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    GPU Throttling on XPS 15 9550

    Discussion in 'Dell XPS and Studio XPS' started by AliasZ, Dec 9, 2015.

  1. AliasZ

    AliasZ Notebook Enthusiast

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    So I was playing Guild Wars 2 today and I noticed the following throttling occuring after about 10-15 minutes of play:

    upload_2015-12-9_23-58-38.png

    It throttles from ~1100 MHz to about 700-750 MHz and stays there until I tab out or exit the game, is this just a design issue with the system or a driver/bios/etc. problem?
     
    AliasZ, Dec 9, 2015
    #1
  2. bernieyee

    bernieyee Notebook Evangelist

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    Played GTA V for like an hour straight and didn't notice any throttling at all.. and that game is pretty taxing on the system overall.
     
    bernieyee, Dec 10, 2015
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  3. AliasZ

    AliasZ Notebook Enthusiast

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    Did you track the usage using afterburner or something like that?
     
    AliasZ, Dec 10, 2015
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  4. bernieyee

    bernieyee Notebook Evangelist

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    No. I would've noticed if my 960M suddenly decided to throttle a whopping 400MHz.
     
    bernieyee, Dec 10, 2015
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  5. custom90gt

    custom90gt Doc Mod Super Moderator

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    Do you know what your max temps were? From everything I've read the XPS does a pretty good job of cooling the 960m. Which driver are you using?
     
    custom90gt, Dec 10, 2015
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  6. AliasZ

    AliasZ Notebook Enthusiast

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    Using the latest Nvidia drivers. The GPU temp peaks at 90 degrees in the graph and then begins to throttle. I'm using it on a flat surface, the room is relatively cool, etc. so I don't know why the temperatures are so high.
     
    AliasZ, Dec 10, 2015
    #6
  7. prushing

    prushing Notebook Guru

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    Are the fans running? You can select active/passive cooling in the power options and other stuff in the bios, so check that you haven't mistakenly changed anything.

    Sent from my SM-G925V using Tapatalk
     
    prushing, Dec 11, 2015
    #7
  8. AliasZ

    AliasZ Notebook Enthusiast

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    Yeah, they're running at full speed.
     
    AliasZ, Dec 11, 2015
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  9. Quix Omega

    Quix Omega Notebook Evangelist

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    I was curious about this so I just installed Guildwars 2 just to test it out. I have a XPS 15 9550 with the i7, 16GB RAM, 512SSD and 4K touchscreen. I ran it at 1080p on high for half an hour without issue. While I was running the game I ran HWINFO64 to log the temperatures and clock speeds of every component in the machine. The GPU clock remained constant and the CPU never throttled and was still applying turbo boost appropriately. GPU Temps peaked at 88C and I've seen mobile GPUs run up to about 100C on other notebooks. 23C room temp, flat wooden table.

    Perhaps it's an issue with your specific unit?
     
    Quix Omega, Dec 12, 2015
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  10. a15g

    a15g Notebook Consultant

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    Has anyone tried aftermarket paste?

    Interested to see if IC Diamond or Arctic Silver would drop a few degrees.
     
    a15g, Dec 12, 2015
    #10
  11. Quix Omega

    Quix Omega Notebook Evangelist

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    I'm going to repaste mine with IC Diamond after I'm sure I'm not going to return it (looks good so far). I'll probably do it some time after Christmas.
     
    Quix Omega, Dec 14, 2015
    #11
  12. KoW210

    KoW210 Notebook Guru

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    I love IC Diamond. After my warranty expires I'm definately going to replace the paste with IC Diamond.
     
    KoW210, Feb 9, 2016
    #12
  13. GoNz0

    GoNz0 Notebook Virtuoso

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    Perfcap can throttle for more than just thermal issues, it will do it to save power if the GPU is not running flat out at that GPU speed, Thermal issues is another or just hitting it's designation power limit.

    I repasted the day mine arrived as I know the benefits without doing a before and after, I get no throttling :)

    I use MX2 or Gelid GC paste as it is good for low pressure applications like laptop heatsinks, be wary of the ultra high performance pastes for laptops as they often are no better than cheap paste unless you have a high clamping pressure.

    FYI you will not invalidate the warranty unless you physically damage the laptop during a repaste.
     
    Last edited: Feb 10, 2016
    GoNz0, Feb 10, 2016
    #13