Surface Pro 4 i7-6650U power throttling issue?
- Thread starter theveterans
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GatsbyGlen
Member
I think it's easier to use power options in Windows and cap the max processor there. For example, with my I5, I created a profile that limits max CPU to 95% while on battery. When benchmarking with XTU, the CPU doesn't go above 2.3 GHz, so it never goes into Turbo.
GatsbyGlen
Member
The following will give you an idea. In order to get some of these settings, Connected Standby needs to be turned off (or you could use powercfg commands - I find it easier to turn off Connected Standby temporarily).
13 Ways To Save Power By Tweaking Power Plans In Windows
To turn off CS, change the following registry key from 1 to 0.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power\CsEnabled
Reboot, make your power option changes, and then set the key back to 1 and reboot.
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theveterans
Member
For those who own the SP4 i7, if you guys can share information regarding power throttling and gaming lag on CPU intensive games it would be helpful. Also, if there's a way to keep the GPU frequency to 800MHz on high CPU usage games, it would sure help the CPU keep the turbo boost.
I recorded the CPU usage of my SP3 i5 when playing CS GO deathmatch (most CPU intensive mode in CS GO) and sure enough my i5 is still in Turbo Mode 2.2 - 2.6 GHz even if the GPU is maxed out at 1 - 1.1 GHz. Frame rates are 40-70 FPS on 1080p resolution with some settings set to medium. Therefore HD4400 doesn't eat up most of the TDP unlike the Iris 540 GPU.
I recorded the CPU usage of my SP3 i5 when playing CS GO deathmatch (most CPU intensive mode in CS GO) and sure enough my i5 is still in Turbo Mode 2.2 - 2.6 GHz even if the GPU is maxed out at 1 - 1.1 GHz. Frame rates are 40-70 FPS on 1080p resolution with some settings set to medium. Therefore HD4400 doesn't eat up most of the TDP unlike the Iris 540 GPU.
GatsbyGlen
Member
Would the Intel Extreme Tuning Utility help? I understand you can create application profiles with it, so perhaps it's possible to configure something that is used while playing CS GO.
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theveterans
Member
I don't know. I never used Intel XTU myself. I monitored my CPU and GPU frequency using Intel Power Gadget during gaming. If there's a GPU frequency and even TDP limit then that would be a good compromise especially when the game needs those high CPU clocks so that it won't stutter.
GatsbyGlen
Member
You might find the following information interesting
Yes, the Surface Pro 4 has thermal throttling... but not what you think • /r/Surface
Yes, the Surface Pro 4 has thermal throttling... but not what you think • /r/Surface
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theveterans
Member
I wouldn't think that's the case. If that's so, how come on the original video, CPU and GPU throttle right away when CS GO is launched? But when the GPU is offloaded, CPU turbo's right away to 3.2 GHz right after closing the games (with the back case still hot). If you look at SP3's case, the CPU goes to turbo mode and GPU cranks up to max clocks until the case temp becomes too high then throttle. Even after closing the games, SP3 will still throttle until case temp reaches below threshold. There are videos where SP4 can video encode at max loads all day long yet it doesn't throttle despite the back case being very hot to touch (just as hot as SP3 when the CPU package temp is at 90 degrees C). IMO, we need more samples to find out the real root cause.
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theveterans
Member
You can play a CPU heavy driven game like CS GO. Make sure to monitor the GPU usage, GPU frequency, CPU usage and CPU frequency. GPU frequency when it's not throttling must be between 900 MHz to 1 GHz while CPU frequency must always be above 2.7 GHz (for the i7 model) during gaming. If you see a sustained low frequency of less than 2 GHz, you are experiencing power throttling while gaming. BTW, you can also run Prime 95 and you should see that the CPU frequency is always 3.0 GHz or higher as long as you don't put any load to the GPU.
