My I7-9750H Never Hits Full Turbo Clock Speed

[Spare15]

I recently purchased a Lenovo Y545 with a 9750h. Lenovo already overclocked it to the processor's max turbo ratio at a value of 45x. In games where a full processor load is necessary, the CPU only boosts up to about 4.2 Ghz. It never hits 4.5 Ghz. I did use throttlestop to lower my CPU core voltage and CPU cache voltage to -140.6mV each. I've tried updating the BIOS, and tried setting speedstep to a value of 0.

All cores are already maxed out at a 45x multiplier.

Here are the settings I currently have on throttlestop.

And finally, my FIVR settings.

 

[lmille16]

Have you checked your temps while playing the games? If you aren't hitting max Turbo, I'd guess that you are hitting the thermal limits for the processor.

 

[FreedomEclipse]

Do you use a laptop cooler of any sort? Even if you dont have one just use a book or anything to prop up the back of the laptop a little to give the fans some air to breath.

you can always go a step further and re-apply thermal paste to something better. MX-4, NT-H1, Kryonaut - even AS5 and LM but you have to be careful how you apply those and take the necessary precautions .

 

[Spare15]

Have you checked your temps while playing the games? If you aren't hitting max Turbo, I'd guess that you are hitting the thermal limits for the processor.

Do you use a laptop cooler of any sort? Even if you dont have one just use a book or anything to prop up the back of the laptop a little to give the fans some air to breath.

you can always go a step further and re-apply thermal paste to something better. MX-4, NT-H1, Kryonaut - even AS5 and LM but you have to be careful how you apply those and take the necessary precautions .

Temps aren't a problem, I usually hit 86c on more intensive games, and mid to high 70's on less intensive ones. Even right now, with my speedstep at 0, and my temps at 50c, its sitting right at 4.2Ghz. I don't think its thermal throttling, I used to have an ASUS GL, that laptop would overheat quite often and throttle down to the 1.2Ghz range.

 

[lmille16]

Also, from what I'm seeing, if your work load is utilizing all cores then you will not hit 4.5ghz. The max all core turbo for that chip appears to be 4.0ghz. You can try to find a benchmark that will work just a single core and see what that does.

 

[eidairaman1]

Thermals are limiting factor in any laptop along with the power brick size

 

[Zach_01]

Temps aren't a problem, I usually hit 86c on more intensive games, and mid to high 70's on less intensive ones. Even right now, with my speedstep at 0, and my temps at 50c, its sitting right at 4.2Ghz. I don't think its thermal throttling, I used to have an ASUS GL, that laptop would overheat quite often and throttle down to the 1.2Ghz range.

75~85C is already high enough. Its not throttle temps but the processor from a certain temp and up always is trying to prevent hitting the throttling trigger by adjusting(reducing) clock/voltage.
At this point if you want more clock you can try to cool the laptop better, if there is any way.

 

[king of swag187]

Probably power or thermal throttling, consider yourself lucky with 4.2 as most chips are locked to 4 if that.

 

[Spare15]

75~85C is already high enough. Its not throttle temps but the processor from a certain temp and up always is trying to prevent hitting the throttling trigger by adjusting(reducing) clock/voltage.
At this point if you want more clock you can try to cool the laptop better, if there is any way.

I have some Mx-4 on hand so I might do a repaste. So what your saying is that the CPU is adjusting it's clock in order to stay in boost as long as possible without just instantly hitting it's determined throttle temp?

Also, from what I'm seeing, if your work load is utilizing all cores then you will not hit 4.5ghz. The max all core turbo for that chip appears to be 4.0ghz. You can try to find a benchmark that will work just a single core and see what that does.

I'll try seeing what one core alone can put out. I also found a tutorial on core parking, I might try it out, I don't think I'd need all 6 running at the same time.

 

[unclewebb]

This is not a K CPU so it does not support all core turbo. If you are using ThrottleStop, the Turbo Ratio Limits should be set to 45, 44, 43, 42, 41, 40 from top to bottom. When 6 cores are active, 40 is the maximum multiplier. Having these all set to 45 will be ignored by the CPU.

In the FIVR section, I recommend installing the necessary driver and using the Disable and Lock Turbo Power Limits feature.

Your XTU screenshot shows that the Turbo Boost Power Max is set to 20 Watts. That is a big mistake. For maximum performance you need this up over 60 Watts. The turbo boost short power max should be higher still. These can both be adjusted in ThrottleStop. The Disable and Lock feature will help to keep these at their recommended values and will prevent Windows or other software from making any unwanted changes.

Close as many apps as possible and only have ThrottleStop open on the desktop. Try running a 1 Thread TS Bench test. You should see a high multiplier during this test. There are always hundreds of Windows tasks running in the background, waking up additional cores so you will never see the full 45 multiplier for any length of time. If you have a lean system without a lot of background clutter, you might get pretty close to 45 during this test.

Its not throttle temps but the processor from a certain temp and up always is trying to prevent hitting the throttling trigger by adjusting(reducing) clock/voltage.

That statement is not true at all. Do some high temperature testing. Intel CPUs will happily run right up to the thermal throttling temperature without a hint of throttling. They will not slow down 1 MHz until they hit the thermal throttling temperature. Intel CPUs run just fine even when they are as hot as hell. Here is Prime95 warming up the CPU cores and Furmark warming up the Intel GPU. Neither one is throttling yet.

https://imgur.com/xwIZ5h4

 

[Zach_01]

I am not familiar with throttlestop app.
And for sure I don’t like to see my CPU hitting 80 or 100C during workload.

Feel free to work your hardware as you like...

 

[Spare15]

Thank you unclewebb, I did some tweaking with the "Disable and Lock Turbo Power Limits". I also parked some cores through "Processor Power Management". I am now hitting around the 4.3-4.5 Ghz range.

 

[Wahib1997]

Thank you unclewebb, I did some tweaking with the "Disable and Lock Turbo Power Limits". I also parked some cores through "Processor Power Management". I am now hitting around the 4.3-4.5 Ghz range.

Hey mate, i was wondering if you could provide screenshots of the exact changes you did to boost the i7-9750H to 4.5GHz, my one refuses to boost past 4Ghz. Cheers

 

[unclewebb]

For the Core i7-9750H, when all 6 cores are active, the maximum multiplier is 40. That means the maximum speed is approximately 4000 MHz. You cannot go beyond this speed when fully loaded.

If you are not seeing above this speed when running a 1 Thread test, go into the bios and make sure you have enabled the C states. These are necessary so the CPU can access the maximum 45 multiplier when partially loaded.

 

[Wahib1997]

For the Core i7-9750H, when all 6 cores are active, the maximum multiplier is 40. That means the maximum speed is approximately 4000 MHz. You cannot go beyond this speed when fully loaded.

If you are not seeing above this speed when running a 1 Thread test, go into the bios and make sure you have enabled the C states. These are necessary so the CPU can access the maximum 45 multiplier when partially loaded.

Isnt the C states a power saving feature?

 

[unclewebb]

TechPowerUp is more of a desktop oriented forum so many people recommend disabling the C states without fully understanding them. On non K CPUs, enabling the C states is necessary if you want to take advantage of the highest multiplier. The 9750H will not use the 45 multiplier unless you have at least the core C3 C state enabled. Yes, it is a power saving feature but in this case, it is also a performance feature. Having a more powerful and cooler running CPU is not a bad thing, especially in a laptop.

 

[Wahib1997]

TechPowerUp is more of a desktop oriented forum so many people recommend disabling the C states without fully understanding them. On non K CPUs, enabling the C states is necessary if you want to take advantage of the highest multiplier. The 9750H will not use the 45 multiplier unless you have at least the core C3 C state enabled. Yes, it is a power saving feature but in this case, it is also a performance feature. Having a more powerful and cooler running CPU is not a bad thing, especially in a laptop.

On my laptop bios i don't have a setting to enable/disable C3, is there anywhere else i can look?

 

[unclewebb]

ThrottleStop can show you what C states your CPU is using. I think HWiNFO has this information too.

Post some screenshots of your problem. What app are you using for monitoring? Some are not accurate when a CPU is partially loaded.

 

[Wahib1997]

ThrottleStop can show you what C states your CPU is using. I think HWiNFO has this information too.

Post some screenshots of your problem. What app are you using for monitoring? Some are not accurate when a CPU is partially loaded.

Ill post some screenshots when i get home, i'm using throttlestop like spare15, thats why i'm curious as to how they achieved 4.2ghz-4.5ghz overclock.

 

[unclewebb]

When you get home, try running the TS Bench test and select 1 Thread. You should see a multiplier much higher than 40 during this test. If it is locked to 40, that is definitely a problem. The less Windows background activity going on, the higher the multiplier can go during this test. Some people have a lot of clutter running on their systems so multiple cores are active processing junk. Use the ThrottleStop C0% data. When idle, this should be showing 0.5% or less. Post more info and I will definitely help get you going in the right direction.

 

[Wahib1997]

When you get home, try running the TS Bench test and select 1 Thread. You should see a multiplier much higher than 40 during this test. If it is locked to 40, that is definitely a problem. The less Windows background activity going on, the higher the multiplier can go during this test. Some people have a lot of clutter running on their systems so multiple cores are active processing junk. Use the ThrottleStop C0% data. When idle, this should be showing 0.5% or less. Post more info and I will definitely help get you going in the right direction.

Thank you mate for your help, ill definitely do that TS bench when i get home and will post the outcome and current settings i'm using

When you get home, try running the TS Bench test and select 1 Thread. You should see a multiplier much higher than 40 during this test. If it is locked to 40, that is definitely a problem. The less Windows background activity going on, the higher the multiplier can go during this test. Some people have a lot of clutter running on their systems so multiple cores are active processing junk. Use the ThrottleStop C0% data. When idle, this should be showing 0.5% or less. Post more info and I will definitely help get you going in the right direction.

I did the TS Bench with 1 thread however it still refused to turbo past 4ghz, ive posted the test and my throttle stop settings, im not sure what to do from here.

 

[Wahib1997]

When you get home, try running the TS Bench test and select 1 Thread. You should see a multiplier much higher than 40 during this test. If it is locked to 40, that is definitely a problem. The less Windows background activity going on, the higher the multiplier can go during this test. Some people have a lot of clutter running on their systems so multiple cores are active processing junk. Use the ThrottleStop C0% data. When idle, this should be showing 0.5% or less. Post more info and I will definitely help get you going in the right direction.

Any chance you're able to help?

 

[unclewebb]

ThrottleStop can show you what C states your CPU is using.

Where is a screenshot of the ThrottleStop C State window? When your computer is idle, non-K CPUs have to be able to go into either core C3, C6 or C7. As my screenshot above shows, modern Intel CPUs typically have the cores spending close to 99% of their time in core C7. If your maximum multiplier is being limited to 40 during the TS Bench 1 Thread test, it is usually because the C states are disabled. It would be very unusual for a laptop manufacturer to deliberately disable the C states and not provide any options in the bios to turn them back on.

If the C States are working properly, try increasing the PP0 Current Limit to 100. It is presently set to 0 which typically means that it is not being used.

The default Turbo Ratio Limits for the 9750H from top to bottom in ThrottleStop should be 45, 44, 43, 42, 41, 40. You cannot overclock this CPU using the multiplier so there is no point in setting these any higher than those values.

In the TPL window, the default Turbo Time Limit is typically 28 seconds. There is no need to max out the slider to 3670016.

When under volting the Intel GPU, you have to under volt the iGPU Unslice equally or else your Intel GPU under volt will be ignored. If you are using the Nvidia GPU when gaming, under volting the Intel GPU may not even be necessary. Set both of these to 0 until you get the turbo multiplier figured out.

Some users have had success by under volting the CPU Core more than the CPU Cache. If you use an offset of -100 mV for the Cache, I have seen screenshots where the Core offset is set to -200 mV. I have not had a chance to prove whether this actually works or not. Setting core and cache equal is a good place to start and then you can play around with this later to see if there is any difference.

 

[Wahib1997]

Where is a screenshot of the ThrottleStop C State window? When your computer is idle, non-K CPUs have to be able to go into either core C3, C6 or C7. As my screenshot above shows, modern Intel CPUs typically have the cores spending close to 99% of their time in core C7. If your maximum multiplier is being limited to 40 during the TS Bench 1 Thread test, it is usually because the C states are disabled. It would be very unusual for a laptop manufacturer to deliberately disable the C states and not provide any options in the bios to turn them back on.

If the C States are working properly, try increasing the PP0 Current Limit to 100. It is presently set to 0 which typically means that it is not being used.

The default Turbo Ratio Limits for the 9750H from top to bottom in ThrottleStop should be 45, 44, 43, 42, 41, 40. You cannot overclock this CPU using the multiplier so there is no point in setting these any higher than those values.

In the TPL window, the default Turbo Time Limit is typically 28 seconds. There is no need to max out the slider to 3670016.

When under volting the Intel GPU, you have to under volt the iGPU Unslice equally or else your Intel GPU under volt will be ignored. If you are using the Nvidia GPU when gaming, under volting the Intel GPU may not even be necessary. Set both of these to 0 until you get the turbo multiplier figured out.

Some users have had success by under volting the CPU Core more than the CPU Cache. If you use an offset of -100 mV for the Cache, I have seen screenshots where the Core offset is set to -200 mV. I have not had a chance to prove whether this actually works or not. Setting core and cache equal is a good place to start and then you can play around with this later to see if there is any difference.

Thankyou for responding mate, so i did what you said but its still staying max 4ghz, ive attached a screenshot of the C states, they are all reading 0, does that mean that they are disabled, if so how can i enable them since there is no option in my bios, maybe in the registry?

 

[unclewebb]

C states, they are all reading 0

That is what I have been saying. If your screenshot was taken when your CPU was idle, it shows that all of your C states are disabled. No C states means the CPU multiplier cannot go higher than 40.

There is either something wrong with the bios or there might be something wrong with Windows. There are lots of settings that are controlled by the bios but not all of those settings can be easily accessed by the user.

The first thing to check is the Windows registry. Open regedit and navigate to this key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Intelppm

Have a look for a key called Start. What is this set to? The default value is 3. If this is set to 4, it will disable your C states and limit your maximum turbo multiplier. If it is not 3, double click on Start and try setting this to 3, push OK, exit regedit, reboot and see what happens.

What are your idle temps with only ThrottleStop open? If you get your C states enabled, your core temps might drop 10°C or so.

Make sure you are running the latest bios for your laptop. If this bug is bios related, it might have already been fixed. Hopefully you do not have to do a clean install of Windows to get to the bottom of this.

Edit - Here is an interesting comparison on my 4th Gen laptop. I used the registry trick to disable all of the C states. In both examples, I gave Windows lots of time to settle down. With C states disabled, reported power consumption was way up and core temps were way up too.

With C states enabled, the idle package core temp dropped from 54°C to 40°C. If you use your laptop on your lap and you ever plan to have a kid, that's gotta help!