PERMANENTLYMOVED TO HERE:
//genexisx.blogspot.com/2019/09/laptop-undervolting-guide-intelnvidia.html
Hey guys. Welcome to my guide on how to undervolt Intel CPU / Nvidia GPU in your laptops.
A few notes before proceeding:
1. This is my own method on how to do it. There are a lot of ways toundervolt CPU+GPU, but this is how I usually undervolt withall the laptops I'd reviewedand withmy own laptop no issues so far
2. I will not be responsible if something catastrophic happens [see above - no issues so far]
3. I will try my best to make the explanation clear - will be using the undervolt profiles in my laptop as examples
4. As mentioned in the title, this guide is for those with Intel CPU [4th gen or later] or Nvidia GPU [10 series or later] or both only. I might do an undervolting guide on AMD CPU+GPU when I figured out how to do it
5. Yeah I know this guide isn't perfect...but I'll try to make it better
Any feedback/inquiryarewelcomed.
CPU undervolting:
I prefer using Throttlestop instead of Intel XTU since I had bad experiences with XTU and TS provides more options on CPU tuning [credits to @unclewebb]. First, download TS from here:
//www.techpowerup.com/download/techpowerup-throttlestop/
Extract the folder, then launch Throttlestop Application. If you see an error, download this:
//www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=40784[click download, tick x64 and x86, click next and install both of them after finishing downloading]
InitializingThrottlestop:
After opening Throttlestop, click turn on:
Go to options, tick 'start minimized' and 'minimize on close'. If you want, you can also tick 'Nvidia GPU' and 'battery monitoring'
Remember to click save every time you made a change
Now the main part -Undervolting:
Go to FIVR, click on 'CPU cache', tick 'unlock adjustable voltage'
Under adaptive [default setting] - offset voltage, slide left to -50mv [-49.8mv]. This is the undervolt we would start from, though you can start from -100mv if you're confident that it will not crash.
IMPORTANT: Click on 'OK - do not save voltages', then click apply and OK
Don't forget to apply the same undervolt for CPU core by repeating the steps above for CPU cache. Usually CPU core can be undervolted slightly more but you can leave it as the same with CPU cache if you don't want to do extra testing since there isn'tmuch difference in the end anyway.
Now the tricky part: Testing stability. There isn't a good way to test it. Usually I would suggesting running Cinebench multi core rendering for the first test. If it doesn't crash during and after the rendering,increase the undervolt valueby -5mv/-10mv increment[eg from -50mv to -55mv/-60mv]and repeat the rendering test. If it crashes, usually what would I do is to reduce the undervolt by 15mv/20mv [eg -150mv to -135mv/-130mv]. After that, use it for a few days - browsing web, watching YT videos etc. Playing games is also a good way to test stability.
If it doesn't crash/freeze for a few days,go back to FIVR and click 'OK-save voltages immediately',click apply and OK.
To auto run Throttlestop after startup, follow these steps:
Search task scheduler and run it. Undertask scheduler library, click 'create basic task'
Type a name, click next
Select 'when I log on', click next
Select 'start a program', click next
Browse and select where Throttlestop.exe is located, click next
Tick the following, click finish
Under general tab, tick the following
Go to 'conditions' tab, untick all including the greyed ones
Under 'settings' tab, untick all except 'allow task to be run on demand'. Click OK. Done!
Additional CPU tuning:
1.Untick BD PROCHOT from what I know, sometimes when CPU or GPU is thermal throttling, the other [GPU or CPU] will auto downclock to provide more thermal headroom
2.Unlock power limits [will work in most cases] sometimes increasing power limits/duration via Throttlestop/XTU wont work due to BIOS/firmware limitation. Use this to overwrite the default power limits [note that some models will not allow power limits to be overwritten even with this step]. [will expand this section soon with more explanation]
3.Speedshift set to a smaller value if you encounter clock speed drops in games not due to power/thermal throttling and wanted max clock speed. Works like high performance mode in Windows. Note that sometimes clock speed will not be at max in some games since it doesnt need the extra performance [to save power], therefore increase in clock speed will not have higher FPS. Set to a bigger value if you don't want the clock speed to boost too much
You can also do a custom profile, let's say you want a low power profile for light loads/battery or slightly lower all core clock speed for games. There are 4 profiles that can be saved. To rename the profile name just go to options and rename here:
GPU undervolting:
I prefer using MSI Afterburner to undervolt GPU, you can download it here://www.msi.com/page/afterburner. Also download Ungine Heaven - needed for testing://benchmark.unigine.com/heaven
Note for laptops with 16/20 series cards: Extra patience is needed since they are more voltage sensitive compared to 10 series cards, therefore the voltages points in voltage frequency curveare also increased [more on that later]. Also, clock speed fluctuate noticeably with 16/20 series cards.
In this case, I will be using my laptop as an example which hasa 1050TI GPU, however I might include undervolting example for 16/20 series cards in future.
First thing you need to do is to run Heaven [no need benchmark] with suitable settings [highest settings aren't necessary] and fullscreen disabled. In thiscase I use this:
Run it for several minutes and record the stable/average clock speed via Afterburner monitoring. Make sure it's running with dGPU not iGPU.In this case I got [note: Afterburner can't monitor GPU voltage, you need HWinfo64 for that]
Close Unigine, open Afterburner. First thing to do is to enable auto startup [for profile] by clicking the Windows icon [red means on]. Then, open voltage frequency curve in Afterburner. Put Afterburner and voltage frequency curve side by side
Open the curve here:
I prefer starting from -125mvfor 10 series cards and -100mv for 16/20 series cards;however, if you got a bad silicon, your GPU might not be able to do suchundervolt.
Click the point for 0.962V [since it's the closest after -125mv] and pull the point up until it reaches the recorded clock speed just now [1759MHz]. Record the increase in clock speed [+how much] - in this case I got +126
Close the curve and click reset [the return icon between settings and tick]. Under core clock, slide right to increase clock speed to the clock speed increase recorded just now [+126]. Usually I will increase 1 more clock speed [+127] to prevent any change in the curve [more on that later]. Open the curve and click apply [the tick icon]. Check again whether the point at 0.962V is adjacent to 1759MHz.
If there is a shift in the curve, then you have encounter the mostannoying part of GPU undervolting: Sometimes the graph will change/shift slightly after clicking apply, therefore you have to click reset and do it again. If you're unlucky, you might get a messed up graph [I encountered it before] and need to do it again also.
Now for the patience testing part: For all points after the set max voltage [0.962V], make them to be the same clock speed [1759MHz] by pulling down the points flatten the graph. Click apply. The graph might change slightly after clicking apply [again] - usually some higher voltages will haveslightlyhigher clock speed after clicking apply, all you need to do is just flatten them again.
If the graph is OK, save it to a profile:
Click the save icon:
Choose any from 1-5 - in this case I choose 1:
Click apply:
To confirm the graph is good to go, click the profile and apply again to see if there are any changes in graph shape. If there is a slight difference, you can ignore it or make slight adjustments and save again the end result will usually be the same. If the graph is messed up noticeably, unfortunately you have to do it all over again.
Now the tricky part again: Testing stability. For the first test, run Heaven.
If there is any deviation in the set voltage/clock speed during the test [eg 0.962V increase to 0.975V or 1759MHz drop to 1747MHz], there are 2 solutions:
1. Check the next clock speed increase - in this case, the next higher clock speed after 1759MHz is 1771MHz. Then, use the above method to set 1771MHz at 0.962V. Either it will not be stable and crash, not stable butdrop clock speed automaticallyor stable.
2. Set 1759MHz at the next higher voltage [0.975V] since the voltage used might not be stable for the given clock speed
If the GPU is stable after 1 run, use games to test stability instead. This might take several days. If it's not stable, try using lower clock speed or higher voltage.
If the GPU is stable, you can try to undervolt more by either:
1. Increasing the clock speed to the next higher voltage [1759MHz to 1771MHz at 0.962V], or
2. Decreasing the voltage [0.962V to 0.95V at 1759MHz]
Don't forget to repeat the same stability testing!
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If you still have doubts, feel free to comment below or PM me. Happy undervolting!
Edited January 31, 2020 by genexis_x