The ThrottleStop Guide

Thank you sir

 

I added ThrottleStop to the Task Scheduler using the guide in the second post of this thread.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/the-throttlestop-guide.531329/#post-6865107

With all 3 settings applied (Start Minimized box checked, Notification Area Icon cleared and Task Bar cleared), when Windows starts up, if I open up the Task Manager, I can see ThrottleStop.exe running in the background. When setup like this, there will be no icon created on the taskbar and the notification area will not have an icon either. When setup like this, I agree that there is no access to the user interface.

At this point, if you need to make any changes to ThrottleStop and if you need to access the GUI, just run ThrottleStop.exe by double clicking on it wherever you have it on your hard drive.

C:\Program Files (x86)\ThrottleStop\ThrottleStop.exe

With ThrottleStop.exe already running in the background, double clicking on the ThrottleStop.exe icon will not start a new instance of ThrottleStop. It will simply open up the user interface of the instance that is already running. Now you can make changes to whatever ThrottleStop settings you like. When you are done, save your new settings and minimize ThrottleStop. This will make it disappear again as it quietly runs in the background just like before. There is no reason to manually edit the ThrottleStop.INI file.

If opening up the Windows file explorer and navigating to ThrottleStop.exe is a hassle, create a short cut on your desktop to ThrottleStop.exe

I tried this and it seems to work perfectly. Can you think of anything you are doing differently or I am just not getting it and you really want ThrottleStop to do something different than that? I took the time to test this out because there have been other requests for this. People are interested in having ThrottleStop running in the background without having to look at its icon anywhere along the bottom of the screen.

Thanks for the offer to help. There is probably nothing ThrottleStop is going to be able to do to trick an 8th Gen U into reporting a low power consumption number. It would be nice if it could.

 

Thanks again, I’ve realized my mistake now. First time trying these 3 settings I just closed ThrottleStop instead of minimizing so after clicking on the icon ThrottleStop went to the background (same way as it acts at startup with Task Scheduler set) instead of opening up the user interface. Therefore I edited .ini manually in order to get GUI back. I should have either clicked on the icon again or minimized instead of closing to get correct result. It's sorted out now. I’d like to ask one more question. Is there any way to get integer numbers for voltage offsets in ThrottleStop?

And another thing... Most guides and user reports suggest a more conservative undervolt for Intel GPU. However, for some reason in my case Intel iGPU / System Agent undervolted like 14% better than CPU Core / CPU Cache. (I did some extensive testing with OCCT + Fire Strike then under regular usage / idle for few days to confirm stability) I’ve mentioned them in pairs because unvervolting Intel iGPU only without changing offset for System Agent has no actual effect on GPU voltage, for Kaby Lake U at least. So I’m just curious, did anyone else get better undervolting result for iGPU vs CPU? Is it unusual or pretty normal?

 

Sounds like you are a candidate for the "Minimize on Close" option. That way when you are tweaking your settings, you can click on the Close gadget and ThrottleStop will minimize to the background. Have a look in the Options window for that handy feature.

Glad you got this all figured out. I kind of like having TS hiding in the background.

Do you want integer numbers for the data in the monitoring table Offset column in the FIVR window? This is not yet possible. Would you like it to say - 40 mV or -40.0 mV instead of -0.0400? Let me know exactly what you are looking for and I will consider adding this option.

I noticed the same thing while recently playing with a 7th Gen desktop CPU. I do not have access to any documentation from Intel or much hardware for testing purposes so when I am not sure how something works, I try to leave it open so users can do their own testing. Not many users come to this forum to share their results so I am not sure if your CPU is average or better than average.

for taking the time to do some proper and thorough testing.

 

@unclewebb
I'm actually back to check on results of our last conversation.

 

Hi unclewebb, stupid question, how do I get the exact iGPU voltage? Thanks.

 

Hi guys. I apologize if this has been asked before. When I have Throttlestop open and i want to shutdown my laptop and i cant as it comes up with TS is preventing windows from shutting down. How can I fix this?

 

I’d prefer setting integer offset values like 5, 10, 20 mV instead of 4.9, 10.7, 20.5 mV etc. respectively (i.e. -0.005, 0.01. 0.02 V vs 0.0049, 0.0107. 0.0205 V and so on) but’s that’s not a must-have of course.

 

It is summer time. TS development progresses slowly this time of year.

Stupid answer. I have no idea what you are talking about.
Can you explain further?

What is the exact Windows 10 Version and Build that you are using? Some users are having this problem and I have seen this happen in some versions of Windows 10. This is not happening to me in the latest version, Windows 10 Version 1803 Build 17134. For me, Windows 10 is shutting down very quickly whether ThrottleStop is minimized to the system tray or open on the desktop. That makes me think that this is more of a Windows issue than a ThrottleStop issue.

I will put that request on the long, long term things to do list. 2019? Maybe.

 

@unclewebb I found a rare bug, dunno if someone posted. Yesterday my PC was online for 6hrs straight and suddenly there was a power outage and TS exited itself on battery mode. I recreated the same scenario and TS worked fine.
Is it Windows 10 issue aka Power throttling when I haven't whitelisted TS. Maybe W10 is blacklisting TS which is ridiculous.

 

@unclewebb
No worries.

 

Sure. It was talking about before,
"I’ve mentioned them in pairs because undervolting Intel iGPU only without changing offset for System Agent has no actual effect on GPU voltage, for Kaby Lake U at least.
I noticed the same thing while recently playing with a 7th Gen desktop CPU. I do not have access to any documentation from Intel or much hardware for testing purposes so when I am not sure how something works, I try to leave it open so users can do their own testing. Not many users come to this forum to share their results so I am not sure if your CPU is average or better than average."

Is the iGPU voltage related to System Agent voltage? How do I know the current voltage of the Intel GPU? I can only know how much the offset voltage I set is.

 

There is an option in the Task Scheduler that can cause this to happen. If using the Task Scheduler, make sure nothing is checked on the Task Scheduler Conditions tab, including any items that are grayed out.

On some CPUs, definitely yes. These two voltages need to be set equally.

If you are using a Static iGPU voltage, TS will show you that voltage in the monitoring table. If you are running an offset voltage, I am not sure how to read the GPU voltage. Go do some testing. Lower these two offset voltages until things crash while the GPU is loaded. A BSOD or a reboot means you have gone too far. Reduce your offset until you are stable again.

The actual voltage is just a number. You really do not need to know this number as long as you are stable.

 

I'll disable power throttling for TS and let you know if the issue is fixed or not.

 

Yes, get your meaning. BTW, I am setting all the voltage offset to be the same exact the iGPU which is lower. It seems to be stable but no time to test it id deep currently.
Yeah, forget to say I am migrating to the new notebook i7-7500U so I am talking about this CPU not the previous one Haswell.

 

17134.48 1830

 

I am running the exact same Build without Windows complaining about ThrottleStop while shutting down. No idea why some users are having this problem. It is going to be impossible for me to fix a problem that I cannot reproduce.

 

I'm not complaining (as I love TS and appreciate all of the hard work that's been put into it) but I've had seen this on TS 8.5 a lot. I just assumed it was normal for how it worked. I just did a clean install on a new machine, so maybe I can come back with some meaningful, report able info that will help.

My only very minor gripe is I wish the GPU max temp would be reset when I hit clear. I end up exiting TS and restarting it to get that to reset between benchmarks/gaming sessions. I also wish I could default it to max CPU power and max GPU temps since I manually do that every time I start it up. I'd give $50 for those two things changed but I know that's nothing in the big scheme of things (and others may NOT want those changes).

 

I have used all the official Win 10 versions. Also with Win Defender. Never seen a problem. It just work... On MY machines. Why others have different types problems with one or both, I don't know.

 

I wonder if it's not TS itself, but rather something we have running in the background that is causing TS to not shutdown correctly? Like afterburner or something like that. I will try to see if it does it on my new machine and if I can pinpoint a cause.

 

I appreciate when users work together trying to figure out why problems like this are happening. I will try shutting down with a variety of TS options checked and try to see if it is related. My desktop with the latest Win 10 has an EVO NVMe SSD. It shuts down lightening fast. No time for Windows to complain about anything.

Of course you are.
Just kidding. I wish more people would come up with suggestions to make TS better. All of your suggestions sound like good ideas to me so I will try to add them to the next version. I am working on a special purple people eater edition for @Prema at the moment. Any complaints about the glow in the dark color scheme can be sent to him.

 

No complaints. Maybe create a second version for him, but use one of the darker color from his other picture for the window frames + text (cpu version - settings - performance status bar)

 

@unclewebb

Awesome! Love it!

@Papusan

Maybe Twitch purple : #6441a4 for the frames and keeping the brighter color for the text or even making the text white...

There is also a translucent version of the logo:

Spoiler

Whatever the Team likes best!
I'll be happy either way.

 

Plan B looks like this. A little more subtle.



And Plan C is to ditch the title bar all together.

 

Nailed it!

Spoiler

 

@unclewebb Just found out that Power throttling might cause some issues like Prevent shutdown and other bugs.
As usual, I have trouble recognizing text besides Blue.

 

Let me know any details like box color or changes to text color, etc. Do you want a version with no title bar? To exit you cold use the ESC key on the keyboard. To minimize I could probably add a button or just a click on the Prema icon could be converted to a minimize function.

Do you mean while the CPU is throttling, PL1 or PL2, and you try to shut down, Windows hangs up? I will have to try that if I can ever get one of my CPUs to throttle.

 

I meant this https://www.windowscentral.com/how-manage-power-throttling-windows-10

 

Hi- quick question. I undervolted only CPU Core and Cache, but noticed Analog I/O shows an offset on subsequent launches of ThrottleStop, despite default settings. Is that normal?

https://imgur.com/tYDXjqq

 

Analog I/O is uncore voltage.
What uncore voltage does on skylake and kaby lake, I don't know.

 

Thanks, it is a Kaby Lake. I reset all settings to default and when I reboot it still shows the offest, so I'm guessing its normal

 

Somehow I fixed the problem. One other issue though, when I'm on battery. TS starts up fine but just closes itself after 4 seconds of windows starting up, how can I fix this?? It's only on battery. On AC adapter it doesnt close on startup. Thanks @unclewebb

 

check options and make sure DCexittime isn't set. Check your windows task scheduler conditions and make sure "close on DC power" is not checked.

 

Ok will check and let you know. Thanks

 

Really looking forward to this addition! I'll be able to kick xtu to the curb when you get around to adding this feature.

Thanks so much for all you do unclewebb!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

Anyone know of a reason why my desktop 8700K will not run below 37x multi? Basically I am trying to make a battery mode like I've done in the past and run a 20x or even 15/10 for when I'm not gaming and would like to fire it up and use it a little longer on battery. Also I like having a "surf" mode where I don't need much CPU power so the fans can be as quiet as possible.

I have tried everything I could to force it to slow down but it doesn't. CPUZ and Windows task manager show it being requested to run slower but both TS and HWinfo show the 37xx freq and I tend to believe them more.

I have Prema bios, it may likely be a setting in there but I don't want to try guessing.

 

You can brute force a multiplier.
Enable speed shift in Throttlestop and set SST to 255. That will force x8 at idle and most loads will barely go above x16.
You can also force a fixed set multiplier in TS as well, by setting speed shift min and max to the same value (e.g. 29, 29).

This is the same trick used to force cache ratio to be same as core ratio (setting min and max cache ratio to the same value).

 

Thank you, I am now messing with EPP and seeing how it affects things. It's odd, the last CPU I had was super easy to use TS with, but the 8700K doesn't make much sense to me, I am fiddling and fiddling and not much is changing. It's almost like something is fighting me on it. Pretty sure my version of Clevo control center does not have XTU installed so it would almost have to be BIOS settings?

 

@Porter

uninstall CCC and load BIOS setup defaults then save and exit. See if that fixes your problems...
If it does use an updated CCC.

 

Thank you. I'm using the one that the Obsidian Tool downloads, which I thought said it didn't include XTU. I've got the overclocking figured out using EPP = 0 (don't remember having to do that ever before) but the forcing multipliers below the 37 I cannot get to work. It either runs at 800 mhz with EPP = 255, 3.7Ghz with EPP = 0, and anywhere in between it jumps back and forth between 800-2.5, 3.7 etc. It's like it's ignoring my 20x multi. I can't go below 37 on overclock section, and tried unchecking and checking overclock and it made no difference.

 

Don't use CCC, XTU or TS until your system works properly and don't change any BIOS settings.
Set 'balanced' power plan in Windows. Your system should down-clock on its own without making any changes.
If it doesn't then you have something running on the system that prevents it.
In that case check the Task Manager to identify it. In case clocks drop the moment you open the Task Manager run a Virus scanner as it maybe a coin-miner...

 

I tested it and proved that it is necessary to take effect for changing iGPU offset voltage with changing System Agent the same offset voltage as well. Finally, my laptop only can set -115mV offset voltage for iGPU to pass 3DMark Time Spy DX12 test but not bad actually.

 

@unclewebb much respect for your work which let me remove tdp limiting issiues in my dell precision m6800. i have a request/question. how to make a script or something that makes the FIVR check box "powercut ucode" option checked-in after putting ts in task scheduler at windows boot, after waking up system from sleep & log-in triggers?
So that any of the above triggers will let TS running (close if TS already running and make new task to re-run it with the presets in FIVR)?
Your program does a great job at doing things now I don't even need XTU for offsets I use. But your help/guidance is going to make it to its fullest.
I understand that you don't have to revise and add all new options your users ask but did you consider to include an option in TS that let's it start itself on the above triggers_beta release(maybe....just maybe. if you choose not, even then I'm thankful for the great tool you provided to the community) and I am willing to test it on my system.

 

As unclewebb said, there is no way to do so since there is chance that it is high package power when the powercut features is set to be enable. It is not good if it is in case. Thus, we all need to enable it manually. As my laptop, choosing a time while idling, enable it then restart the Windows again and it can work.

However, as my personal view, enabling powercut is not really good since the TDP function is no longer work anymore, the CPU temperature can go to 100 degree without stop until it hangs(in my laptop, maybe due to undervoltage). It is not good for your laptop to "accept" this temperature although the CPU should not be damaged. Using the memory map (159A0) to change the TDP is good enough for normal operation and it can be done by script.

 

@cktducky hello. thank you for quick response but it doesn't work for me. as soon as i enable the powercut then tdp is disabled(i do when idle or any state where is under the max tdp value). then until i shutdown or sleep, cpu runs at full cap even at 100% load until it thermal throttles. if i put pc to sleep or reboot, the setting is disabled.
FYI i undervolt the offset and vccin too for stable use at low temps. and i am new to the memory map changing. i dont know how to raise tdp like that. even after, im limited by edp limit(current limit throttling) which gets disabled along with the tdp limit soon after i apply powercut
thats why i was asking. do you have any suggestions for this?
can you point me to the guide to edit memory map 159A0 please? i would like to give it a shot and post result.

( @rzrwolf check this thread, friend)

 

After upgrading to latest version 8.60 I noticed that if I want to shut down or restart the computer I always get the message that Throttlestop prevents Windows to restart and I have to manually shutdown the program. Does anyone have the same problem?

 

Me too. It is Windows 10. I don't find a way to solve it so far. However, I found that sometimes it will not happen especially after the installation of the software prompt to restart.

 

Yeah, sure. Here you go, page 564, http://forum.notebookreview.com/posts/10480887/
and please see following several pages about this and how to make it effect after wake up from sleep by using Task Scheduler.

In fact, many "place" can trigger the throttle mechanism not only this one. However, it is the easiest way to achieve successfully. However, as some person said it is not the same situation for all laptops. So please check and good luck.

I can use "memory map" way in my both 4th i5 and 7th i7 CPU laptops but I need to do more optimization in the new laptop. So far it is OK.

BTW, maybe the features of this bugs in the 4th Gen CPU are not the same especially under the different microcode in BIOS between the laptops we used. Anyway, I prefer using "memory map" way which is better than powercut.

 

Stupid question that I tried searching to no avail -- what does the "turn off" option on TS do exactly?

I'm undervolting/underclocking for battery life. During high loads when I switch to my throttled profile, TS throttles even when it's "off".
This is actually affecting me since when I have my tablet plugged into an external display or running youtube where the tablet is using its iGPU, it would crash even when TS is "off" (I only undervotled the CPU not the iGPU)

 

It only affects the first 3 checkboxes--Clock Modulation, Chipset Modulation, and Set Multiplier.