The ThrottleStop Guide

The 2820QM will have all the important stuff locked just like a 720QM/740QM or the 820QM/840QM. If you notice anything interesting or have any questions, can you post a ThrottleStop screen shot of your Sandy Bridge.

 

I have a question before I buy a sandy bridge laptop. I'm not exactly sure how the "turbo" feature works. However, would it be possible to force maximum multipliers on 2 cores of the 4 cores on a 2720qm while sitting at the lowest/low voltage possible? Does anybody know by chance if the multipliers are unlocked on the new SB processor engineering samples?

 

Unless the new Sandy Bridge CPU you are looking at is a 2920XM, multipliers are rarely unlocked on the ES CPUs. On the non-Extreme CPUs, it's not really possible to control the amount of turbo boost that the CPU gives you. The amount of turbo boost is mostly determined by the number of cores that are currently in the active state and the power consumption which is not adjustable. The less cores that are active, the higher the multiplier can go. If your CPU starts consuming too much power, the amount of turbo boost will rapidly cycle on and off.

There's also no way to adjust the voltage. Intel eliminated that feature. The Core i CPUs work quite differently than the Core 2 based CPUs that you are used too.

ThrottleStop is capable of monitoring Sandy Bridge CPUs but a lot of the adjustments that are possible in theory, are being locked by laptop manufacturers at the bios level so there is little that any software is going to be able to do with Sandy Bridge.

 

I was afraid of that

Guess its not going to be fun as using my Q9100, I hate not having control over my components

But thanks anyway for your work! Now, I gotta go find a 2920xm ES.......

 

Yeah that's why I feel that I'm gonna go back to desktops after I'm back from my studies abroad. I'm getting tired of having power efficient, cool components that could be overclocked like crazy but everything is locked down in the BIOS.

 

I have my brothers Samsung R580 which is currently running the Intel Core i3-370M processor, would I be able to utilize this guide to under-volt the machine appropriately?

 

No. There's currently no easy way to adjust voltages on a mobile i-core processor.

 

Haven't seen anyone else comment on this so I thought I'd post some pictures on what happens on my laptop with the 4k writes when the MSR values are changed.

When I boot my laptop, it starts with the auto-demotion values disabled and running at C6 value (as per the MSR values). As TS changes these values even when in monitoring mode, I don't have it running on my 1st screenshot.

In the 2nd screenshot I have the auto-demotion values enabled and TS set to C6, showing that the only difference is enabling auto-demotion.

This is a pretty easy test to run and see if you see any improvement with 4k writes. I know my 4k reads are low at the moment, but they don't change between the screenshots so this does not impact it. For me this works on the mobile chipset but would be great if someone else could try this also?

add: CDM is running in Random and not 0-fill.

 

See http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...s-4-5-965-chipsets-jjb-tweak.html#post6700345 to see SSD write performance improvements by changing demote parameters.

 

Yeah.. I've seen those but I'm not using them in this case.

This is running with normal High Performance plan and I'm only trying to show that in my case at least, I seem to get the same increase by simply enabling auto-demotion.

Even with Power-Saving plan (Multi is stuck at 7 on my CPU) I'm still reaching 48MB/s 4k writes. Hadn't tried this before but ran it just then.

 

error-id10t discovered a trick that significantly improves his 4K Write speeds so I added a new INI option to ThrottleStop to let users play around with this. Not all motherboards are going to show an improvement. This new option is only for the Core i CPUs. Core 2 CPUs are not supported.

CStateDemotion=

This value can be set to any value from 0 to 15 which lets you toggle on different CState options.
Here is Intel's explanation about what these changes do.

1 - C3 state auto demotion enable. (R/W)
When set, the processor will conditionally demote C6/C7 requests to C3 based on uncore auto-demote information.

2 - C1 state auto demotion enable. (R/W)
When set, the processor will conditionally demote C3/C6/C7 requests to C1 based on uncore auto-demote information.

4 - Enable C3 undemotion (R/W)
When set, enables undemotion from demoted C3.

8 - Enable C1 undemotion (R/W)
When set, enables undemotion from demoted C1.

If you wanted to use all of these options, you would just add up 1 + 2 + 4 + 8 and set this INI option to 15.
error-id10t is using the first two options so is using CStateDemotion=3

The next feature added is the ability to control the minimum timer resolution. Using higher values can significantly increase the C3/C6 residency time which can reduce power consumption. If you use ThrottleStop while on battery power, this might be useful. The new default values are 5 and 16.

TimePeriodAC=5
TimePeriodDC=16

All previous versions of ThrottleStop had both of these options set to 1.

For Core 2 owners, the Dual IDA code has been completely rewritten. It should be able to get into Dual IDA mode quicker and will also be able to get into Dual IDA mode even when the CPU is significantly loaded. It took about a minute but even when the C0% was never less than 90%+, my T8100 still managed to get into Dual IDA mode.

If you don't need to have ThrottleStop running after you get your CPU into Dual IDA, you can use the new ExitDIDA= INI option. Set that to the number of seconds you want ThrottleStop to run before exiting after it gets both cores into Dual IDA.

A feature added for Nando4 is the ability to delay a profile switch. He was having some BSOD problems when the profile would switch and lower the Core 2 VID before he had a chance to use SetPLL or SetFSB to lower the bus speed.

ProfileDelayDuration=

Set this to the number of seconds of delay that you need.

DelayProfile1=
DelayProfile2=
DelayProfile3=
DelayProfile4=

These 4 values can be used to control when you want a delay to occur. You may want a delay when you go from profile 1 to profile 4 but you might not need a delay when going in the opposite direction. The above keys refer to the profile you are coming from. The profile you are going to has the following values.

to profile 1 - use 1
to profile 2 - use 2
to profile 3 - use 4
to profile 4 - use 8

In the above example, if profile 1 was your performance profile and profile 4 was your battery profile and you wanted a 10 second delay when switching between profile 1 to profile 4 you would need to set the INI file to:

DelayProfile1=8
ProfileDelayDuration=10

If profile 1 is your overclocked high FSB speed profile then you might want a delay when switching to profile 2, 3 or 4. Add up the values, 2 + 4 + 8 and set:

DelayProfile1=14

If you want a delay when going for profile 3 to profile 1 you would use,

DelayProfile3=1

If this makes sense, you get a gold star. If not, send me a PM.

If you use ThrottleStop to run a program or script when changing profiles, there is a new timing option that lets you run the program or script before or after the profile change. If you have a Core 2 and ThrottleStop sees that you are using SetFSB or SetPLL, it will try to maximize the VID for 15 seconds for a smoother transition with less chance of a BSOD.

There have been lots of changes and some of these features might need some fine tuning so let me know if you have any problems and I'll see what I can do.

PS: Check out the ultra low C0% in the picture above. TS is one of the leanest monitoring tools on the planet.
Core i owners should see a significant increase in C6% when on battery power while using ThrottleStop.

 

This new version fixes an issues I was having on my DV5 in that after going from battery to AC, dual IDA would not start. Now it is near instant.

Thanks much.

One issue I just noticed, perhaps it not an issue, when on SLFM (SLFM, EIST, and C-states checked), it reports FID as 3.0 in the spreadsheet cells for cores but on top reports 6 x 133=798mhz. It should be 3.0 x 266 = 798mhz. FSB on this notebook is 1064mhz (266mhz x 4).

 

Great find!!!

I tested this on my Asus G73. Read speed remains the same but 4K writes went up from 21MB to 48MB/s

Thanks a lot!

 

2.0™: SLFM stands for Super Low Frequency Mode. What happens internally inside the CPU is that the bus speed gets cut in half. The problem is for software to try and report this correctly when the CPU is rapidly entering and exiting SLFM.

The most consistent way to report this is to use a fixed bus speed of 266 MHz and pretend that it is the multiplier that is changing. CPU-Z does this and ThrottleStop also does this in the FID column.

3.0 x 266 MHz = 798 MHz

If you want to split hairs, that's not what's really happening inside the CPU. If your CPU is stable in SLFM mode then the multiplier is really at 6.0 and it is the bus speed that has been chopped in half.

6.0 x 133 MHz = 798 MHz

At the top, ThrottleStop tries to show what's really going on inside your CPU. When SLFM rapidly cycles on and off, ThrottleStop might report some sky high multipliers based on the 133 MHz SLFM bus speed. I used to think this was impossible but it's not. My T8100 has a maximum IDA multiplier of 11.5 but when SLFM is enabled, it can use up to the 23 multiplier. Everest / AIDA64 will report these high multipliers correctly but it bases that on the full bus speed instead of the SLFM bus speed so the total MHz are over reported by a factor of 2.



Unfortunately, there is no way to use the high multipliers with the default bus speed. Believe me, I've tried. Disable SLFM and the high multipliers are gone. If I ever figure out that trick and get these old laptops running at 4500+ MHz, I'll be a hero.

Here's a boring video of the new Delayed Profile switching feature as I switch between AC and DC and then back to AC again.

YouTube - 20110308_1230_09.avi

Nando4 is hoping to use this so he can reduce the bus speed when switching to battery power before the VID drops.

 

Thank you for the excellent explanation.

 

Wow all that was just over my head. Will play around. Anyone got recommended settings? I like max performance when on power but also like to get the most out of my battery but it isn't essential. Also want to generally increase my SSD speeds (I've done the JJB tweak) Specs are in sig.

 

If you've already done the JJB tweak then this new CStateDemotion=3 ThrottleStop INI option might not show any improvement. We will have to wait for users to post some more test results. Try ThrottleStop with and without this option and see if it makes any difference. The non-Extreme users might benefit more from this than the Extreme users.

This new trick has also been shown to reduce laptop whine from the power circuits if you have that problem.

 

That's good to know. I'll pass this along to the Envy owners.

 

ThrottleStop 2.99.8

ColumnWidth=

This INI option lets you widen the columns in the table if you are using a non standard font. Here's an example on the previous page.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/7230873-post358.html

The default value is 49 but error-id10t will probably need a value of about 58 so that table fits properly. If you don't have this problem, you don't need this option.

DelayedStart=

Some users were having trouble starting ThrottleStop in the Task Scheduler due to it trying to start up too fast. Read the end of the second post in this Guide and if that doesn't fix your problem then maybe adding a couple of seconds of delay with this INI option might help the cause.


Nando4 mentioned that there were some conflicts with the various Exit options. I've separated the 3 automatic exit options so they can all be used independently.

ExitTime=

This runs ThrottleStop for the desired number of seconds before exiting.

DCExitTime=

This will cause ThrottleStop to exit whenever you switch to battery power and can be adjusted in the Options window.

ExitDIDA=

This will cause ThrottleStop to exit if you have a Core 2 mobile CPU after it successfully enters Dual IDA mode. You can now use any or all of these options, hopefully without any conflicts.

If one of these exit options has been selected and ThrottleStop is getting ready to exit and you decide that you've changed your mind, there is a new right mouse menu option to cancel this exit feature.

Good luck with TS. Time for me to take a break and maybe finally do something boring like create a proper web site or something.

 

Hey unclewebb, I was wondering will we eventually see some type of undervolting guide dedicated to Core i-processors? I was hoping to undervolt a Core i3-370M, but I've heard people say that there is really no easy of doing that.

 

The Intel CPU sends VID5..VID0 to a voltage regulator when then sets the CPU Vcore. Undervolting gives software control of those signals which works great in C2D CPUs. I haven't seen such a facility in i-core CPUs. Consider instead voltmod pinmods, examples for older CPUs are shown in http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...90696-bsel-mod-socket-p-explained-photos.html

 

You totally minded me mate with that last sentence. It took me about 10 minutes to understand what you were saying...lol. Yeah, that was my question about Core i-Processors, I'm sure someone will eventually discover how to do it.

 

Has there been any work done / reports with the i7-2920xm yet?

 

I don't know if this is an issue per-say (it's not for me), but the C states remain as you set them in TS even if you exit the program and/or logoff. Rebooting the system will 'clear' them to the standard values.

 

Does TS support the new Sandy Bridge processors? I ran it on my 15" MBP and everything looks legit...but I don't want to mess with it if it's not supported.

See attached.

 

ThrottleStop 2.99.9

-Low Battery Profile switching has been fixed

-if a Dual IDA request is in progress, it should get cancelled now when automatically or manually switching profiles.

-Alarm feature adjusted so it takes precedence over AC/DC profile switching.

Mihael Keehl: For Core i CPUs, Intel removed the voltage information from the FID/VID request register. Simple voltage adjustments like you can do with the Core 2 mobile CPUs are no longer possible.

electrosoft: ThrottleStop supports Sandy Bridge and the 2920XM but I haven't seen any testing yet. What magic ThrottleStop can do with these new processors will depend on how many CPU features laptop manufacturers leave unlocked in the bios. Even with an unlocked XM processor, the guys writing the bios are in full control. What ThrottleStop can do with a 2920XM on one motherboard might be totally different than what it can do on a different motherboard with the same CPU. The days of unlimited overclocking like you can do with a 920XM / 940XM are likely over.

sk3tch: Thanks for posting that picture. Everything looks OK. My friends burebista and Dufus did some Sandy Bridge testing for me on their desktop CPUs so everything should be OK on the mobile Sandy CPUs. The C7 button that is unlocked on your laptop is locked on some laptops and desktop motherboards so can't be adjusted. A Core i7-2720QM will likely have all of the important items in the TRL and TPL windows locked either by Intel or by the bios.

error-id10t: Some of the C State changes you can make using ThrottleStop are not restored until after you reboot. That's not a bug, that's a feature.

 

Hmmmm, I'm not particularly comfortable with the idea that an OEM could, at their discretion or with a BIOS update, suddenly render 3rd party application overclocking null and void assuming it hasn't been locked in the first place.

 

Well, that's a major kick in the rear...Thanks for letting me know the specifics. Is that answer forever, or perhaps just for the time being?

 

will this tool work to downvolt a celeron u3400?
I haven't found anything to achieve that so far

 

Hello I have a problem I have a CPU e8335 2,93mhz and I use trottlestop to lower voltage CPU very good temperature this cpu, the ventilators work with the sensorial CPU and is HOT up GPU NVIDIA 9600GT to me 104ºC, can be solved?

Thanks unclewebb very good program,sorry my english is poor i am spanish(barcelona).

 

Unfortunately, the U3400 is Arrandale based, so like all core-i CPUs, it cannot be undervolted through software.

 

At the time the current and power limits were locked by BIOS. Having modified the BIOS and unlocked those it seems the current limit lock in TS didn't work or the current limit setting itself. Since current limit seems to work much in the same way as 0x1AD it's probably not going to make much difference for this board anyway. Will try again with the latest TS when I have a bit more time at hand.

 

im extremely confused to say the least about this program.

There isn't any solid info as to what settings are applied to what...it kinda reads like stereo instructions.

Messing around with this and not knowing how it properly works is asking for trouble. Anyone with a i5 that can show their settings so some new people to this don't kill their machine...

Any help would be greatly appreciated....here is what im trying to do

Want use Throttlestop to max out my CPU while plugged into the wall. If im on battery, i would like the machine to operate normally, throttle down the cpu and such for more battery life.

Ive tried using the changing the settings in different profiles, but it DOES NOT save it to that particular profile, it saves all the info to all the profiles...

 

so you obviously havent read page one...

 

Go hear and read/try post #612:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...ock-core-2-extreme-multiplier-windows-62.html

* UNLK --> TurnOn --> tick 'Set Multiplier' -->> Jack up multiplier and VID right below it. When it blows, start over and increase the VID a bit more before jacking the Multiplier as much. And, your mileage will vary at bit, as each processor/laptop is different than others...

Great program, btw is gonna come in really handy...

 

i have a i5 core, dont think i can unlock the multi.

 

With that CPU you can change the Turbo Boost power limits.

Click the button "TPL" and make all the values really high (this doesn't specify how much power it will draw, it specifies how much it's allowed to draw). Keep an eye on temperatures after that, but it should be fine.

 

thanks, really high as in? give me a ball park number hehe...

 

I just set mine to 100 on everything to ensure it won't throttle the Turbo Boost, since I know my temperatures are easily under control (on my M15x's i7-620M, but it's the same idea). My CPU only draws ~27w though.

Try the ThrottleStop benchmark with and without it set like that to get an idea of what the difference is.

 

correction-

with 4 cores and 32m test i was almost 20 secs faster than with it off.

CPU got to 77C though...bought a cooler/stand.

I was using 100/100.

 

So to stop it i can just turn it off correct? or do i have to reboot my machine to go back to stock?

 

The TPL works independently from TS's main on/off toggle. You have to go back into the TPL window and reenter the original values.

 

thanks for the help...

can i set a profile in 3 and have to return to stock, then just change it to profile 1 when i want to activate it?

 

Hi all,

I messaged Unclewebb about this, but to potentially save hassling him has anyone experienced a problem with the CMod refusing to change. I've had this with all versions of ThrottleStop since around June 2010 including 2.99.9. The multiplier sets fine but the CMod will not budge no matter what value you try to set it at.

Thanks

 

Two questions? 1st, is there a Mac or Linux version of this app? I want to use an EE CPU on a Macbook Pro and just need to be able to adjust vcore and multi from within Snow Leopard 10.6.6

2nd, I have an ES model Q9200 and it apears it stock or fixed vcore is 1.3. Is that unusual or is this normal for them or some? It doesn't run hot even when in my Linux install. although, for some reason in my back up Vista OEM install from Toshiba, ThrotleStop reads totally different volts and displays over 0.1v higher in some my profiles. I found it reading 1.4v while only at my regular 3.06G wich never needed more the 1.3v

 

So, Unclewebb:

After reading through your TS threads several times and having experimented/blown up/BSOD my Lenovo W700 QX9300 setup numerous times, am I kinda right here on all of this?

* It's a tug of war between cpu temps vs. cranking it all UP, UP, UP.

* Higher multiplier eventually means a higher VID, as more horsepower is gonna require more voltage.

* Keep the sustained temps <= ~80C, correct?

* -Practical- limitations on a QX9300 are VID ~130-135, for -SUSTAINED- high utilization usage? If so, then the VID will determine the max multiplier, and the cpu temps will be the final overriding/limiting factor, righto?

Neat stuff you have going here, Unclewebb. Unfortunately(for me), my W700 is not very good at cooling the cpu chip. I'll look at coolers, reseating the chip, additional heatsink spreaders, etc., but I don't think I'll be able to crank this baby up as much as I originally thought. Right now, I can get by with a multiplier in the 11.0-ish range, but 13 or 14(Nice ) looks like a nogo at this point. I need sustained 80-100% usage and one hit wonders of 15 multipliers ain't gonna cut it. My workload only impacts cpu, so no issues with GPU, I/O or anything else.

 

I discovered one but big problem for me, if i understand well. TS can't profile called "dynamic switching" or "performance on demand" like NHC or Rmclock. I can only manually change low power to high power profiles
Shame

 

Lappie: At full load, if ThrottleStop is reporting a higher core voltage then it is not correctly recognizing your CPU as a mobile CPU and is using the wrong voltage formula. Try adding this to the ThrottleStop.ini configuration file to correct that problem.

MobileCPU=1

Post a screen shot of ThrottleStop and CPU-Z at full load if there is a problem.

There are no plans for a Mac or Linux version of ThrottleStop.

AMATX: Sounds like you are getting things figured out. When overclocking these, it's a balancing act between heat, VID and the multiplier you can use. The cooler you can run a CPU, the faster you can go before the BSOD monster visits you.

 

Ok, unc'webbie, thanks for getting back to me w/confirmation. Now, if I can just figure out how to bestest/easiest cool this baby down, I'll be able to really ramp it up a bit...

 

unclewebb, would it be possible to add support for the intel pentium M and intel pentium 4 line of processors? I would love to make my older laptops run more efficiently!