G74SX - 2920XM - Unable to reach higher freq than 2,5GHz

Hello everybody!

I recently bought a 2920XM CPU and mounted it on my ASUS G74SX (to replace the existing one: 2670QM).
With my 2920XM, my CPU temp are:
- 50°C idle
- 65°C in game

Anyway, I installed CPU-Z to check the core speed and I've seen that the CPU is unable to reach higher frequency than 2500MHz (mult. coef. x25).

I tried to unlock it with Throttlestop (checked set coef then tried with TURBO or x34) and it remains the same.

Does anyone can help me please?

 

Try running prime95 or folding@home to stress the CPU to 100%, it wouldn't need to reach 3.4GHz unless you're really pushing it to 100%.

Uncheck BD Prochot, EIST, and C1E btw, it helped with my N43

 

When 4 cores are engaged the processor will run at 2.5ghz. Only when one core is engaged will it run at full pelt 3.5ghz.

http://ark.intel.com/products/52237/

Clock Speed 2.5 GHz - 4 Active Cores
Max Turbo Frequency 3.5 GHz - 1 Active Core

To have all 4 cores running above stock you need to unlock them using Throttlestop by changing the TDP and Active Core Ratios or Multipliers. Read up on Throttlestop if you are unsure and only overclock if you know exactly what you are doing.

I am unsure if Asus BIOS allows you to unlock the 2920XM I would assume so but on the Clevo the 2920/2960XM on stock BIOS it is locked.

 

Maximum Turbo Boost Multiplier 2920XM
4 core: 32
3 core: 32
2 core: 34
1 core: 35

With 4 cores active, the maximum multiplier for a 2920XM at its default settings should be 32. The amount of Turbo Boost depends on the Turbo TDP setting. ThrottleStop should be able to show a user this information and even adjust it as long as the bios has not locked it.

If it never goes higher than 2.5 GHz then Turbo Boost must be turned off. Check the bios and post some pics of ThrottleStop. Is Disable Turbo selected? Can that be unchecked?

When using ThrottleStop it is best to start by leaving EIST checked until you figure out what is going on. If your bios version does not support the 2920XM, it might be disabling Turbo Boost which will lock you at a maximum multiplier of 25.

 

I agree, sounds like Turbo Boost is turned off. You max turbo bins for number of active cores should be:

1 core: 3.5 GHz
2 cores: 3.4 GHz
3 cores: 3.2 GHz
4 cores: 3.2 GHz

 

Thanks for your answer!

I can't find anything about turboboost in my bios. I'm at work, I will upload photographs of the bios and screenshot from ThrottleStop late this day.

In ThrottleStop, disable turbo boost is unchecked as default. I am able to check it when Turbo is not set to "Set multiplier".

 

Hello,

As promised, here is what I get in ThrottleStop:


I have also found this thread: 2920xm G74sx NO TURBOBOOST???

Do I also need to upgrade my power supply? I've found a 180W one instead of the 150W I have.

 

For a test can you reboot and before running ThrottleStop, delete the ThrottleStop.INI file. This will let ThrottleStop read the default values from your CPU. Start ThrottleStop, don't click on the Turn On button. Click on the TRL button and post a screen shot of that window and then click on the TPL button and post a screen shot of that.

The bios is not setting your CPU up correctly. Is the 2920XM supported by the bios you are using? There are a handful of different registers in the CPU that can block Turbo Boost from working correctly if they are not set correctly when you boot up. I am interested in getting to the bottom of this problem so post some more info.

Can you also run my MSR Tool so I can see what is in register 0x194?

http://www.mediafire.com/?myjkxzkzzmd

Type 0x194 in the MSR Number Box and then click on the Read MSR button and post a screen shot of that too.

 

Hello unclewebb,

Here you can find photographs from each tab and sub menus of my BIOS:
Index of /BIOS

Here is TRL window after deleting throttlestop.ini.


Here is TPL window after deleting throttlestop.ini.


I have bought a 180W PSU to test if it's watt problem.
I will receive next week.

 

The Turbo Ratio Limits are being set correctly to the Intel default values by the bios.

Have you tried adjusting the Package Power Limit #2? By default, Intel likes to set Limit #2 25% higher than Limit #1. ThrottleStop shows that the Power Limit Register is not locked so these values are adjustable.

Limit #1 = 55
Limit #2 = 55 X 1.25 = 68.75

Try setting Limit #2 to 69 or 70. Click on OK and exit the Power Limits window and then click on TPL again to make sure the new value was saved correctly. After that, run a single thread of the TS Bench and see if Turbo Boost starts working. It would put a big on my face if it did. Post a screen shot of ThrottleStop if you see a turbo multiplier. In the bios this setting is called the Short Term Power Limit and is on your 8th bios picture. All those bios options are impressive but it will take a while to get them all figured out.

A 180W PSU will not get Turbo Boost working.

 

Hello unclewebb,

It doesn't works
When I set the limit to 70, in VID text areas, I can see that more Watts are being used during TS Bench (15.5W instead of 14W).
But no turboboost

Yesterday I forgot to send you the MSR screenshot:

 

Is there a "Defaults" option in your bios which sets up everything to default values?

After you do that you are going to need to try and adjust some things in the bios that are related to Turbo Boost. The first thing would be the Short Term Power Limit. After you boot up you can delete the previous ThrottleStop.INI file and then run ThrottleStop and see if that Limit #2 has changed. There are a lot of different lock bits within these CPUs and something minor has locked out Turbo Boost so it is not available.

You need to find someone else running a 2920XM or 2960XM with this same bios so you can compare settings. If you can't find someone like that then do some Google searching for Alienware M18x-R1 owners that are running an unlocked bios to compare to. Some of the values that might control Turbo Boost are:

CPU Flex Ratio Override
Primary Plane Current Limit
Secondary Plane Current Limit
EC Turbo Control Mode
Dynamic Power Performance Management

I wish I had some hardware to play with and I could help you more. I am sure this is a solvable problem but it is going to take a lot of bios adjustments and rebooting to try to unlock this.

 

I made a big big mistake tonight...
I have tested CPU flex ratio override, saved settings and reboot.
But my laptop doesn't reboot...
Is there any way to load BIOS defaults or to clear CMOS without using an ASUS RMA?

I've changed the 2920XM to my old CPU: 2760QM but it's still not working...

If I try to RMA to ASUS support, will it works as I've cut the yellow warranty band by changing my CPU?

 

Modded bios I assumed? Someone did this and it bricked his G73 just 2 weeks ago...

 

Yes modded bios....

I tried to push out CMOS battery and reboot... doesn't work. My BIOS seems to be bricked.

I just bought G74SX motherboard on eBay. I give up for the 2920XM and modded BIOS, if anyone is interested message me!

 

By the way be careful when buying the motherboards, from my experience with the G73 series, there are 3 types of motherboards, Rev 1.0, Rev 2.0 and Rev 3.1. 1.0 and 3.1 didn't work in a G73JW originally that came with Rev 2.0 motherboard just because the LCD output port is 50 pins on the 1.0 and 3.1 and the port on 2.0 is 40 pins. 3.1 supports 3D. you might want to open your G74SX and check the version of the motherboard then check with the seller. Not sure how is it for the G74SX but hope it's not the same as the G73.

 

OK thanks for the advice!

My G74SX is a 3D edition and the one which is sold is a Rev 2.0.
The main difference I noticed between those two motherboards is that GTX560M has 2GB of dedicated RAM and mine has 3GB.

I will check on my motherboard what is the revision number

 

i had the samething happen to me with a 2960XM and G73SW-A1. The Turbo wouldn't kick on so i just gave up on the 2960XM and went for a 2860QM and now turbo is working fine

 

Your bios may be functioning enough to try the recovery procedures.
It depends on what went wrong. If your bios was corrupted by Easyflash
(using an NTFS formatted drive), you will need to RMA/replace mobo/reconstruct
bios, etc. If your bios is mostly correct, but your custom changes
caused a lockup, the bios recovery code may be executing, prior to the crash.
There are several postings on the subject. Basically, you prep a FAT32 formatted
USB stick, with the desired bios update file (specially named), pull all other drives,
and power-on the laptop. If the recovery code runs, it will detect the recovery image,
and rewrite the bios portion of the flash. Here is one evgasr2 published, for the
G73 series, not too long ago:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=657861

It may work for the G74SX. Otherwise, you can probably find a G74SX specific version
out there.

Good luck,

Sir Robin

 

Hello,

Actually, I did a bad configuration in my bios settings and now the laptop is shutting down 1 sec after pressing the power button. Do you think it will boot on a flash drive if I cant see anything?

 

I'm not sure. I've never seen it run, but if I understand it
correctly, the recovery code bypasses all of the normal boot
code, and just enumerates the USB ports etc. If this is
the case, it is possible that the check is performed in the
1 Sec or so, before the laptop shuts itself back off. You might
be able to tell, by watching the activity light on a USB stick.
It will be on for a very short time, so you may need to darken
the room, to see it flicker. Alternately, since you seem to be
comfortable with swapping motherboards, you can try the BIOS
reconstruction method:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus-gaming-notebook-forum/656498-g74sx-circuit-reprogram-bios-spi.html#post8458075

BTW, when your new motherboard arrives, I recommend pulling a
snapshot of the SPI flash, if you have the gear available. It will
allow you to fix/restore the bios, if anything goes wrong, in the future

Good luck,

Sir Robin