# My laptop is now 17% faster thanks to ThrottleStop



## paulrob (Dec 17, 2020)

I've just found ThrottleStop and installed it on my Lenovo Legion gaming laptop. Before installing it I was getting a PCMARK10 score of 4416 (after reboot and settling time). Installing and configuring ThrottleStop as per the ThrottleStop Primer now boosts my PCMARK10 score to 5165, with everything else the same. Thanks for this boost!


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## yotano211 (Dec 17, 2020)

I was using Intel XTU but now use throttlestop, with TS I have gotten an extra 4-6% from better undervolting.


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## unclewebb (Dec 17, 2020)

@paulrob - Post some screenshots of how you have ThrottleStop setup and attach a log file from a gaming session. Maybe I can help you find a little more performance hiding somewhere.

Good news on the horizon. Getting lots of pre-Christmas ThrottleStop development done. The next version will properly support Intel's 10 core CPUs. There is also a new monitoring window for those that like to see lots of data in a small area.






It has helped me get some solid performance out of a 10850K.
The 10 cores get hot when you put the spurs to them. Almost burnt down the house.


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## WatEagle (Dec 17, 2020)

Hi all, I'm also interested to try it on my i5 1035g1
If I use it and tune the settings, can I get more battery life with undervolting or also more performance?


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## paulrob (Dec 17, 2020)

unclewebb said:


> @paulrob - Post some screenshots of how you have ThrottleStop setup and attach a log file from a gaming session. Maybe I can help you find a little more performance hiding somewhere.
> 
> Good news on the horizon. Getting lots of pre-Christmas ThrottleStop development done. The next version will properly support Intel's 10 core CPUs. There is also a new monitoring window for those that like to see lots of data in a small area.
> ...


@unclewebb  Thanks for the feedback and screenshots. I'll attach my screenshots here FYI. My laptop currently has a 512 GB DDR3 NVMe SSD at the moment, so I'm waiting on the delivery of a faster 2TB DDR4 NVMe SSD to replace it with. Should be here before Christmas. I'll try the PCMark10 again after I've transferred the system to the new SSD, then do gaming tests after that. Really appreciate your feedback. My problem is I don't know what I can tweak reliably without getting hiccups and BSODS etc, so I went conservative. 
I tried to get Lenovo to install an HDD as well, there's a spare bay for that, but they couldn't find the right screws for it, would you believe! The machine's only a year old.

In the PCMark10 snips, the left side is before, and the right side is after TS installation. 

BTW, before any of this, I (carefully) dismantled the machine and blew the dust out of the fans with a can of compressed air. That should help with the cooling, as they were both pretty clogged and dusty.


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## unclewebb (Dec 18, 2020)

@paulrob - Looks like you are already getting some good performance out of your laptop. Here are a few suggestions to try.

The Intel default thermal throttling temperature for a 9750H is 100°C.








						Product Specifications
					

quick reference guide including specifications, features, pricing, compatibility, design documentation, ordering codes, spec codes and more.




					ark.intel.com
				




In the Options window, some manufacturers are using a PROCHOT Offset value which forces the CPU to start thermal throttling prematurely. Your laptop is set to 6 so instead of throttling at 100°C, your laptop will start throttling 6°C sooner at 94°C. Many laptops use a value of 3 which will start throttling at 97°C. Try a few different values. When you decide on a value you like, check the Lock PROCHOT Offset option. On some Lenovo laptops, some Lenovo software can drop the thermal throttling temperature down to 70°C or less. Most users have no idea what is going on when this happens. It can cause a significant drop in performance so best to lock this setting to prevent this type of extreme and unnecessary throttling from happening. Lenovo is the only manufacturer that I know that is doing this.

The best way to fine tune your voltages is to download and run Cinebench R20.








						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
				




Your scores will be easy to compare to others. For a baseline setting, adjust the core and cache offset and set these both to -100 mV.  After that, leave the cache at -100 mV and start increasing only the core in steps of -25 mV. Most 9750H will perform better and still be stable with the core at -200 mV. If you reach a point where you do not see any increase in performance then set the core to the previous value that worked best for you.

Before you run the above test, set the Intel GPU voltage back to +0.0000. When you undervolt the Intel GPU, you also have to undervolt the iGPU Unslice equally. If you only undervolt one of these, your request will be ignored. On a gaming laptop, the Intel GPU is not used when gaming. When it is used, it is mostly lightly loaded so there is no benefit to undervolting the Intel GPU. It can cause instability which will limit your CPU undervolt. The CPU is much more important so concentrate on that one.

I would recommend checking the FIVR Disable and Lock Turbo Power Limits feature. There are multiple sets of turbo power limits that Intel CPUs use. Checking this box will prevent one set of these limits from being used inappropriately.

Overall, things look good. You must have been doing your Google homework! When your computer is idle, how high is your C0%? Too much stuff running in the background can increase the C0% number which means your CPU is creating heat. Getting the idle C0% down will result in a laptop that runs cooler and smoother. Post an update after you get your new drive installed.

Edit - Here is some interesting 9750H user testing that was sent to me.

















Looks like -125 mV cache and -200 mV was a sweet spot.
Not all 9750H are 100% stable with the cache at -125 mV. If yours is, this can help the cause.


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## paulrob (Dec 18, 2020)

unclewebb said:


> ...
> Overall, things look good. You must have been doing your Google homework! When your computer is idle, how high is your C0%? Too much stuff running in the background can increase the C0% number which means your CPU is creating heat. Getting the idle C0% down will result in a laptop that runs cooler and smoother. Post an update after you get your new drive installed.
> ...
> Not all 9750H are 100% stable with the cache at -125 mV. If yours is, this can help the cause.


@unclewebb 
Thanks again, you're a fountain of knowledge! My new M.2 SSD came in today and it replaced my system drive happily. 
I took on board all your comments and did some finer tuning. I found my sweet spot was a CPU offset voltage of -185 V, which gave me a Cinebench score improvement over 8.6% (from 2341 to 2543 plus moving up from 8th place to 7th place)  on top of previous improvements (I didn't try without TS). I bumped the CPU offset from -100 mV in 25 mV steps, then backed off a bit when the Cinebench score went backwards at -200 mV. The system seems to be stable enough (no glitches yet). My C0$ numbers on idle are hovering around 3-4%. I also ran another PCMARK10 benchmark and got a score of 5553, which is 25.7% higher than my score from the OP. 
Thanks so much for your guidance!


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## unclewebb (Dec 18, 2020)

*My laptop is now 25% faster thanks to ThrottleStop*

@paulrob - I guess you need to change the title of this forum thread. 
Thanks for sharing your results. Amazing what a bit of fine tuning can do.


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## paulrob (Dec 18, 2020)

unclewebb said:


> *My laptop is now 25% faster thanks to ThrottleStop*
> ... I guess you need to change the title of this forum thread.


@unclewebb I would if I knew how, but I don't see any forum options that will let me do that.
Happily running CyberPunk 2077 on the gaming laptop now. Didn't have enough storage before (it's a nearly 60 GB download!), and the extra grunt is very welcome.


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