank you so much again for your time and your software! I am glad about the results!


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## unclewebb (Feb 19, 2021)

Shnxxx said:


> Do you think that it is possible in the near future that software could bypass/disable it?


The 15W long term limit is coming from deep inside the belly of the beast. No one has discovered a way to reprogram the EC. There is not likely to ever be a solution.



Shnxxx said:


> I didn't research enough


Very few people know about power limit throttling issues like this. It is a difficult subject to research because many review sites talk around this issue. Review sites will not have any laptops to test if they speak too honestly. 



Shnxxx said:


> how to optimize this CPU


That is all you can do. Learn to work within the 15W power budget.



Shnxxx said:


> thank you


You are welcome!


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