The Definitive Guide to Acer Aspire Gemstone Blue Throttling Issues

7-10 minutes of ORTHOS stressing both cores to 100%.
Thermal paste replaced with Arctic Silver 5 about a year ago.
Vents cleaned regularly.

 

Angelwings, where did you get your realtek sound drivers for your clean installation of windows 7? Did you use any of the Acer drivers?

I'm asking this because some people have reported some benefit from newer sound drivers on the German forums linked above.

My throttling was often accompanied by crackling sound from the Tuba. Even if drivers are not a real fix, maybe they use less resources and help out a bit with temps.

 

TehSuigi, what temperature do you reach with you Orthos testing ?

I tested with Linx(a Linpack derivative) @ 1.25V for ~40 minutes and I never throttled under 7. My temps never reached higher than 74-78C though (not sure if i remember right)

I was under the impression that both CPU and GPU needed to be stressed to get throttling.

 

Nope, I throttled at 58 degrees Celsius on Vista, and around 61 on 7. ORTHOS only, no GPU stress at all.

 

Some of my drivers are from the acer website but only things like my wireless drivers ect, no epower or launch manager, no acer software, I got my realtek driver off the realtek site R240 Driver, throttled 3 times when gaming this evening, each time had to to put it to sleep and wake it up, I do find putting the laptop on my cryo lx helps alot but does not fix the issue fully, infact the first time i throttled was about 2 min into the game when my temps were low, a faulty trigger I reckon. I must say though my laptop used to shutdown when gaming after about 30 min with temps over 100 oC :0, but after i had applied artic silver 5 paste and cleaned the vents and heatsinks and undervolted to 1.0000v, It doesnt shutdown anymore, thats something i guess.

8930
P8600
9700M GT

 

Thanks Weinter, I will upload them tomorrow for you on mediafire, thanks again for your time and effort, if you can solve this for us, Im sure you will become a god

 

Weinter, here is my DSDT AML file

Here is the report RW file

 

Here it is.
I did 2 of them
http://forum.notebookreview.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=43354&d=1263403887
I removed Sleep (0x0A) from V2 because it seems redundant
http://forum.notebookreview.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=43353&d=1263403887
You have to remove the .txt extension.
To get this AML file download and install Microsoft ASL Compiler.
In command prompt with Admin permission
use "cd" to change directory to the folder you put the AML
Type
asl /loadtable [filename here]<filename>.aml
Restart and test.

Another suggestion is to undervolt your 9500M GS so your heatsink don't have to handle as much heat coming from the CPU and GPU as well.
Download Nibitor from MKVTECH then run the program with admin permission, read the BIOS and set lower voltages.
Then create a boot disk and flash the VGA using nvflash.

</filename>

 

Careful though - a bad video card BIOS flash means that you lose your display until it's flashed back to normal.
Create a crisis USB key with an autoexec.bat that automatically runs nvflash back to the original BIOS just in case.

 

You acer people should consider using Throttlestop to see if it addresses your CPU throttling problems. I also have a GPU throttle fix (for nvidia GPUs) that should work for you as well. See the M15x throttling thread here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=439546

 

LOL
You Acer People?!!
I am just a person I don't belong to Acer and my race isn't Acer either.
You are really a joker...

 

I would try it but the link doesnt work in the thread, is there anywhere else I can download it from or can you put a working link on this thread for me to try.

Can you help please

All I get is this.....

 

Here you go: http://www.sendspace.com/file/42x3zb That's the link for throttlestop which takes care of CPU throttling. The GPU fix is done via RivaTuner. I'm not sure if this will work for the problem you guys are having but there's no harm in trying.

 

Hahahahahaha, you've made a girl very happy, its took 12 whole months to sort this problem out.......

Ok so first I added powermizer to windows registry and then downloaded powermizer swith (powermizer alone does not stop throttling as I thought it did a few days ago)
I then downloaded the throttlestop 1.75 and ticked Clock Modulation 100%
Chipset Clock Mod 100%
Tick Set Multiplier, my highest is 9x (9.0) so thats what I set it to.
Tick voltage, I undervolt so changed Voltage ID to 1.0000
Then turn throttlestop on (enable)

Now run your game........ I did a 6 hour test to make sure..........
I tested it on Batman Arkham Asylum..very high settings..also ran rmclock to monitor

Results..

No throttling, not even once in 3 hours (I always throttle after 2-5 min, always)

So then I rebooted with powermizer still off but NO throttlestop running and it throttled after about 5 min..

Turned throttlestop back on and played for a further 3 hours with no throttle at all, checked rmclocks from time to time, all fine.

It seems that the clock modulation stops all throttling.

UPDATE.. I tested it on, crysis,burnout paradise,lego indi 2,dirt 2, street fighter 4 with NO throttling..
I retested with throttlestop off again and it throttled on every single game.

A massive massive thank you for this program it has solved all my problems, not really 100% sure how it works but it works !!

The only test I have left to do is to try throttlestop enabled and powermizer on to see if that makes any difference
Anyways the bottom line is that powermizer off and throttlestop on my throttling troubles are over, I suggest everyone with this throttling issue to try it and let me know if it works for you too,
Funny that the Joker made my Batman game playable lol
Also a massive thank you to UncleWeb

 

I would take a look at my temps to make sure everything is alright. I was doing some heavy testing last night and I started to throttle (joy!). Needless to say, once i removed the throttle with RMClock, My CPU temps shot up to 90C FAST. Not good. The heatsink couldn't keep up with the GPU + CPU stress testing.

 

Is it the undervolt or the throttlestop?

 

Your welcome angelwings. When I read over the problem listed on the first page I figured the Acer's were having similar throttling issues as some Dell notebooks. UncleWeb will likely be paying this thread a visit since I've PM'd him already. It seems the existing ThrottleStop solves your problems. Also, you can keep powermizer enabled. Turning it off will just reduce your battery life when idle and run your GPU at higher temps.

 

Ok ive done further tests, this test was with NO undervolt and powermizer ON and throttlestop enabled......

No throttling occured at all but what i did notice is my temps were higher than usual, I undervolted again back from 1.0250vto 1.0000v and played again with throttlestop enabled temps were better.
I did test the temps with throttlestop off and the temps were lower but not by much, as Ive said before my laptop sits on a cryo lx cooler to so I never get temps that are too high.
I keep expecting to throttle as its done it for so long now but so far so good, I will continue to test....

 

Your temps will definitely go up because the bios's active forcing of the CPU to continually modulate it's multiplier is counteracted. ThrottleStop has a great function built in that lets you monitor and log the active state of your CPU cores. Those of you that wish to test and compare can freely do so and post your logs.

 

Ahh yes I will monitor my logs and take a look.
The slightly higher temps do not concern me as they are not at dangerous levels.
I have tested this throttlestop program all day (took up my whole saturday ) and I can confirm that my laptop never throttled once with this program enabled. I see no need to do any further tests now.
I can now play games on it without throttling.
Hope unclewebb drops in on this thread anyway, I think a donation is in order!!

 

Strange - unclewebb and ThrottleStop were here before, and it didn't work on my machine.
But hey, if it works for you guys, I'll put a link in the first page of the topic here.

 

It didnt work for me until I clicked the Set multiplier to my max multiplier which is 9x in the throttlestop window, I cant see why it shouldnt work for everyone.
When I set the multiplier I noticed in RMClock monitoring that my cpu and thottle graph would show activity (its hard to explain as im no tech), Im sure unclewebb can describe things alot better than me.
I also dont know if the RMClock settings.......(Ensure that both “Force normal throttling” and “Enable normal throttling” are unticked, and that “Lock throttling settings” and “Apply these settings at startup” are ticked) works on the same concept as throttlestop or if its completely different (I couldnt try the RMClock method as these options were greyed out, didnt recognise my chipset)

Just to add one final thing, I no longer use the powermizer switch as it makes no difference in gaming with powermizer on, I ony need throttlestop enabled to stop the throttling.

 

Well, I'll wait until there are more cases of it working before calling it the official NBR-Acer fix.
I personally don't need it because undervolting cures my throttling - this might be helpful for people who undervolt and still throttle.

 

When I was working on ThrottleStop, most of the feedback I was getting was from Core i7 users so I concentrated on them.

If RM Clock works for users, that's great, but it doesn't fully support the newer Core 2 chipsets or the newer CPUs with 0.5 half multipliers. When I was using RM Clock, it recognized my older chipset so items weren't greyed out but it was not able to keep chipset clock modulation turned off.

The ThrottleStop chipset clock modulation function might not function correctly on non-Intel chipsets but for all of the Intel chipsets I've used it on, it has worked great.

Here's ThrottleStop 1.80
http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/3/3/1794507/ThrottleStop.zip

If you would like it to show you your approximate core temperatures in the monitoring panel instead of DTS then go into the ThrottleStop.ini file and add this:

TJMax=100

Most of the newer 45nm Core 2 CPUs need to be set to 105. If you're not sure try running RealTemp and open up the Settings window and it will report what it thinks the TJMax is for your CPU or you can look up your CPU on the Intel site for further info.

http://processorfinder.intel.com/

ThrottleStop doesn't have the advanced features that RM Clock has but I tried to make it a lot easier to use.

Due to lack of feedback I have no idea if there are any problems on Core 2 CPUs. Post some screen shots if you have any issues and I'll check this forum once in a while. Send me a PM if you need to get my attention and remember to thank users like joker who spent lots of time giving me feedback so I could improve ThrottleStop.

Angelwings: If you can, post a screen shot of CPU-Z and RM Clock so I can see what CPU you have and what the graphs look like. Some Intel CPUs use a feature called Intel Dynamic Acceleration where the multiplier will be constantly varying when the CPU is lightly loaded. RM Clock might be showing that in the graphs or might be confused by that since it doesn't support the half multipliers correctly.

 

Hi unclewebb, thanks for everything,(ive already thanked joker) Ive not got cpu-z (i will download it but i think the picture of my system inf0 should be enough)


The pictures of the graph were taken only a couple of sec between and you can clearly see the difference in both graph pictures, when gaming though, it always looks like the second graph and never moves.

What is the max multiplier of this chip, is it half eg 9.5x ?? Im abit lost, in RMClock the max multiplier is 9x
Hope this info is what you wanted

 

Sorry unclewebb this gives more info on my cpu

EDIT... I tried to increase the multiplier in throttlestop from 9.0 to 9.5 but my laptop blue screened and restarted .....oops, stable at 9.0 though

 

Did you have the VID set as high as it could go before trying the 9.5 multiplier?

If not that can cause a crash. I'll try to explain that more once I check out your graphs and learn some more about your CPU.

http://www.cpu-world.com/sspec/SL/SLB3S.html

 

Well I have also undervolted using RMClock to lower my temps, the default voltage was 1.0250v and i managed to get it down to 1.0000v and stress tested over night, all ok and stable, so in VID in throttlestop it is set to 1.0000v same as RMclock which is always running to use my undervolt.

 

Just a quick note, I didnt show my temps in RMClock graph as they dont show the correct temps

 

The P8600 supports Dynamic Acceleration which means if your bios also supports this that this CPU can use a 9.5X multiplier when one core is in the active state and the second core is in the C3/C6 sleep state.

What actually happens is the second core is constantly waking up to process background activity. Every time it wakes up, the maximum multiplier will only be 9.0 and when it goes back to sleep, the multiplier will jump back up to 9.5. Most people don't realize that this can happen hundreds of times a second based on load. Most software does not report the multiplier correctly when this is happening.

With ThrottleStop 1.80 and the maximum multiplier set to 9.0, what does it report in the monitoring panel for the multiplier while running a single thread of SuperPI mod?

http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/366/

If you can use the 9.5 setting without a blue screen then it should report slightly more than 9.0 but probably won't ever hit the full 9.5. It's a bit of a gimmick and might not be useful if you have to significantly raise your voltage settings to remain stable. It's best to start with too much voltage and work your way down. The voltage for 9.0 will not likely be enough for 9.5.

For a P8600, use TJMax=105 in the INI file for ThrottleStop 1.80 and it will show your correct temperatures.

 

I understand some of this....sorry but Im not very good, ( a wee girl lost in the tech world haha, I think Ive done ok though) what is the report in the monitoring panel for the multiplier while running a single thread of SuperPI mod?, im lost with this part and how do I use TJMax=105 in the INI file for ThrottleStop, I havent got a clue on how to do that, I think I will stay with 9.0 multiplier with my lower voltage unless Im going to see a big enough increase in performance when gaming using 9.5 with a higher voltage (back to 1.0250v but wont that raise my temps again?)
Sorry for sounding abit of a noob but hey the main thing is I dont have a throttlng problem anymore thanks to you, as always thank you for your time and help.

 

In the ThrottleStop folder is a file called ThrottleStop.ini

Open that file up and edit it. Add one line:

TJMax=105

Save the file and then start up ThrottleStop and the monitoring section of the right hand side should show you the correct core temperature now.

SuperPi mod is a testing program that loads one core of your CPU. You can download it from the link I posted. If you use that program to calculate a million digits of PI (a 1M test) then it will take some time to figure that out so you can look in the monitoring section of ThrottleStop and see what multiplier it is using.

The left side of ThrottleStop is where you request what you want your CPU to do. On the right side it is more of a monitoring section to show you what you are actually ending up with. Running a single threaded test like a SuperPI test will allow your CPU to use its 9.5 multiplier for some of that test so your computer will be faster if it does.

If you are happy with your 9X multiplier then leave it at that. The 9.5X multiplier will only get you a very minor increase in performance at the expense of needing more voltage to be stable which creates more heat. That's not a good thing with a laptop.

Users that don't have heat issues and want more performance might want to look into this further.

Anyone that tries this test should post a screen shot of ThrottleStop half way through a SuperPI calculation so I can see what it says.

 

Yes I understand now...
When I open the throttlestop folder though I dont see ThrottleStop.ini
Heres a picture of the folder

 

All righty.

Now, I've tried Throttlestop and it seems it fixed the problem.

Although, I have my CPU (T5750) undervolted to 0.9875V and I can't seem to get the voltage in Throttlestop lower than 1.0625V. So I first tried to increase the CPU voltage to 1.0625V, but Orthos refused to run giving a strange error.

Next, I set both voltages (CPU and Throttlestop) to 1.1V and ran Orthos+Furmark simultaneously.

I'm posting a screen after app. 7 minutes of running the test:
http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/3954/throttle.jpg

Note that the GPU is overclocked (585/1425/485) and taking the temperatures in consideration (they are pretty high), without Throttlestop, the CPU would've had normally throttled.

Will try to run more tests.

 

Haha loving this, throttlestop is the fix people have been looking for.

Congrats unclewebb, I can see your program becoming a big hit, well done again.

 

mikhayl: ThrottleStop might not let you access the super low frequency mode (SLFM) voltages yet. I'll see if I can fix that in the next release.

If you run ThrottleStop and you leave the boxes unchecked, the monitoring section should show you when your computer would normally be throttling. Can you post a screen shot of ThrottleStop and see what it reports when your computer starts to throttle. I'm still learning about what exact type of throttling that the Acer uses.

Angelwings. Just open up the 1KB configuration settings file which is just below the program file in your screen shot. In there you can add that TJMax=105 line.

 

ThrottleStop 1.86
http://www.sendspace.com/file/yjh3mv

Hopefully this version will let you access some lower VID values so you can get to the SLFM VID values. Thanks mikhayl. This is the first real Core 2 feedback I've got so it's good to fix up a few minor things like that.

Open up ThrottleStop so I can see it in your screen shots. That's how I can learn more and improve ThrottleStop.

 

http://img196.imageshack.us/img196/4790/throttle2.jpg

hope this is what you wanted

keep up the work !

 

That's exactly what I was looking for.

Do you know what chipset your computer uses?

When you click on the Chipset Clock Mod box does that get rid of your throttling troubles?

During my testing on my Intel chipset, I found that RM Clock did not protect against this type of throttling.

The T5750 uses a TJMax=100 so you can add that to the ThrottleStop.INI file if you would like to see ThrottleStop report your core temperature instead of DTS.

 

I suppose i've got the PM965 chipset.

Chipset Clock Mod indeed DOES get rid of the throttle.

Even in 1.86 i cannot set lower voltage than 1.0625V.

(I'm pretty busy with my semestrial exams, but will try to give as much feedback as possible. Just may take some time.)

 

I have a Core 2 desktop with the P965 chipset and I found that RM Clock was not able to keep chipset clock modulation turned off. ThrottleStop works to disable chipset clock modulation on that chipset.

What is the highest and lowest voltage that RM Clock lets you set? Does CPU-Z report your VID and does it ever show anything lower than 1.0625 when you adjust it with RM Clock? I'll do some more testing of this when I get the chance. At least your computer can finally run at full speed. Now we just need some more testers to prove this.

 

Yep TJMax=105 line works fine, can see my core temps in throttlestop, look alot more true than RMClock Temps, cool.

 

http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/3/3/1794507/MSR.zip

mikhayl: When you get the chance try running my MSR Tool program. Go into the MSR Number box and enter 0x198 and then click on the Read MSR button.

Do the same for 0xCE.

These two registers have VID information in them for your CPU. Send me a screen shot of each of those registers and then I can figure out VID better.

 

The first version of ThrottleStop could not handle Chipset Clock Modulation which is what the Acer computers and the Alienware M15x also uses. The latest version of ThrottleStop can monitor for this and can make sure it remains at 100% so you can get the full performance out of your computer.

ThrottleStop supports all recent Intel chipsets including the new P55 mobile chipset that the Core i7/i5/i3 mobile CPUs use. RMClock does not which is why the Throttling page below will be grayed out.

Even if the Chipset Throttling Settings and options are available in RMClock, it still might not be able to correct for chipset clock modulation in real time without any user intervention. I read the 5 step procedure in the first post about how to ALT+TAB out of games so you can adjust the chipset clock modulation setting while playing. Why do that when ThrottleStop can handle this automatically?

Here's a good test. Start up RMClock and ThrottleStop. Set up RMClock so it protects your computer from chipset clock modulation. Now go to ThrottleStop and put a check mark beside the Chipset Clock Mod box and set it to 50%. Does the RMClock Monitoring page show that your computer is throttling?

Here's how I have RMClock set up.



And here are my results:



For me, RMClock does not work to stop chipset clock modulation from happening. Even after I close ThrottleStop with it still set to 50%, RMClock was still not able to correct this throttling until I opened up the Advanced CPU settings window and cycled "Lock throttling settings" off and on and then clicked on Apply.

That's a pain in the butt if you have to constantly monitor this every time your game slows down. With ThrottleStop you put a check mark beside Chipset Clock Mod, set it to 100%, Minimize it and forget about it.

After you do that, any chipset clock modulation that happens will be automatically corrected as it happens.

ThrottleStop can deal with Chipset clock modulation on any Intel chipset in real time, RMClock can not. Why not do users a favor and add that to the first post instead of "your mileage may vary".

 

Agreed, ThrottleStop is a program specifically designed to handle throttling that occurs. It has the functions necessary to monitor it and most importantly, you have the benefit of the developer being here to actively assist you!. Oh and your mileage may vary is a poor description of it's function because it will work 100% of the time for chipset modulation. More Acer owners should be made aware of this so their lives are a bit easier--like angelwing's has become.

 

http://img188.imageshack.us/img188/3946/198mq.jpg
and
http://img188.imageshack.us/img188/3230/73937998.jpg

hope this helps...

 

Thanks mikhayl. Can you also post a screen shot of CPU-Z at idle and at full load? I'd like to see what it reports for VID. I trust CPU-Z for that.

What program reports VID at 0.9875 volts?

The Intel documentation shows this VID range for a T5750

http://processorfinder.intel.com/details.aspx?sSpec=SLA4D

I'll have a look for the Intel documentation that covers your CPU. Either I'm screwing something up or maybe I'll get lucky and be able to blame someone else.

 

http://img693.imageshack.us/img693/6624/idley.jpg idle

http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/5449/loado.jpg load

Although, I've noted that while in load, the voltage constantly changes from 1.1V to 0.9875V. I dunno why, I've checked RMClock, but everything is set correctly (1.1V). What's more, this voltage change only occurs when Throttlestop is enabled.

Should I care? It still doesn't throttle

 

Of course. It's better to do one thousand of operations with a dead software (RMClock, that's is) which is not supporting new hardware instead use Kevin's ThrottleStop which works even on my desktop (P5Q-E).

I'm a hardcore fan of RMClock, I've used it since AMD and now with my E8400 but unfortunately is dead and buried.
Kevin knows that I've nagging him to do a RMClock replacement especially for you notebook guys with new hardware and after he did it all you can say is YMMV?

Give Kevin some feedback and all of you will get rid of those artificial throttle problems. Take a look at Dell subforum, same problems resolved by Kevin.

 

Thanks burebista.

mikhayl: ThrottleStop might be using the desktop VID formula to convert VID to voltage when maybe it should be using the mobile VID formula for this conversion.

If you can post a screen shot of CPU-Z while your CPU is at full load running Super PI or something simple like that. I'll go through some more Intel documentation tomorrow when I'm more awake. What VID range does RMClock let you choose?

ThrottleStop might show your VID range as:

1.0625 to 1.3625

and RMClock might show the same VID range as:

0.9500 to 1.2500

As you say, no more throttling is the important part.