Performance and optimization (gaming)

Hey folks!

XPS15 9550 here (i7-6700HQ, 960M, 16GB DDR4, Toshiba 512SSD), always using AC.

I'm not a regular gamer but occasionally I like to play some Overwatch (max 3 hour sessions, mostly less).
Initially I was having some serious performance drops (unplayable levels) so I did some analysis with hwinfo.
Apparently the cpu was thermal throttling and hwinfo showed lots of red warnings (really hot summer area here) so I decided to lower graphics to low/medium and disable Turbo Boost in BIOS.

After that, the problems remained but they were far more random (occasional 2 hours of gaming in a hot environment without issues, only to be followed up by severe performance drop starting a fresh new session).

HwInfo showed no issues:
GPU temp slightly high (mostly at 80+) but clock remained stable (~1200)
CPU temp bit high but understandable and no thermal throttling reported.

As I was monitoring the stats during one session, i noticed that cpu clock was really low (900ish MHz) and the temperature was not even high. After changing the windows power scheme to maximum performance, the cpu clock shifted up to stable stock 2.6GHz in idle desktop.
After starting the game up again, I did not experience any frame drops at all, but CPU clock still occasionally dipped into 1.5ish GHz range.

Right now i can play fine but i am not happy with this setup.
Would anyone care to explain?

How is the same app either completely under-utilizing the cpu (speedstep at fault there?), or pushing it so hard that it thermal throttles (turbo boost).
Maybe it was high graphics details causing heat dispension from the gpu to affect the cpu?

Id like to achieve the following without constantly changing BIOS or powerscheme settings:
- Have TurboBoost available when need be (archive management, code compilation etc)
- Have CPU clock steady for gaming (is turboboost too much to expect for a notebook during gaming heatwise?)
- Have CPU downclock when not needed (desktop, browsing)

How does speedstep differ compared to OS powerscheme cpu related settings?
Why is idle desktop keeping the cpu at stock speed while a game downclocks it (even though im using a performance scheme)
Is it possible to have the system manage all of this for me correctly or will i have to keep changing schemes on the fly?

Thanks!

 

Gerty - you are in luck. Just read these threads dedicated to the 9550 temperatures:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...rature-observations-undervolt-repaste.785963/

http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/dell-xps-15-9550-power-limit-throttling.793136/

 

Thank you for the reply, but isnt what i explained an optimization related issue, not something that happens as a result of high temperature?

 

Those are popular problems with the 9550 and those two threads have some great solutions from a lot of users, including hardcore gamers and laptop engineers. I think they are the right place to start

 

Ok, I'll take a look at them, thanks!