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    Turbo Boost = Excellent idea/poorly executed (Temperatures)

    Discussion in 'Alienware 14 and M14x' started by D3athScyth3, Jan 19, 2012.

  1. D3athScyth3

    D3athScyth3 Notebook Guru

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    So....

    I have decided to permanently disable the turbo boost feature of the m14x.

    my reasoning:
    This is a brilliant idea in theory (or for desktops) however in a laptop, especially the m14x with its one fan, it falls over.

    I like the idea of what turbo boost is intended to do, however i believe that it should only kick in once your CPU reaches 85-90% usage. prior to that there is no need for it to even think about activating.

    however at the moment it activates as soon as the cpu gets used at all. This causes more heat to be generated then necessarily.

    Examples:
    - Running a full virus scan with Turbo Boost enabled and the cpu sitting at about 15-20% - Temps were reaching 90peak, mid to high 80's avg
    - Running full virus scan with turbo boost off, cpu as above - Temps = mid 60s Peak, low 60s avg

    I have seen the same issues running skyrim and also general working on the laptop (it is my work laptop i use every day) i am seeing at least 10 degree sometimes more reduction in temps.

    Conclusion:
    At this stage turbo boost is a great idea for a desktop, and not well executed for laptops.
    If you have a fast enough cpu there is no need for it, and even if you have one of the lower end core i7 options i dont think anything at this stage will stretch your cpu to the point where turbo boost becomes a viable option to increase power.

    Just my opinion. Hope my investigations help some of you make your own decisions.

    Cheers,
     
    D3athScyth3, Jan 19, 2012
    #1
  2. alienlover11

    alienlover11 Notebook Consultant

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    That right there is the reason I didn't buy the m14x. Temps are nuts. Rendering something with blender with cpu usage at 100% and turbo boost on my temps were at 83 degrees C.
     
    alienlover11, Jan 20, 2012
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  3. Starscream

    Starscream Notebook Consultant

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    yep, i turned off turboboost as well, and my laptop is much cooler, and no major difference in games.
     
    Starscream, Jan 20, 2012
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  4. shriek11

    shriek11 Notebook Deity

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    I guess it is some option in the setup? I ask as I might get the m14x soon.
     
    shriek11, Jan 20, 2012
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  5. Punisher_67

    Punisher_67 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Not to sound like a dumb a$$ but I am assuming its turned off in the bios like the hyperthreading feature with the old P4's
     
    Punisher_67, Jan 21, 2012
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  6. smokingjam

    smokingjam Notebook Evangelist

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    Yeah in the bios.
    I did have it turned off but since I've been playing skyrim and on their official forums everyone keeps saying how skyrim is CPU dependant I switched it back on to help. Don't know if this is true or not
     
    smokingjam, Jan 21, 2012
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  7. DivineAura

    DivineAura Notebook Evangelist

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    I'm using Throttlestop to limit my multiplier and hence the CPU clocks. It's much more flexible and doesn't need to disable it in BIOS.
     
    DivineAura, Jan 23, 2012
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  8. Neolistic

    Neolistic Notebook Enthusiast

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    Quick overview of my experience with turboboost. When playing swtor, if turbo boost is disabled you don't see a difference in fps when stationary. But once you get into combat, your fps dips ALOT more with turboboost disabled than with it enabled.

    Example:

    During a 3 npc fight with turboboost disabled, I get dips below 50 fps which makes the game feel a bit more sluggish

    With turboboost enabled I have a constant 60+ during the same 3 npc fight rendering my game play a smoother experience.

    After this finding I enabled turboboost for good.
     
    Neolistic, Jan 23, 2012
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  9. Kevinmcg

    Kevinmcg Notebook Deity

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    Probably the best way to lower temps is to disable hyperthreading, games typically dont use more than 4 cores and even if they do its less performance drop than Turbo.
     
    Kevinmcg, Jan 23, 2012
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  10. M11Ash

    M11Ash Notebook Evangelist

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    How do we do that?
     
    M11Ash, Jan 23, 2012
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  11. D3athScyth3

    D3athScyth3 Notebook Guru

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    Could you possibley send me a screenshot of your setup to do this?

    im reading up on throttle stop now and looks very powerful, dont want to break anything :)
     
    D3athScyth3, Jan 24, 2012
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  12. PhAyzoN

    PhAyzoN Notebook Guru

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    That is one very cool M14x then. A lot of us have seen mid-90s to 100C while gaming, something I would assume[*] wouldn't eat as much as rendering something.

    [*]I have 0 experience with Blender or any modeling programs, I could be wrong.

    You'll need to flash an "unlocked" BIOS. Search around these forums for one. A03 and A05 seem to be the best ones. I personally use A05.
     
    PhAyzoN, Jan 24, 2012
    #12
  13. DivineAura

    DivineAura Notebook Evangelist

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    http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb316/Sillykwek/TS.jpg

    Notice how changing the maximum multiplier affects the turbo speed :)
    Different CPU offers different multipliers too. I can choose between 8x multiplier to 30x multiplier and turbo (normal boost) with 2670QM.
    I suggest not to disable turboboost while on battery as the CPU stays at base clock, which consumes battery life.
    With ThrottleStop, the clock speed will remain at between the 8x multiplier and the multiplier you've specified.
     
    DivineAura, Jan 24, 2012
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  14. dragonx254

    dragonx254 Notebook Geek

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    I just made another powerplan that has the maximum CPU usage be 99% instead of 100%. That way, if I ever do feel like I want TurboBoost on for some reason, I just change power plans.
     
    dragonx254, Jan 24, 2012
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  15. thewind21

    thewind21 Notebook Enthusiast

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    I just created separates profiles for the CPU from 1.4GHz all the way to 1.9GHz in steps of 0.1Ghz.

    All these done using AlienFusion and no other softwares.

    It will lock the CPU in that state and not turbo-boost.

    Threaded games usually works fine with CPU locked at 1.6Ghz.
     
    thewind21, Jan 26, 2012
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  16. justinmpierson

    justinmpierson Notebook Enthusiast

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    have you found an easy way to switch? The power icon in the notification area only shows 2.
     
    justinmpierson, Jan 26, 2012
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  17. jeremyshaw

    jeremyshaw Big time Idiot

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    For now, 3D rendering is still *mostly* CPU/RAM based. Maybe later on, we'll see better GPU renderers.
     
    jeremyshaw, Jan 26, 2012
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  18. unclewebb

    unclewebb ThrottleStop Author

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    You could use two different speed profiles in ThrottleStop and then use the ThrottleStop Hotkey Manager and set up two different key combinations so you could switch profiles in game if you needed to or you could adjust the speed based on the CPU or GPU temperature. Flexible program once you get to know it.
     
    unclewebb, Jan 26, 2012
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  19. thewind21

    thewind21 Notebook Enthusiast

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    I am using Power Plan Assistant which list all the profiles.

    I donated US$1 to get the full version.

    Freeware requires you to re-download the file every 2 weeks if I am not wrong.
     
    thewind21, Jan 27, 2012
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  20. BGomez

    BGomez Newbie

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    I've been using TS for the past few months. I keep the multiplier at 28 and my temps stay in the the high 70's. Run tests with different multiplier settings and use TS Bench. You'll see instant results.
     
    BGomez, Jan 27, 2012
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  21. justinmpierson

    justinmpierson Notebook Enthusiast

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    Anyone tried an unlocked bios with disabled hyperthreading? Any luck?
     
    justinmpierson, Jan 30, 2012
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  22. Battista209

    Battista209 Newbie

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    my m14x never gets hot when I run a scan with AVG...
     
    Battista209, Jan 30, 2012
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  23. headphones989

    headphones989 Notebook Consultant

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    haha unclewebb you know we all like ya for TS, especially the people with m11x's!!!
     
    headphones989, Jan 31, 2012
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  24. DivineAura

    DivineAura Notebook Evangelist

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    yeah especially M11xR2 :D
    TBoost for first gen i-series CPU without TS is mad throttling
    TBoost 2.0 is wayyyy more optimized.
     
    DivineAura, Jan 31, 2012
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  25. 12me91

    12me91 Notebook Enthusiast

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    is A08 an unlocked BIOS? I upgrated to that one today and want to turn off HT. A05 is still available for download should I go get that one instead?
     
    12me91, May 25, 2012
    #25
  26. iPhantomhives

    iPhantomhives Click the image to change your avatar.

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    iPhantomhives, May 25, 2012
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  27. goonielife

    goonielife Notebook Enthusiast

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    "I suggest not to disable turboboost while on battery as the CPU stays at base clock, which consumes battery life."

    TurboBoost and SpeedStep are two different bios settings. Speedstep drops the cpu below its base clock to save power. Turboboost increases the cpu above its baseclock as power and heat allow. Disabling Turboboost, doesn't stop Speedstep from slowing the cpu while idle.
     
    goonielife, May 25, 2012
    #27