ASUS G73JH Problem - Very slow after using battery

ThrottleStop might be an OK band-aid while waiting for Asus to fix this, if they ever do. Keeping chipset clock modulation at 100% will at least keep your laptop from becoming unusable.

Post a screen shot of how you have ThrottleStop set up so other users can do the same if they want to work around this issue.

corpfan1's testing seems to show that if you use ThrottleStop and set the multiplier to its maximum and lock chipset clock modulation to 100.0% that your laptop on battery power will be very usable when the battery level is between 100% and 30%.

 

How will the advanced power setting profiles effect using Throttle Stop and possible battery performance?

For example, if I use a lower power saving setting, like 40% brightness, 50% CPU, and force the multiplier to stay at 13x, will that be ok? Will it be effective? Will it prolong usable time? Do you think the battery will react the same at certain percentages?

75%, 70%, 50%, 40% and 30% seem to be specific battery thresholds that effect the CPU.

 

From what I'm reading here the only way to reset this throttling is by rebooting. If you plug in after it starts to throttle does it come back if you just leave it plugged in for x number of minutes/hours?

 

I don't know. Why don't you do some testing and then you can tell me.

I don't own a G73 and there are no books that anyone can read to tell you what will work and what the long term results will be. This is all trial and error. I think if you use some common sense when on battery power then you should be OK. Some users like running extreme stress programs while on battery power which is not a good idea. Most games might be OK but there is no way to know without doing some testing.

Reducing the screen brightness or even using an external screen will reduce power consumption and should help with this issue.

If it was my laptop I would use ThrottleStop and create a battery profile. I'd set chipset clock modulation to 100% and maybe reduce the multiplier a couple of notches if necessary. Going from 13 to 12 in ThrottleStop disables the turbo boost feature and should save some power. You might have to go lower still while trying to game. The only way to find out what works and what doesn't is for users to come forward and do some testing. Run a ThrottleStop log file while gaming on battery power and see if it runs decently or not and if games lag or if your laptop is usable.

gstboy: I'm interested too if this throttling can be reversed after you plug in to AC power with ThrottleStop enabled without having to reboot. No one has posted that yet.

 

I started a e-mail ticket on Asus' website along with linking them to this thread, this issue is something that should have been address and found before the laptop was released.

 

Especially since performance takes a hit so quickly.

Wouldn't that be 10 percent (1700/170)?

Well, add me to the list. See my test results here.

Many of us are desperate to know and we'll take whatever we can, even if it's glyphs drawn on a napkin with a crayon.

 

The MHz number that CPU-Z and HWiNFO32 displays when chipset clock modulation is being used is an approximation. I don't know how accurately that represents performance.

A Core i7-720QM has a minimum multiplier of 7.0. It can't physically go lower than this. The BCLK speed is 133 MHz, unless you have some under clocking software, so the minimum speed is 133 x 7.0 = 931 MHz.

If you're curious how much performance you are actually getting (or losing) then try running the RealTemp XS Bench. It is a single threaded benchmark that does a quick calculation and the results are consistent and scale 100% linearly with changes in MHz. Run the benchmark at your normal settings and then run the same benchmark and use ThrottleStop to lock chipset clock modulation at 12.5% and lock the multiplier at 7.0. Compare those two benchmark numbers and you should have a reasonably accurate estimation of your performance. My guess is 5% but it might be closer to 10% or who knows. It's pathetic whatever the actual number is.

Anyone that is trying to use their computer when it is being throttled like this is going to notice this problem and isn't going to be happy with the results.

 

I have tried this endlessly and it NEVER comes back to normal...in fact it stays at what it was at when the AC was plugged in.

 

It seems Throttle Stop is definitely the solution here.

Here is what I did...

1) Powered on the laptop at 100% battery power - but plugged into the AC.

2) Set up a profile on my Power4Gear High Performance for AC and battery with battery using 40% min processor state and 80% max processor state. Also set my screen to 40% brightness with battery.

3) Ran CPU-Z, HWiNFO32 and Throttle Stop.

4) Set ThrottleStop to 100% for Chip%.

5) Used the laptop as normal.

6) At 44% battery power, the multiplier dropped to 7x (931MHz), but the clock% was never affected.

7) I decided to raise the multiplier to 10x on throttlestop. The CPU cooperated and raised to 10x as asked (1350MHz).

8) Nothing else changed at any % all the way down to 15% when I got my low battery warning. Throttle Stop worked!

9) I then plugged AC back in - no effect, except that my Power4Gear settings changed the screen brightness back up. I unchecked the multiple box - but the CPU did not raise back the multiple to 13x...it stayed at 10x. So, I rechecked the box and raised it using throttlestop to 13x. I then turned off Throttle Stop and the CPU remained at full power with AC. Again, Throttle Stop was the solution to getting the laptop back to normal with AC without having to reboot.

The laptop is now charging.

Now, if only I can figure out how to set up my Throttle Stop profiles, it seems I can over-ride this whole internal mess built in by Asus.


Thank you unclewebb and Throttle Stop!

 

Ok, so a couple of questions...

1) How do I set things up so that ThrottleStop is enabled at bootup or shortly thereafter?

2) Should I leave the C1E box checked or unchecked?

Thanks!

 

I also noticed that upon reboot, all Throttle Stop settings were wiped.

Is there a way to prevent this?

 

Great to hear you're having some success with ThrottleStop to control this issue.

I use the Task Scheduler to get programs to start up with Windows. Here's a tutorial I wrote a while ago for RealTemp.

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showpost.php?p=3970161&postcount=3657

When ThrottlleStop is closed normally, the previous settings should be saved and when you restart, those settings should be used. If you do a hard reboot by holding the power button then it's possible that the settings won't get saved because ThrottleStop won't exit normally. Once you have TS setup and the settings saved by properly exiting, it should be OK even when you do a hard reboot. I'll check this tomorrow just to make sure.

I prefer having C1E turned off. I found setting the Control Panel -> Power Options -> Minimum processor state to 100% and letting ThrottleStop manage things works best for me. You should be able to use the Power Saver option in TS to lower your multiplier when idle if that's what you prefer.

Do you want to set up a different profile for when on battery power and have ThrottleStop automatically switch to that? That's possible.

I'm not sure what Power4Gear is capable of doing but if it and ThrottleStop are both trying to control your CPU at the same time then you can end up with the two programs fighting against each other. It's easy enough to create a lower speed profile in ThrottleStop for internet use or whatever if you think that's necessary. The Core i7 is very efficient and turns off cores when they are not needed so running a CPU slower to save power might not save you anything at all. More cores that need to enter the active state to process background activity might end up using the exact same amount of power or even more. I prefer a fast CPU that gets its work done quickly and can then return to the low power idle state as soon as possible after that. Intel puts a lot of effort into making sure their mobile CPUs are reasonably efficient considering their processing power.

Some things need repeating

 

Hi Uncle,

Some problems...

Set up ThrottleStop as an event...it launches upon login, etc...

But....

1) The settings are not retained. I am not sure how to do this? It goes back to initial default settings every time I reboot and login. Defaults include Throttle Stop being OFF. Is there any way to save the settings and retain them? I am not hard rebooting...just restarting or turning comp on after a shutdown.

2) Because settings are not being retained, throttle stop is not opening up as minimized to tray.


Thanks!

 

Where do you have the ThrottleStop folder located on your hard drive? It has to have read/write access to that folder to save the settings. I'll go try to follow that tutorial I posted to see if that works for ThrottleStop.

Edit: I downloaded ThrottleStop 2.00 Beta 8 from the link I posted, I unzipped it and put it into a new folder called:

C:\Program Files\ThrottleStop

I followed the above Task Scheduler tutorial I posted and ThrottleStop starts up fine with all of the previous settings.

It sounds like the problem you are having is that you have ThrottleStop on your hard drive in a location that you don't have write access to so the settings are not being saved each time ThrottleStop exits.

Edit: I just discovered that if you restart your computer with ThrottleStop minimized then your previous settings won't be saved. I'll have a look if I can improve that. I avoided saving the settings as you adjust things because if you have a Core 2 and adjust the voltage too low and your computer crashes then you might end up with a situation where every time you go to run ThrottleStop, it reloads your previous settings that weren't stable and crashes again and again. I'll probably create a Save button so you can be 100% sure that your settings are saved even if you tell Windows to restart. Thanks for pointing this out.

ThrottleStop 2.00 Beta 9
http://www.sendspace.com/file/2n4ora

Edit: I added a Save button to the main GUI so you can be 100% certain that your settings are saved and then it won't matter if you reboot or do a hard crash or whatever. This should make it less confusing.

 

Thanks Uncle, will try it tonight!

 

Ok, ready for Beta 10?


1) C1E state doesn't save. It will always be checked upon launch, even if unchecked when saved and shutdown.

2) More importantly, the profile state doesn't save...what I mean is... When launched/rebooted, it will always go to PROFILE 1 (Performance), even if the laptop is booted without AC. The actual profiles are saving now, but like I said, it will always default to PROFILE 1 upon reboot no matter what.

Other than that - working like a charm.

Thanks!

Edit: CORRECTION -for #2 above.... The profile state does save...but it loads to whatever profile you saved it at when you pressed save. In other words, if you press SAVE when on BATTERY (#4), even if you boot laptop with AC plugged in, it will launch on Profile #4 (Battery), and vice versa.



Furthermore (and this may sound confusing), if you save on Performance (Profile #1) and boot with the AC plugged in, it WILL change to battery if you unplug AC, BUT....if you save on Battery (Profile #4) and boot on battery, it will NOT change to Performance (#1) when plugging in AC. Like it doesn't recognize being plugged in and out anymore if the SAVE was on Battery Profile.


So, the best case scenario is to SAVE when on Performance (#1) to retain it recognizing AC being plugged in and out. This is not an issue if you don't have separate profiles for battery and AC, but if you do, it will use Performance on boot regardless if plugged into AC or not.


For now, I am going to set it at 13x, 100% and let it use that for both battery and AC. Since I am not gaming much, I don't think it matters for the temps, etc... I just want to be able to use my comp at full power all the time.

However, it will be great if it can be adjusted to be able to recognize if it is on battery or AC when booting somehow so different profiles can be used regardless.


Still though C1E state - doesn't save - always defaults to CHECKED ON when rebooting.

 

I Can also confirm ThrottleStop will return the cpu to its highest clock speed when the laptop is returned to AC power from being throttled down on battery power. Can't seem to keep the cpu up to full speed on battery though.... guess i'll keep trying.

Mine throttles down at around 30 percent battery power too

 

So is ThrottleStop going to be necessary software on the G73 or is ASUS going to come out with a BIOS or chipset or the such driver update to address the problem?

If ThrottleStop is the only fix to date..I think we need a sticky with the download and tutorial on the install etc.....

 

If you set Throttle Stop to 100% Chip% and a number less than 13x, I think it will not throttle down at 30%. But I have only tested that a couple times.

 

Got a question. I understand this issue occurs on win7. Is there any difference between win7 versions that might be the reason why only some of owners has this problem?
I have win7 home premium.

 

I am just surprised hardly anyone has noticed the issue...

I figured it would be a BIG deal...

I know one of the reasons I have a laptop is so I have a comp I can use AWAY from a power socket.

 

ThrottleStop 2.00 Beta 10
http://www.sendspace.com/file/hn1ut7

This beta is to fix some of the previous issues and I added a new feature so it will show you in the system tray what profile you are on without having to open up ThrottleStop or look in the system tray menu.

To improve how the AC / Battery stuff works, I will make a change so you can set a default profile for AC and a default profile for Battery. When you switch AC to Battery or Battery to AC, it will switch to your default profile for these. After it has switched you will still have the option to manually choose a different profile.

When ThrottleStop first starts or when you boot up on AC it will go to the AC profile and if you boot up on Battery then it will go to the Battery profile. If you don't have an AC and a Battery profile setup then it will use whatever the last profile you used. I think this should provide maximum flexibility.

C1E was only originally designed to report the current C1E state so that's why it isn't being saved. If C1E is always enabled when you boot up then you could have a look for a bios option to turn that off.

I'm used to a desktop bios where this option is usually available but I realize now that there are some bios versions where C1E is not an option so the way this presently works could be a headache. I'll definitely change this so your C1E preference is saved and restored when you start ThrottleStop.

Thanks for the ideas.

 

I have used mine on battery several times but only saw this issue once. I think many of us only use it for a few minutes on battery so the problem didn't show up. I mainly only use it for checking something online real quick or just to move from one spot to another.

 

Then you probably got the wrong laptop for that. This thing sucks down power like nobody's business- I rarely use it unplugged.

 

corpfan1 don't know what to tell you.

I use this thing everyday on the train watching anime, browsing the net and never have any throttling issues. It just doesn't throttle until I'm down to 5% battery, and only happened once because the train was going snail speed when there was heavy rains, yes the MBTA loses to rain.

 

I dont' think there is a more powerful laptop on the market for the price that has more battery life.

I don't find it too bad...I get over 2 hours with screen brightness low on battery.

 

Ziddy,

Are there any things you did to your machine (fresh install? different windows version? changes to hardware/firmware? uninstalls?) that may have something to do with it?

Thanks!

Doesn't seem like a big deal anymore though since ThrottleStop seams to rectify everything for now...

 

Hi Uncle,

It still loads up on Profile #1 when boot up with Battery occurs if the save took place while on Profile #1.

Just a heads up.

Thanks!

 

You should probably run a real test and find out. I suspect that you are simply not pushing it hard enough to know whether such happenings occur. I think if you did run a test like the results I posted earlier, you might be surprised.

 

Has it been determined what happens if the G73 is allowed to idle through a battery charge? Not to know how many minutes it would take to discharge the battery, but when and how the multiplier changes.

 

Too tired to read all these pages... sorry.

But if it means anything, I don't have any problems with the notebook running slow after switching from AC to DC and vice versa.

 

It's not about just switching to AC to DC and vice versa. You should probably read the thread when you're not tired.

 

All I know at this point is that Throttle Stop solves all my problems.

Yes, there are some things that can be improved with the program, but it totally circumvents the issues that I was having. I now have TOTAL control of the speed of the comp and that is a godsend.

 

Which version of win7 do you use?

 

Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit. Came with the A1.

 

Ran Prime95 for testing, didn't do anything for me.

I have the CPU locked down at 40% when on battery, stayed at t a steady 950 mhz, doesn't throttle and CPU speed goes right back up to 2K when I plug in.

I have a clean install of Windows 7. Installed the latest Catalyst 10.3B, also the SDK Stream technology. I have the latest RealTek drivers from RealTek site, latest intel drivers, from Intel site. I went into Bios and reset everything to default. I don't use Power4Gear or the creative software.

 

Thanks Ziddy.

If you can, try it with CPU at 100% for battery and see what happens. That might help...as it usually autodrops to 950MHz...maybe because you have it at that level, it doesn't move?

If no issues, we have to narrow down the issue...could be clean install or 10.3 drivers or latest intel drivers I assume.

Don't think power4gear is the problem as I uninstalled it and same thing happened repeatedly.

Thanks!

 

Ok,

I ran WPrime instead, set maximum CPU to 100%.

I encountered the same also, CPU dropped down to 499 and it doesn't go up after plugging in.

I would submit this problem to Asus. I'll look into how to do it later today, unless you find out how to do it first.

 

Annoying eh?

Let me know how to submit when you find out...I haven't looked into it and won't have time today.

I think they kind of intend this to happen, but at the same time, didn't account for it not rebounding upon AC plug in? Not sure though...all I know it is similar on other laptops to some degree.

Regardless, throttlestop fixes my problem and is pretty seamless. So, I am happy. I don't see any issue with using it as my temps remain fairly low when using it.

 

unclewebb,

Some more things:

1) Still need to figure out the SAVE issue...it saves, but doesn't recognize if it is AC or Battery if the switch is made when the laptop is off. In other words, if you save on Profile 4, then shutdown, then plug in AC and reboot, it will stay on 4. And vice versa.

2) If you save on profile 4, it won't even switch when you plug in AC while the PC is running...it stays on profile 4. The reverse here is NOT TRUE...if you save on profile 1 then plug out AC, it WILL switch to 4.

3) The icon in the system tray indicates which profile throttlestop is on, only if you MANUALLY change the profile. If you pull out AC, it will still show profile 4 even though the profile does indeed change to 1. And vice versa.

4) C1E status definitely doesn't save. Can you explain what that does anyways? Is it important at all that I uncheck that every time I am using Throttle Stop?


A couple of other questions:

a) Can you explain the function of Power Saver and when it could be used?

b) Can you explain whether the No Reset FID/VID is important?

c) Any point in using the Alarms or setting TJmax?

Thanks again!

 

Ah ha! So, if you set the CPU lower than full it works without issue, but if you max it out you encountered the same issue. I guess the next question is how low is enough to avoid the problem?

Corpfan1, instead of 1.7GHz if you were able to have everything work perfectly without running additional software, but the max CPU on battery was 1.6 GHz, would that be satisfactory? How about 1.25GHz? How low are you willing to go, or do you absolutely need to have it 100 percent all the time?

Do you see where I'm going with this?

 

ThrottleStop has no issues if multiplier is set to 12x or lower.

If set on 13x (open to turbo) it will get throttled as well.

Without ThrottleStop, I saw throttling on anything 50% or higher (over 1000MHz).

At 931MHz, it is not "horrible", but still a bit of a pain.

 

So ok, I see Throttlestop is the answer, and I appreciate all the work that's been done there. Can someone break it down how we need to set it up- maybe even include it in the OP and refer back to it? It's hard to condense down 20+ pages as I haven't really been keeping up on the subject.

 

Here is a answer I got back from Asus....

I don't have Power4Gear installed and I'm not sure I feel comfortable updating the BIOS. But I'm sure everyone has already done this and people still have problems, right?

 

I wouldn't touch the BIOS unless they outline specifically what the BIOS 206 is intended to update.

Use ThrottleStop.

 

Contact them back. I've already edited the power settings, I use the latest Bios for weeks not, Bios 206 and I've already set default settings in the bios.

Thanks for contacting them.

 

Once I add C1E control instead of just C1E monitoring and fix up the AC / Battery default profile issues in ThrottleStop then I will get to work on answering a few questions and I'll ask DrBoost to modify his first post with this new information.

We could add a screen shot or two of ThrottleStop so users can see how it needs to be setup or maybe create a new thread with this information and hopefully get that updated to sticky status so users can easily find out about this issue and how to temporarily fix it.

I'll also be contacting Juan Jose (the Asus rep) and let him know about this issue. If you have this problem, what bios version are you using?

 

I replied using your report you mentioned on page 13 of the thread and that I already have the BIOS updated. They need to actually read this thread, I asked if he read this thread as well.

 

That canned reply has been used for quite a few problems - they even say the same thing on the phone!

 

I am on BIOS 205.