Core i7 620m CPU thermal throttling upon reaching 90 degrees, causing Turbo Boost to shut down

[CPU Speed Issue]

____________________________________________

Notebook: Acer Aspire 4820TG

Processor: Intel Core i7 620M

Graphics Adapter: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650

4GB(2x2GB) DDR3 RAM

____________________________________________


Hey there, I dunno if its just me or some of you might have the same issue regarding the speed of your i7 620m cpu during gaming or running Torture Test with Prime. So for my case, it goes like this..

Whenever I played a game with demanding specs on my laptop, the cpu speed of my i7 620m will downclock itself to a lower speed and multiplier, this happens after a while of gaming for like 2 - 5 hours , this includes running Prime as well. The cpu speed will then remain permanent(@1.3+Ghz) unless I restart my laptop without playing any power demanding games, then it will run normally with turbo boost @ 2.6 - 3.33 Ghz. If not it will remain @1.3+Ghz and there will be no turbo boosting.


[On Mafia II]









[LOOK TO THE BOTTOM RIGHT TO SEE FPS]
-During start of gameplay while cpu was running fine @ 2.6 - 3.33 Ghz
-FPS was at 40-60
-Very Smooth








[LOOK TO THE BOTTOM RIGHT TO SEE FPS]
-After a while of gaming
-FPS was about 20-40
-Noticeable lag during points of gameplay








[CPU SPEED WHEN IT WAS RUNNING FINE]



-Multiplier => x23.0
-speed is able to reach at 3Ghz
-Turbo Boosting is observed
-Temperature was hot about 85 degrees and above
____________________________________________






[CPU SPEED WHEN LAG IS NOTICEABLE IN Mafia II]



-Multiplier => x9.0 - x11.0
-speed maintains at about 1.3Ghz
-Turbo Boosting is not observed
-Temperature was cooled down to about 65 degrees
____________________________________________



ANY IDEAS ON WHAT THE PROBLEM MIGHT BE ?

I SUSPECTED THAT IT IS HEAT RELATED AND I NEED TO CONFIRM IT WITH YOU GUYS. THE CPU WAS RUNNING HOT AT 80 DEGREES AND ABOVE WHILE GPU AT 70 DEGREES AND ABOVE.

AND I HAVE NOT REPLACED THE THERMAL COMPOUND WITH ARTIC SILVER OR WHAT SO EVER.

I NOTICED THAT THE TEMPERATURE WILL DECREASE BY ITSELF TO 60+ DEGREES, THATS WHEN THE CPU SPEED DECREASES TOO AND MAINTAINS AT ABOUT 1.3Ghz WITHOUT ANY TURBO BOOST, IN THE MIDDLE OF GAMEPLAY.





Yours Frustrated

!<(Dhany)>!

 

What happens is the CPU overheats, and suddenly decides to turn off turbo boost. Immediately, the temperature falls, and the software isn't written to automatically turn turbo boost back on after one, minor, brief incident of overheating that happens whenever the laptop is already very hot. Meaning the software essentially decides to "permanently" turn off turbo boost if it detects even a brief moment of marginal overheating...

Some solutions;
- Put a cooling fan pad under your laptop in your main playing location
- and/or Improve the thermal compound
- and/or lower the clock rate slightly (if overclocking anything such as the GPU) to prevent the brief overheating incident.
- and/or find a utility to reset the throttling.
- and/or play in a cooler room (this problem may happen more often when the room is hot, such as during hot weather)
- etc.

Anything that improves the safety margin, since you may be running really 'close' to the overheating limits. If all the above doe snot appeal to you, you might try more minor things -- Even a minor thing such as putting the laptop on spacer blocks (to give half an inch of air below the laptop) might suddenly give the needed safety margin. It looks like you only need a single degree or two of safety margin, because you've been able to play for 5 hours until the overheating occurs.

 

However I did tried the intel burn test and stressed my cpu to look for any signs of throttling. The same problem occured with the turbo boost and its temperature was nearly 90 degrees or exactly, at max. It took a shorter time for the turbo boost to not work when running the intel burn test compared to hours of gaming due to the cpu being loaded to the max.

Is 90 degrees considered overheating in your opinion ?

Is the problem that I'm having normal for any laptop ?

I will look into the list of solutions you've posted and I appreciate your effort for helping

 

I guess the i7-620m is programmed to downclock when reaching 90C, so yes, the i7-620m considers 90C overheating. An i5 CPU could take up to 100C before downclocking.

I'd say the problem would be same for any laptop with identical cooling solution and CPU. The 4820TG has pretty weak cooling IMO (that is why the 3820TG is so much better).

 

Alright. I thank you very much for sharing this

 

Sorry, mispost!

 

I just had my 3820TG with the I5-450M running at 91C for an hour with no evidence of any type of throttle. http://forum.notebookreview.com/6666758-post4484.html Your I7 should be able to perform at those temps with no problem unless there is something in the 4820TG bios that causes it to throttle at that temp. The control should be in the core, not the bios. I think it is a CPU issue.

Bronsky

 

Is the i7 and i5 similar to each other ?

Hmmm... the bios ? Can you explain to me ?

Is this evident with other 4820tgs with the i7 620m cpu ?

Is this a serious issue ?

Damn I'm scared

 

No it's not a serious issue. The thermal sensor in your CPU might be set low or be overly sensitive. It might actually be designed that way ... I'm not sure about the 4820 because the 3820 has a dual heat sink/fan sustem and the 4820TG has a single cooling unit. That may be the reason for the limitations. There are ways to help keep the unit cool, like elevating the back a bit to increase air flow, etc.

You might want to see if Acer will look at the throttling issue even though you may have opened your case. Did you change anything?

Bronsky

 

No I have not changed anything yet. I just wanna have a look inside. Is it possible to email them ? Do you know how I can contact Acer ?

 

I would start at the website for your region. you can probably email them your problem and see what they want to do. I have found them to be helpful.

 

I had an 5820TG with i5-450M and it throttled when reaching 99C.

So when it throttles varies, depends on CPU and maybe also BIOS.

 

Can you explain in more detail ? I'm not too sure about this bios thing and how the cpu works. Why is mine so different...

 

Similar issues with other people

 

It could very well be a bad connection between CPU, GPU and the heat sink. Unlike my 3820TG the 4820TG has ony one so, the consequences would be worse if it did not do it's job. A good reconnection with a paste like IC Diamond would help if that was the problem. Knowing the real issue is half the battle.

Bronsky

 

woops mispost

 

*SO-CALLED* PROBLEM SOLVED

Thanks to this forum,
I've found out that that the turbo boost will work again when the battery is plugged in.

Everything is Ok for now