Undervolting Boost Performance by 20% reduce heat and noise

[cbrooker]

Haven't tried it as I'm not really into gaming on the SP3 but sounds like something some of you might find interesting.

TL;DR

Download Intel Extreme Tuning Utility aka Intel XTU
Undervolt the CPU & GPU
Less voltage = less heat = more time in turbo (higher clock speed) and better overall performance​

http://www.gamerheadlines.com/2014/...oost-performance-by-20-reduce-heat-and-noise/

 

[megatronium]

aaaaaaaaaaaaand just like that, those that cried "but SP3 is less powerful than SP2. Taking mine back!!!" have been schlacked! *awaits i7 SP3*

 

[mcsenerd]

I'll buy that for a dollar! Now, this firmly belongs in the YMMV camp, but if you've got a system that is stable undervolting, then most certainly on a system like the SP3...it could have a dramatic effect under some circumstances.

 

[GoodBytes]

Keep in mind that reducing the voltage of the CPU leads to reduce stability. And the level yoy can go, varies between CPU's. Some might be able to go down a lot, others not one bit.

 

[mcsenerd]

Yep... Therefore the YMMV statement. You've got to be willing to test, test, and then test some more. And due to the great variability between yields on processors and chips... one might be able to pull 80mV of undervolt and be perfectly stable while the next will only be able to do 40mV.

Furthermore... expect some very weird behaviors if you go "too" far. It can be more than just blue screens... it could be random lockups, weird or erratic behaviors, programs that refuse to launch properly, etch.

I still think it's worth giving it a shot especially if you're upset about the gaming performance. I'm doing about -70mV on both the CPU and Graphics chip right now and so far so good. I'll have to give it a lot of work before I'll declare it good for me.

 

[Seneleron]

Yea, undervolting is a lot like overclocking in that it's a bit of a crapshoot. Some chips bin better than others and can do a lot more with a lot less.

In THIS case, howerver, given the demanding power/performance/wattage scenario of the SP3, I'd like to THINK that they're using top binned chips.

. . .what, I *SAID* think .. . leave me my delusions!

I'll have to give it a shot at some point.

Also, runs a lot cooler while gaming if attached to external monitor.

 

[ctitanic]

It's really interesting if this claim is real that means that Microsoft can do it in the future and release some kind of patch.

 

[rquellet]

Thanks for the link! I'm at -50mV and dropping.

 

[mcsenerd]

Well, after further testing... at both -70mV and -60mV I'm getting reboots when the system attempts to enter sleep states. I've backed it down to -55mV and I'll give it some more cycles...I figured 70mV was going to be a bit too aggressive

 

[drolem]

In the article they wrote:

Highly unlikely you could corrupt your SSD from a sudden reset.

That is not correct. It's only "unlikely", not "highly unlikely", and it is more likely with certain SSDs than others.

I worked with SSDs a little while ago, and there were more than a handful SSDs that could be corrupted by a sudden reset.

 

[vtechump]

Any battery life improvements?

 

[Ninjarider1978]

I have seen some serious performance improvements using the XTU and the 3Dmark 11 demo. Originally I saw an abysmal score of 562. I started to gradually decrease the voltages on the 3 parameters and finally saw a score of 909, which is a 62% increase. My graphics is -62.5mV, CPU is -75.2mV and cache is -60.5mV. I pushed the CPU to -80mV but the SP3 crashed. I am still playing around so I will let you know if I see anything better. These results have kinda pushed me over the edge, I think I am going to bring this one back and exchange it because I have seen too many other performance tests that have scored poorly and I believe this one may be a lemon.