The Definitive Guide to Acer Aspire Gemstone Blue Throttling Issues

Hi mikhayl, just a silly thought but kevin got me thinking, you say you undervolt, I take it you use RMClock for that, have you checked the "Mobile" setting in the Advanced CPU Settings, sometimes by default it is on "Desktop" and that would explain your voltage problem.
I know because I did it, forgot to click apply hehe, silly me, anyway it was just a thought.

 

ThrottleStop 1.88
http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/3/3/1794507/ThrottleStop.zip

Delete your internet browser cache if you don't get that version.

I think in mikhayl's case, I screwed up the VID to voltage calculation for the early 65nm mobile CPUs like his T5750. Hopefully the above version uses the correct formula and displays the correct voltage.

 

Agreed, but it is more than that, it was such a big problem that I was just unable to game on it fullstop, I was on the verge of shelling out $$$$$ and buying another one, I had already began to look.
Now I dont have to thanks to unclewebb's program, my laptop is how it should of been from the manufacturer (thats a joke on its own)
I did contact Acer and they told me it wasnt a gaming laptop haha, ok its not got the most powerful GPU (9700m GT) but now with throttlestop I am surprised at just how much I can throw at this card, most games on very high settings just with a lower res,games look stunning and run smooth. I was blaming the poor GPU for this low performance until I came across this forum about throttling issues.
Simply throttlestop sorts the problem that the designers could of done but didnt,you can update your bios,drivers,get rid of Acer software ect but nothing will improve your notebook if you have these issues like this program does, throttlestop simply does what its says......stops throttle,..... brilliant user friendly program that deserves a very high acclaim and alot of support and feedback, Kevin I hope everybody takes the time and you get alot of good responses for your work because you really do deserve it, you know Im a big fan. A1 mate.....I wonder just how many people could benefit from throttlestop......thousands I would say

 

Angelwings: Of course it's set on Mobile.

unclewebb: v1.88 fixes the VID problem, i can run both RMClock and Throttlestop at 0.9875V - giving me much lower temps than before.

http://img188.imageshack.us/img188/7840/finalhx.jpg

Everything works perfectly now! thanks again

 

Ok Ok keep your hair on, it was just a thought, I didnt mean it to come across as you didnt know what you were doing, like I said it was just a silly thought, Ill keep them to myself in future.

 

I appreciate the feedback. I can't own one of every computer out there so sometimes I misread the Intel documentation. Their publicly available documentation is full of holes when it comes to VID that I spend a lot of time guessing and then I have to wait for feedback to see if it was a good guess or a bad guess.

Thanks for letting me know so I could get this fixed up for you.

On the Dell XPS 1645 computers, using ThrottleStop combined with their underpowered 90 watt power adapters was a dangerous thing.

Angelwings was curious if this might be a problem for the Acer laptops. If anyone has a Kill-a-Watt, could you try running some stress tests like Furmark + Prime95 to get an idea if power consumption can exceed the ability of your power adapter. Compare that to the label on your adapter to see how many watts your adapter is rated at.

 

Unclewebb, correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought it was only the Core i7-equipped XPS 1645s that were throttling.
In any case, my 6920G (with specs in sig) comes with a 90W Lite-On adapter. I'm pretty sure that a Core 2 Duo and 9500M GS would be able to fit into a 90W envelope better than an i7 and Radeon HD 4670.
Again, correct if I'm going about this crossways.

 

The more laptops that are tested, the more throttling issues are discovered.

Here's some of the laptops that I've found out about in the last month since I started working on this project:

Dell XPS 1645
Dell XPS 1640
Dell Alienware M15x
Dell Precision M6500
Dell Latitude E6500/E6400
Acer (a variety of models)

At the moment that list has a common theme. It involves both Core i7 and Core 2 models. If Dell continues to ship their new Core i7/i5/i3 laptops with an underpowered 90 watt adapter and an ATI 4670 card then users will likely see more laptops added to that list.

That's just my list. I've seen other lists that are longer than that.

Hopefully someone with an Acer and a Kill-a-Watt can post some power consumption numbers. The Acer throttling schemes might be more designed for heat control than power consumption control.

Edit: tinkerdude has his own Dell list about half way down on this page:
http://en.community.dell.com/forums/p/19247293/19602517.aspx

 

Im pretty sure it is designed for heat control, I have reached over 100 oC when gaming before undervolting and running a cooler, I have even thought about drilling some nice small neat holes in the small back casing to allow more airflow for my cooler to get in, prob not a good idea if I ever wanted to sell it though but Im sure it would help. In saying that though my temps dont go up by much using throttlestop.

 

And you're a girl right? That's pretty awesome lol. BTW if you check out the Asus forums, there's a fairly large thread there about modding the bottom panel + adding in copper sinks to lower temperatures.

 

My toshiba tecra a9 has a 90W adapter.

I have a T8100 overclocked @ 2.6ghz. When I run intelburntest the CPU downclocks to 2ghz at around 63C.

Using throttlestop I don't get that downclock. I use throttlestop on battery power, I hope I don't have any problems.

 

Some of the Dell XPS 1645 computers shut down when switching between AC and battery while being pushed hard with Furmark + Prime95 + ThrottleStop so I don't recommend doing that.

A T8100 is more efficient and most normal programs don't create a load like IBT does so in normal use, you'll probably be OK.

Does your Toshiba use any clock modulation or just multiplier throttling?

 

Just multiplier throttling.

I didn't ever notice it before when I was using ORTHOS for stability testing, but intelburntest seems to push it really hard.

ThrottleStop is very handy

 

Yes Im a wee girl , prob not many on this forum but you guys have been great and helped me out loads, Ill check out that thread, thanks Joker.

 

So has anymore of you tried throttlestop with success, Ive still not throttled in 5 days , never played so many games, although my cryo lx right fan has broken , time for a mod with antec tricool led 120mm fans, there on order.

 

Well Angelwings, you seem to be one of the few here that has given ThrottleStop a fair try and are enjoying what it can do for you. After a year of misery, you have reached gaming heaven.

It seems most users prefer the more complicated solutions documented in the first 50+ pages of this thread that sort of work. Like you, I prefer one mouse click to reverse Chipset Clock Modulation that these Acer laptops are using to throttle themselves to a crawl.

 

That generalization is not necessary, unclewebb.
If you'll notice, few people who suffered throttling earlier in this thread are still following it this far, and even fewer have given ThrottleStop a try. People have either given up, stuck with undervolting, or found another solution.
And undervolting isn't that complicated, and has the added benefits of cooler temperatures and longer battery life - things that ThrottleStop does not provide.

I'll be testing ThrottleStop myself later today, and seeing if it works. If it does, I'll be happy to make a new topic dedicated to it and state that it is the easier solution (with undervolting more rewarding yet complex).

EDIT: Looking a few pages back, I noticed that a few users got miffed at my use of "YMMV" when describing ThrottleStop in my initial post. I put that there specifically because I tried a version of ThrottleStop before (maybe an earlier one?) and it did not fix my throttling. Undervolting does, and that is why I personally recommend it for the time being. The RMClock throttling stop (not undervolting) is a last-ditch fix at best, because it is manual and complicated. Let me give ThrottleStop a second try and see if it works.

 

As far as I know, ThrottleStop can also be used to lower your core voltage. If there is a problem with this feature then let me know. Instead of using RMClock to monitor VID why not use CPU-Z if it supports your CPU?

 

ThrottleStop's voltage adjustments don't show up in RMClock, but it shows how old the version I tested was - this is new.

OK, mea culpa. I have seen the light - this thing is GOOD.
The interface has been revamped since I last saw it; before I had difficulty understanding what I needed to tick to stop my throttling, which is probably why it didn't work.
I removed my undervolt, set the voltage to Desktop VIDs, started up ORTHOS, and predictably my system began to throttle. Turning on Clock Modulation did nothing, but Chipset Clock Mod...that did the trick. The system returned to full speed.
I did a second run with CCM at 100%, and I'm floored. Up to 62 degrees in RMClock (68 in ThrottleStop), 7 minutes in and no throttling at all.

Unclewebb, accept my apologies and my gratitude. ThrottleStop DOES work, and incredibly well.
I'll be rewriting the first post in this topic later today to reflect this exciting development, as well as making a new topic to discuss ThrottleStop specifically here on the Acer forum.

I'll personally be sticking with undervolting through RMClock because of the ancillary benefits, but at least I know that if even THAT doesn't work, THIS does.

 

That's what I wanted to hear.

My programs are always a work in progress. Joker helped me when testing for Chipset Clock Modulation that his M15x uses so I added that feature and it turns out, that's the same method that Acer is using to throttle their laptops. RMClock does not let you access this on some newer Intel chipsets and even if it does let you access it, in my testing, it did nothing to prevent this from being used. You had to manually adjust this every time it happened.

With RMClock, it's possible that it and ThrottleStop will get into a fight over voltages when using both of them together. That's why if you run just ThrottleStop and then use CPU-Z or RealTemp to monitor VID, you should be able to watch that to see if ThrottleStop is working or not to control core voltage. A reduction in core temperature while running a Prime95 test should also be obvious that VID is working.

At the moment, RMClock is more integrated with the OS than ThrottleStop is so as long as it is set up correctly, it might be the better way to control your voltage. The only problem is that it doesn't support the half multipliers correctly and I'm not sure how well it handles Intel Dynamic Acceleration either which can vary the multiplier by an extra 0.5 or 1.0 on the newer Core 2 mobile CPUs.

Hopefully with some more user feedback I will be able to make ThrottleStop even better for Core 2 users. Most of the Core i7 users that have tried it are very happy that they can finally use 100% of their laptop's performance.

Edit: The correct TJMax for a T8300 is 105C according to the Intel website:
http://processorfinder.intel.com/details.aspx?sSpec=SLAPR

If you want ThrottleStop to report your core temperature in the monitoring area just add this line to the ThrottleStop.ini file

TJMax=105

Nice and simple.

 

I did that, based on Angelwing's earlier posts. I think RMClock may have forgotten its 5 degree temp offset from before...

And yes, that would explain why the previous version didn't work - it didn't have chipset clock modulation.

RMClock doesn't handle half-multipliers very well, but it does do IDA at least. Then again, I've never been in an instance where it's been useful (100% on one core, 0% on the other), so I just turned it off in RMClock.

EDIT: Oh, and please see your new thread for ThrottleStop discussion!

 

Thanks for creating a new thread. Hopefully users will give ThrottleStop a try. I just did a Cut-Paste from my last post about IDA.

The T8300 also supports IDA so the multiplier can jump up from 12 to 13 when C3/C6 is enabled in the bios. If you run a single threaded benchmark like SuperPI mod, ThrottleStop should be able to report a multiplier between 12 and 13. You might get an average multiplier around 12.7 on the hardest working core if the second core is allowed to enter the C3/C6 sleep state. Make sure RMClock is disabled when testing for this in case it is not working correctly with IDA.

The multiplier on these chips can be very dynamic and will switch back and forth hundreds of times a second based on load. Not all software is able to detect this correctly. ThrottleStop uses high performance timers within the CPU and can very accurately calculate the average multiplier in real time. It will help you learn more about how IDA really works.

 

First post updated.

 

Very nice update indeed. Thanks for that. Now I can point new users to that post for some background info.

The reported multipliers of 4.10 and 4.11 in your screen shots show that Super Low Frequency Mode (SLFM) is working on your laptop. The minimum multiplier on a Core 2 is 6.0 but when SLFM kicks in, it drops the internal bus speed in half. That shows up in ThrottleStop as an effective multiplier of 3.0.

With the multiplier constantly changing and with SLFM constantly engaging and disengaging, you will see ThrottleStop report a variety of fractional multipliers like that. That's just an overall average. One user thought I was a dope because you can half multipliers but multipliers like 4.11 don't exist. It's just an average during the previous one second sampling period.

If you see anything that you don't agree with just let me know so I can explain it further.

 

Reporting in. ThrottleStops chip mod is the best thing I've ever tried with this 6920-- And I've tried a lot.

NO random low fps. Finally my 4 gig 64 bit os and decent video card produce the results they should.

Everyone who experiences temporary (and random) fps lag should try ThrottleStop. ThrottleStop saved my life.

 

Like we've discovered Epictetus, this really is the one-size-fits-all fix we've dreamed of for months on end.
Fling some rep to unclewebb for coding the software (or use the Donate button in ThrottleStop to send real-life dollars)!

 

WOW! I have to try this... I've almost given up being able to solve throttling issues on my 8930G and have not visited this thread for some time. I have been doing the alt-tab sleep workaround which works although annoying.
Finally! I'll feedback after I have tested! I'm excited!

 

any other links where can i download throttlestop? i cant download it in fileden. TIA!

 

Here you go!


View attachment ThrottleStop (2).zip

 

Please go to the new acer throttlestop thread for more info

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=452692

 

thanks spaanplaat!!!

 

is it okay to use throttlestop and rmclock at the same time?

 

Some Acer users prefer to use RMClock to manage multipliers and voltage and use ThrottleStop to just manage Chipset Clock Modulation.

If you use both RMClock and ThrottleStop at the same time to manage multipliers and voltage then the two programs will fight against each other. Use one or the other for multipliers and voltage but not both.

ThrottleStop is more designed for gaming where you can set the multiplier and voltage for full load but this part is not as well integrated with the operating system as RMClock is. Maybe someday.

If your CPU supports half multipliers then ThrottleStop might give you better access to that. Enable C3/C6 in the bios if your CPU supports Intel Dynamic Acceleration which is a multiplier boost when lightly loaded. RMClock may not correctly support this feature because of its inability to deal with half multipliers.

 

allright, ill just exit rmclock and run throttlestop when gaming. thanks!

 

Vinch or anyone with just ThrottleStop running and with a CPU that supports IDA, can you send me a log file while gaming and let me know what CPU you are using? You can just upload it to www.sendspace.com

 

my acer 6935g has P8600.

tried playing nba 2k10 and i didnt experience any throttling with throttlestop enabled and no rm clock. i think throttling is gone now. i will upload the log file later.

thanks!

 

Don't thank me thank unclewebb for creating this fantastic little piece of software!

 

What we need is a new RMClock with throttlestop integrated kevin hahaha, you know you want to, pretty please and then RMClock clock would support new chipsets like the 45 nm, sounds like a good idea??

 

RMClock hasn't been updated in AGES. Version 2.35 came out in February of 2008, almost two years ago.

 

Well Angelwings, it's definitely on my things to maybe do list.

I was reading last night about how to get RMClock to work with half multipliers by editing the registry. It seemed kind of complex for the average user and didn't seem to work for everyone. I like to keep things as simple as possible. ThrottleStop is great for gaming but it would be an even better tool with full integration into the OS. Maybe.

That's a good looking signature you have there.

Don't thank me thank Angelwings for testing ThrottleStop on her Acer laptop. I added the Chipset Clock Modulation feature a while ago but Acer users never took it for a test drive until Angelwings came along. She's been happily gaming ever since, at full speed, with no throttling.

 

here's my throttle stop log file

http://www.sendspace.com/file/5f5asl

thanks angelwings, uncleweb, splaat, and all of you guys who exert some time and effort just to get throttiling fixed!!!

tried playing avatar (good underrated game) yesterday w/ no cooler and rmclock for hours. no throttling occured. i hope throttling is gone for good.

 

Vinch: I hope that log file was without ThrottleStop running. It shows constant clock modulation and multiplier throttling.

Check the More Data option in ThrottleStop for your next log file. Let's see how a game looks when TS is enabled. There should be very few of the 87.5% numbers in the Chipset Clock Modulation column.

 

Vinch, correct me if I'm wrong, but do you have 87.5% normal throttling enabled in RMClock? Or ThrottleStop?

 

Well... thank all of you then!!! At least it makes the acer lappies usable again and finally the G in 8930G stand for something it can do

 

removed as requested

 

JJB, please keep that discussion to the ThrottleStop thread. This topic should be used for Acer discussion only. Thanks!

 

@unclewebb

okay, will upload another log file w/ more data checked later.

@tehsuigi

i already disabled rmclock. i just ticked the chipset clock mod and changed the percentage to 87.5%

 

Why change it to 87.5%? ThrottleStop is designed to force the system to run at 100%!

 

ThrottleStop is designed so your computer can run at 100%. If you post log files that show your computer running at 87.5%, you're going to make other users think that ThrottleStop is a piece of crap.

 

Dmitri Besedin (the brain behind RMClock) leave the company 3 years ago and passed away a year ago. RIP Dmitri and RMClock.
Both were fabulous.