MSI GT75 TITAN-094 finally found time to OC!

So I finally got around to OCing my MSI GT75 TITAN-094 (Got it at XoticPC, my second laptop from them). What a beast. I found my sweet spot at all cores at 48x, 101 reference clock, and a -.140 (ran with -160 too) Core Voltage offset.

Cinebench R15 (OpenGL 166/fps, CPU: 1541):
https://1drv.ms/u/s!AukjPmqdkwFfgoBE9f0ryifZ7_s-DQ
https://1drv.ms/u/s!AukjPmqdkwFfgoBF-WqsR_lgP6Dh0A

3DMark(Fire Strike: 20593, Time Spy: 8042, Sky Diver: 47587):
https://1drv.ms/u/s!AukjPmqdkwFfgoAzdT2h3tSrbD_RAg

Specs/OC:
https://1drv.ms/u/s!AukjPmqdkwFfgoA16Vkg8H9xbentYA

Idle and Max Temps:
https://1drv.ms/u/s!AukjPmqdkwFfgoA0Se7XZeuwWjg86g

To overclock my MSI GT75 TITAN-094 that has a i9-8950HK, 64GB, GTX 1080 I did a bunch of research and it was hard to find good information. here is what I ended up doing.
1) I uninstalled Dragon first and reset my CMOS (be careful if you have RAID to catch the BIOS and enter into it after a reset to flip it to RAID before you boot windows). To reset your CMOS just hold the power key down for 60 seconds. Then wait 2 minutes. Then turn it back on. You might need to do this when OCing if you get in a bad state and the laptop will not boot too.
2) In the BIOS I disabled Intel Virtualization, VT-D, and CPU C States. I had too much memory to use Xmp but if you bought faster memory and you have 32GB turn on Xmp.
3) I used Intel Extreme Tuning Utility. 3 important things to watch are the Thermal, Power Limit, and Current Limit Throttling. You never want to see any of these go yellow. I was able to get a stable OC of my CPU at 4.8 GHz on all cores, I run 24x7 with this. When I bench I set it to -140 to -160. 24x7 I set it to -160 (cpu ref clock 100, gpu mem clock 600). This is the magic sauce that keeps the temps down under load. Now running the stress tests and the benchmark in this utility I did see my Thermal Throttling hit yellow a few times here and there but I run 24x7 on this. I have even benched at 4.83+ with a Core Offset voltage of -160 to get my best 3D Mark scores but I only ran 3D Mark with these settings. Processor Core IccMax needs to be set at 200 to get enough power. Turbo Boost Power Max needs to be set at 200 as well to keep the chip from throttling. Of course other than setting my Cores to 48 x I didn't change anything else.
4) I used MSI after burner to OC my GPU. Here is a link to be able to get more voltage: https://rog.asus.com/forum/showthre...-quot-voltage-control-quot-in-MSI-Afterburner
5) Every laptop is different and what you can OC the CPU and GPU will be different start out slow and bump the CPU Cores all together (keep them the same speed) 1 unit at a time. Same thing with the GPU but do the core clock first then the memory.
6) My 3D Mark scores are Fire Strike 20593, Time Spy 8042, and Sky Diver 47587
7) Notice I did not set my CPU voltage and I undervolted it using negative values for the Core Offset Voltage. This is to keep the temps down and the voltage stable. At a minimum you will want -100 to keep the voltage stable.
8) I read and tried to dump my BIOS and possibly try a custom BIOS but that did not bear any fruit for me. I could not find the load line I read needs to be set to 1 for AC/DC. This is dangerous and you could brick your laptop so I do not recommend doing this unless your a super expert at this stuff and even then I do not recommend it since setting Core Offset voltage to -100 or less takes care of the issue overall it seems. And you need to drop this anyway to reduce temps.
9) I turn on max fans when benching but not when running 24x7.
10) One bummer is every time I boot the Turbo Boost Power Max needs to be set at 200 again because it gets set back to the default of 45 (I think 45 is it or close to it). The BIOS is responsible for this I believe. If you don't do this the CPU is throttled. This will do it from a command line: 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Intel\Intel(R) Extreme Tuning Utility\Client\XTUCli.exe' -t -id 48 -v 200
11) I re-TIMed my CPU and GPU with IC Diamond, although this isn't 100% necessary, it's fun to do, took about 1 hour, and it definitely helps with temps.
12) Changed 2 default NVidia Control Panel Settings. Set Image Settings to Performance and Power Management Mode to Performance. Turned off GSync
13) Intel XTU Turned off Real Time Memory Tuning

For my 24x7 OC I ran the CPU and Memory stress tests in the Intel XTU Utility, MemTest64, And the Intel Processor Diagnostic Tool 64bit. But most important I ran my everyday work load for a week straight with no issues. I don't OC to game (I game very little). I OC because I run Hyper-V VMs on my laptop that run Windows Server 2019, SQL Server 2017, Visual Studio 2017, and a bunch of other software that I use to architect and develop applications for the Web. A stable OC saves a huge amount of time and gives me much faster response times that helps my lack of patience and productivity.

 

Very nice. Thank you for the in depth step by step, this does make things easier.

 

I put all my games on Ultra, set to 60FPS, increased the fan speed curve just a bit and never have a problem with CPU or GPU performance.
I believe the GT75 was built around the premise that you don't actually have to OC(d) and other stuff, it was built to handle extreme gaming just fine out of the box (updates required).
The one thing bench marking programs cant do is provide an inconsistent environment to test in, lousy written software, with memory leaks, poorly designed graphics engines and other issues is the real benchmark, as its not perfectly written software.
Benchmarks are just that, benchmarks and not real software results.
Other than dumping in some SSD's and RAM, I couldn't be happier with a stock GT75.
If it ain't broken, don't f**k with it.
Nice post and info though ...

 

MSI made this laptop, Intel made this CPU, and Nvidia made this GPU all to OC, the GT75 was NOT built around the premise you don't have to OC, specifically shown by the capabilities of Dragon Center alone. Like I posted above I do NOT OC for gaming. I use my laptop for work running Hyper-V VMs. The 4.8Ghz OC makes a huge difference for performance of not only the VMs but also day to day usage of normal applications like Office, Edge, etc. It is noticeably faster than stock w/o the benchmarks. Benchmarks and stress tests are just a way to lock in a great and stable OC. The VMs I run perform some long running tasks like running unit and integration tests that are minutes faster. So it is broke and I fixed it. To not take advantage of that IMHO is a waste. The stock with Dragon Center and turning up the fans is very power limiting and throttles the CPU under load dramatically reducing the performance. Sad you knock what you haven't tried and you don't take advantage of what you bought. And BTW there is no such thing as perfectly written software anyone who uses or develops any software knows this. And the industry standard benchmarking software is well written and very consistent.

 

MSI put out a new BIOS for this laptop. I do agree it makes thigs more stable but it puts too much power through and now my OCs throttle more and it makes them perform worse. Not a lot but enough to bug me.

 

I have to take back my previous statement and remove my foot from my mouth. I am very happy with the new BIOS. Its' stability is outstanding. Also another forum member contacted me and gave me a tip on how to set the AC load line to 1. After doing that my bench scores all went up. I was able to clock at 4.9 GHz stable too but the temps throttled my CPU and my scores were worse. Here are my better scores at 4.8+ GHz (4.8 plus 101 BCLK, 190 under volt):

Time Spy: 8049 (This didn't improve much)
Fire Strike: 21004 (this improved the most)
Sky Diver: 47994

I am going to try and run stable now 24x7 at just 4.8 GHz which is what I have been running now on the old BIOS for several weeks.

 

Could you please let me know the bios workaround? And what is better throttle stop or XTU?

 

They all have their strengths but most of the professionals here prefer ThrottleStop because there are differences among them.

 

Thank you!

 

Yeah I am not comfortable sharing how to unlock the BIOS. Hopefully the person who shared with me how to do it will contact you directly like they did me and tell you how.

 

I prefer Intel XTU. It IMO has better full control of the computer by far.

 

This makes no sense to me. "Professionals" would prefer Intel XTU IMO because you have better control of the computer's settings as a whole. ThrottleStop seems like a program for a novice to me. And actually the BIOS is the best way to OC which is what this thread is about.

 

Intel XTU is far more limited, but "feels proffessional" only because of the GUI. Throttlestop exposes far more information and it's best if you know what you are looking for. I would recommend Intel XTU if you don't want to fiddle much, Throttlstop as standard, and BIOS tweaks only after you found your final settings and want a "permanent" solution.

At least that's how I roll.

 

Too funny the GUI "feel" has nothing to do with it. We can agree to disagree. I can point out several settings Intel XTU lets you change that ThrottleStop does not. ThrottleStop is far more limiting. Cache and memory settings for instance. And even basic Core settings. Also Intel XTU modifies your BIOS settings for you. ThrottleStop would be a poor choice for OCing IMHO.

Also Intel XTU takes command line args like this:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Intel\Intel(R) Extreme Tuning Utility\Client\XTUCli.exe' -t -id 48 -v 200
So you can do things like change settings on the fly with one click, schedule tasks, etc. even with multiple changes in a command file.

Intel XTU is sensitive to the CPU it is being used to OC and has different settings available accordingly.

Not to mention Intel XTU's built in monitoring, benchmarking, and cpu/memory stress testing.

Also I think my results posted in this thread speak for themselves using the methods I posted about.

 

Agree about the BIOS overclocking being ideal, but ThrottleStop is actually a far more useful program than XTU. XTU is garbage for the most part, and it causes instability. I actually view XTU as a product for novices more than ThrottleStop. XTU used to be pretty decent back in the Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge days, but it started getting suckier about the time Haswell was released. Depending on what the OEM retards have decided to lock down in the firmware, there are some things XTU has zero control of that ThrottleStop allows you to tweak, and having the on-the-fly profile switching is extra sweet.

 

Folks can note I have never lowered myself to calling ThrottleStop names like "garbage" to dissuade folks from using it. I have tried very hard to stick to facts for my position.

Intel XTU does not cause instability that is just an untrue statement. Anyone with actual experience using Intel XTU saying it is the reason for instability and their use of the program is not just doesn't understand OCing and needs educated, and further backs my position it is for advanced users. Anytime one OCs they can cause instability by making incorrect settings like setting the clock speed too high for the voltage etc. Instability is caused by the person OCing not the software.

Intel XTU has gotten worse overtime is another untrue statement it has gotten better and like I mentioned before is CPU sensitive in what you can control.

The statements you make about Intel XTU seem to be fear tactics, vague, etc. to dissuade folks from using Intel XTU and to use ThrottleStop not facts. That kind of approach usually never works with educated folks and is a big red flag.

Intel XTU can control way more settings than ThrottleStop and that is a fact and I gave concrete examples you gave none. Anyone who has used both knows that. Intel XTU also allows the saving of profiles and one can quickly switch to any profile, but even better yet you can save unlimited named profiles.

To my knowledge OEM's are not retards (once again the name calling wow). There are 2 major BIOS manufacturers Phoenix and American Megatrends and it has been that way for a very long time. The motherboard manufacturers choose one and then configure/program/change/control what they want on top of the BIOS including the interface in some cases (most common in PC/Workstation motherboards not laptop motherboards). Then resellers can once again make alterations. But at the end of the day most everything is accessible if you know how. For example the BIOS on my laptop can be unlocked which I did to control more settings. Also even if the BIOS interface is configured to lock out certain BIOS settings Intel XTU can still control/change those settings.

The fact that we can even change some BIOS settings like clock speed while the computer is running w/o re-booting or even going into the BIOS is a feature of the UEFI BIOS unlike the older BIOS architecture. All of these feature/functions are provided at the core/base level including the microcode by Intel. If you choose to use a third party tool to control your OCing good luck. I will stick with the software created by the company that builds what is being OCed (not everything the motherboard, memory has plenty of things too but Intel builds the reference MB usually too) and controls the gateway to do the OCing and has provided me a tool, Intel XTU, that has given me the fastest way with the most stable results I have ever had. I no longer find it better to OC just using the BIOS. I set some things in the BIOS then I use Intel XTU to get to the best OC the fastest way possible and the most stable. It is just a tool that makes OCing easier and faster. Also for benching and game playing the profiles are the best because everything can have a custom OC to yield the best results possible, not always the most stable but the best for that particular use.

As a final thought one tool may or may not allow a person to control a BIOS setting which can change overtime, but what is most important in the tool is the capability to change the important BIOS settings that are changed over and over to get the best OC for the current use at the most granular level possible IMO. And what I look forward to is like ASUS has done with their PC and Workstation motherboard BIOSes adding a feature to auto OC for two reasons. One is for the novices who don't want to deal with this at all but want to get the most out of their hardware. And two for more advanced users to get to a base OCing spot faster that they can tune from even finer. They even have this auto OC feature for GPUs and it is pretty cool/nice. This kind of feature also can hook a novice into wanting to learn more which is just awesome because education/knowledge is king.

ThrottleStop may be the best tool out there for getting rid of the different types of CPU throttling that can happen with the least risk of instability, who knows, I haven't tried all the tools out there and it really doesn't matter. If you want to start a thread on that have at it. This thread is not about stopping CPU throttling. Its about CPU OCing and in particular getting the best benching scores I could with the OCing as well as a stable 24x7 OC. And providing education on how I did it.

 

And all above don't know what they talk about... You can start here Mr. Fox @ HWBOT

Please tell me what settings outside memory oc'ing is only for XTU. ***

So locked down firmware (or all too low power limits) is just fine?

BIG claims... Can you tell me how many (what) laptop models and from all brand you can unlock the firmware? Thanks.

See your own post *** above.

And finally. Can you run Cinebench R15 and post your bench results done with XTU? Stock clocks and higher. I will see if I can match them with ThrottleStop. Thanks

Maybe @Falkentyne which is the MSIbook Oc guru can post some info.

 

I could care less about someone's rankings on any site that is using name calling and scare tactics like Intel XTU is garbage and it causes instability. They are both absurd statements. I have an extremely high 3DMark CPU score for Time Spy Extreme for my main rig but I don't tout it or use it as an excuse to make absurd statements on threads in forums.

I already gave several examples of XTU settings ThrottleStop doesn't have, once again cache settings like memory being some. But there are more try it for yourself it is a free download.

I have no idea how to unlock every BIOS but given there are only a few BIOS manufacturers I doubt there are that many ways to do it. But I could care less if the BIOS is locked. When I unlocked mine to set the AC Loadline to 1 it made my laptop unstable waking from sleep so I put it back. I have no unlocked BIOS settings set right now. There are other ways with Intel XTU to control the power. I am just stoked I can even OC my laptop. It wasn't that long ago we couldn't OC our laptops with mobile chips.

I already posted my Cinebench15 scores I achieved using Intel XTU in my very first post if you read the thread. But once again I could care less if you can or cannot beat me using whatever tools w/whatever hardware.

Like I said this thread was about OCing for benching and getting a stable 24x7 OC. And telling folks how I did it to educate. Nothing else. If you want to start your own thread on how to OC with ThrottleStop have at it. At least I was out here posting to educate and help people not knocking tools with unfounded statements.

Also you should read ThrottleStop's own first paragraph describing what it does:
"ThrottleStop is a small application designed to monitor for and correct the three main types of CPU throttling that are being used on many laptop computers."
No where does it tout itself as a OCing tool. And it's name says it all. I am not knocking ThrottleStop at all. I just don't use it to OC my PCs and laptops. I prefer Intel XTU as I have shown in this thread.

 

You have probaly read the thread... http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...-under-volt-in-xtu-without-opening-it.802143/


Be you sure. Me and the others who have posted in your thread have already tried/used XTU. Hence some of us have another meanings about the tool than you. Only memory oc'ing lacks in TS. The rest is already implemented + other useful tweaks you won't find in XTU. Read the TS guide thread if you want see whats in there.

This is somewhat wrong...

Yeah, I saw it in OP. But many get better oc results with ThrottleStop.

None knocking on how you do it. Or that you prefer XTU. For the records.. Your thread is a valuable contribution to the community. None have doubt this.

Me and the posters above have read and contributed in the ThrottleStop guide for many years. What the first paragraph describing isn't all what the tool can do. And the first paragraph (OP post) has been mostly unchanged since the old days. Don't be fooled by what is written in there (OP post). Rather read inside the thread.

 

When I undervolted with Intel XTU it updated my BIOS with the undervolt and it stuck. I never had to ever start Intel XTU to get my undervolt after setting the undervolt. Intel updates XTU all the time and it is different for each CPU like I mentioned before. So the version I am using on my CPU works great/fine for undervolting never had an issue. Like I mentioned before all the settings I changed in Intel XTU were updated in my BIOS by Intel XTU.

Your statement of ThrottleStop only lacking the memory control is not true. Like I mentioned the cache settings. Not sure what CPU you have used Intel XTU on or what version you have used. Sounds like you have been using ThrottleStop so long you might not remember.

For you to claim many get better results on Cinebench with ThrottleStop is just funny to me. First your gonna beat me with ThrottleStop now many get better scores already. Whatever it takes for you to feel better I guess and try to convince others to use your preferred tool. I could care less like I said before.

I never said what the first paragraph mentioned was all it could do. But to claim it is a OCing tool to me is just not logical. I would never use it on my main rig either. I just prefer Intel XTU it works well for me on both my main rig and laptop. And like I mentioned before it is built by the company that builds most every part of what it controls or they did a reference build that others build off of for what it controls.

If you guys want others to try a tool you prefer over one that is shown proven results like I did in this thread you might not want to come out name calling and using scare tactics it is a total turn off to educated folks. Given my interactions with you guys on this thread I have no interest at all in ThrottleStop now, even though I downloaded it (after the first person responded with it as an option/question to use), tried it, and was at first open minded until all of this stuff transpired, the missing settings, the Windows 3.1 GUI , etc.

 

I use to update this thread so i know how often Intel release new updates... http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/intel-drivers-updates.782418/page-36#post-10894335

Regarding stability... " Note: Undervolting can also be done with XTU, however due to the performance impact the software/service has while running, plus its many bugs with re-applying/identifying CPU data, I recommend ThrottleStop instead."

46x (i9-8950Hk should be equal 6 core 8700K). 2.5bin lower clock speed.

I would just use bios with a desktop computer.

 

Here is the latest version of Intel XTU if you wanna update whatever:
https://downloadcenter.intel.com/do...treme-Tuning-Utility-Intel-XTU-?product=66427

Intel XTU doesn't use a service any longer. It updated my BIOS and doesn't have to load to get my settings in place. They removed that part of it. Like I said you have been using ThrottleStop so long and haven't given Intel XTU a try in a while it seems.

Using Intel XTU with a desktop computer cuts the time it takes to OC drastically and why they have UEFI BIOS now so we can change the BIOS settings without going to the BIOS and or rebooting every time. It also gives me the capability to have different OC profiles for different uses.

 

I already posted the thread with latest XTU but thanks Regarding use of it... I used it last fall to gather up some more points on the Bot. On two different machines. But nothing have really changed.

FYI. Some MSI models haven't opportunity for reset NVRAM. With a unstable undervolt I have seen people run into boot-loop or no post. They are screwed and only MB replacement fixed their problems.

There is other tools instead for XTU. I know it's Intels own OC/stress test tool but not all MB's firmware play nice with it.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...ners-welcome-too.810490/page-79#post-10657111

But that said... More tools for the task the better. Some prefer the mother while others prefer the daughter. Not all like/want the same. Regardless. + Rep for the thread

 

Mighty kind of you to give me reps thank you.

 

I updated to Windows 10 Pro feature 1903 without any issues. Haven't had time to bench with it yet but thought I would let folks know the update when on fine. Now I do keep all my software up to date to the latest versions and that was done first of course. Intel XTU is still working great for me with no issues. My 4.8 GHz 24x7 OC is working fine still. You may not have access to feature 1903 update yet but it is coming more than likely before the end of this month from Windows update. I installed it from the ISO MS released that had a GA April release date on it, then it proceeded to install 2 cumulative updates from Windows Update. The first update went on immediately when I checked for updates, the second you had to select because they have a 7 day wait (this is configurable to some extent) by default now in Windows update. Just to further clarify this was General Availability (GA) of 1903 not pre-release/early adopter/insider stuff. I actually updated 3 laptops (2 Lenovo and 1 MSI), 1 VM (Enterprise version), and my main rig described in my signature below with no issues.

 

Oh if you run VMs and use Hyper-V manager to manage your VMs remotely you'll need to run this powershell command if you already haven't:
Enable-PSRemoting -SkipNetworkProfileCheck
1903 for some strange reason doesn't list the default switch anymore in the net connection profiles and it is public which stops remote access via Hyper-V without running that command.

 

Regarding newest version of XTU. A few words about it from firmware/software developer in Obsidian-PC http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...-by-obsidian-pc.801464/page-413#post-10910503

 

with liquid metal, copper shim and new thermal pads was able to get these results stable and max temp while playing any game is 82