# Acer Nitro 5 AN515-53 Undervolting with Throttlestop



## ShangWang (May 25, 2021)

Hello all,

I undervolted my laptop to -0.1504 mv for CPU core, Intel CPU, and CPU cache.
I have a GTX 1050 GPU and I5-8300H CPU.

Since my laptop is "stable" and hasn't crashed, I'm assuming this is a good number but I'm not sure if TS bench is showing any errors.
When I run TS bench on battery mode I get a number between 25-35 no asterisks.

When I run it plugged in, 2 asterisk are shown on each side of the numbers.

What do the asterisks mean?
Screenshot


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## unclewebb (May 25, 2021)

ShangWang said:


> What do the asterisks mean?


The two asterisks just mean that it is a new high score. Your screenshot shows 26.444 seconds. If you run TS Bench again and it takes 26.200 seconds to complete the benchmark, it will show,

* * 26.200 * *

It just makes it easier to see a new high score.  If it took a longer period of time,

26.500

no asterisks would be displayed.

If there are any errors, it will show you this,







If you get 1 error after 5.6 seconds, your undervolt settings are not stable.


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## ShangWang (May 25, 2021)

unclewebb said:


> The two asterisks just mean that it is a new high score. Your screenshot shows 26.444 seconds. If you run TS Bench again and it takes 26.200 seconds to complete the benchmark, it will show,
> 
> * * 26.200 * *
> 
> ...


Thank you! I have never received an error before so I'm assuming 0.150mv is stable.


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## unclewebb (May 25, 2021)

ShangWang said:


> assuming 0.150mv is stable


Many of the 8th Gen 6 core CPUs were only stable at -125 mV. The 8th Gen 4 core CPUs like you have could be undervolted a little more. -150 mV is probably right on the edge of stability. You might get better overall results if you reduce the cache to -140 mV or -130 mV and then try to increase only the core towards -200 mV. These two voltages do not need to be set equally. Do some testing with Cinebench R20 when testing different voltages.









						MAXON Cinebench (R20.0) Download
					

CINEBENCH is a real-world cross platform test suite that evaluates your computer's performance capabilities. CINEBENCH is based on MAXON's award-winn




					www.techpowerup.com
				




Here are some Cinebench tests with different voltages on a 6 core mobile CPU.






						Cinebench Test.zip
					






					drive.google.com


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## ShangWang (May 26, 2021)

unclewebb said:


> Many of the 8th Gen 6 core CPUs were only stable at -125 mV. The 8th Gen 4 core CPUs like you have could be undervolted a little more. -150 mV is probably right on the edge of stability. You might get better overall results if you reduce the cache to -140 mV or -130 mV and then try to increase only the core towards -200 mV. These two voltages do not need to be set equally. Do some testing with Cinebench R20 when testing different voltages.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thanks, I heard that all values should be the same. Why would you want to reduce cache? What would it do?
Either ways the only reason I am undervolting is to reduce temperatures, but I have not seen any difference.


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## unclewebb (May 26, 2021)

ShangWang said:


> I have not seen any difference.


Did you download and have a look at the Cinebench pictures I posted on my Google drive? When running Cinebench R20, most users get better temperatures or better performance by running the core offset much higher than the cache offset. This trick reduces the CPU voltage when the CPU is running AVX instructions. Ignore all of the YouTube videos that say these two voltages must be set equal to each other. 

Try doing some R 20 testing. If your cache is stable at -150 mV you can leave it there. Run a baseline R20 test at core and cache both set to -150 mV and then do a second test with the cache at -150 mV and the core at -225 mV. Do you get the exact same temperatures and performance during these tests? Most users see an improvement by using different voltages. If your CPU is not stable during the second test then reduce the cache voltage a little and test again.


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## ShangWang (Jun 4, 2021)

unclewebb said:


> Did you download and have a look at the Cinebench pictures I posted on my Google drive? When running Cinebench R20, most users get better temperatures or better performance by running the core offset much higher than the cache offset. This trick reduces the CPU voltage when the CPU is running AVX instructions. Ignore all of the YouTube videos that say these two voltages must be set equal to each other.
> 
> Try doing some R 20 testing. If your cache is stable at -150 mV you can leave it there. Run a baseline R20 test at core and cache both set to -150 mV and then do a second test with the cache at -150 mV and the core at -225 mV. Do you get the exact same temperatures and performance during these tests? Most users see an improvement by using different voltages. If your CPU is not stable during the second test then reduce the cache voltage a little and test again.


Sorry for the late response, I've had other problems with hardware than worrying about temperatures lately.
Reducing the cache seems to make no difference in temperatures, maybe a slight 1 degree but not noticeable. I've set my CPU and GPU to -160mv, it seems stable and reduced temperatures by a bit.

Also I set voltages to -180mv and my laptop crashed, so I think -160mv is good enough. Will this crash cause any damage to hardware?


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## unclewebb (Jun 4, 2021)

ShangWang said:


> Will this crash cause any damage to hardware?


Usually not. Every time you start your computer, the CPU should be reset to its default settings. No harm, no foul.


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## ShangWang (Jun 4, 2021)

unclewebb said:


> Usually not. Every time you start your computer, the CPU should be reset to its default settings. No harm, no foul.


Thanks, also in general should GPU undervolt be the same as CPU? It's not like the GPU gets extremely hot anyway.


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## unclewebb (Jun 5, 2021)

You have a Nvidia GPU for the hard work. The Intel GPU is barely used so I would not undervolt it. You can lose stability without reducing power consumption any meaningful amount. 

You can undervolt the Nvidia GPU. If it is running cool, why bother?


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## ShangWang (Jun 5, 2021)

unclewebb said:


> You have a Nvidia GPU for the hard work. The Intel GPU is barely used so I would not undervolt it. You can lose stability without reducing power consumption any meaningful amount.
> 
> You can undervolt the Nvidia GPU. If it is running cool, why bother?


Maybe it might save some power? I just generally see people undervolt their integrated GPU just because, no stability issues for me.
Also should I go down to -150mv for my CPU? I've bench tested it at -160mv many times but I worry about stability for some reason. If it runs the bench test fine then there should be no issues at all right?


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