Clevo W870CU power consumption

Many users have the 920xm and 6970m in their w860cu. Check some sigs in the owners lounge and you will see

I've been pondering this upgrade myself and if it is worth is. With the prospect of the 7970m working in our machines, even more so. I'm still a bit torn though. I want a new machine, but this will not happen until at least until next year when I finish my degree and start earning some more
So it's either upgrade CPU ($250) and GPU (~ $300 if I sell my current) + get a more powerful adapter ($50) this fall for a total of around $600, or buying a completely new machine in a year and a half for around, which will cost me around $3000 (prices are high in scandinavia).

As JohnnyFlash said, him and others have fried their motherboards overclocking the 920xm, so I've researched this issue quite a bit when I was thinking about getting the 920xm earlier this year.

Here's what I found (note: the post are not always in chronological order, and sometimes a bit out of context)

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sag...0cu-np8690-owners-lounge-543.html#post8288458

Hi Guys,

I finaly got my i7 920xm . What a great cpu. I used a liquid metal cooling pad and my temeratures while playing ARMA2 (heavely CPU dependend) are between 75°C and 83°C. I set my clocks to 27/25/23/21 and it works perfecly stabel in games and while TS Bench (comes with throttlestop).

It set the TDP limit to 57W (It uses it... measured with HWiNFO64). I will not set the limit any higher, because I'm afrait frying my motherboard. I made this expirence with my beloved AMD Athlon K7 650Mhz --> 800Mhz stable, 850Mhz dead .

I am quite happy with my machine and I want to say thank you to you guys which answered my questions.

Thanks guys
Arne

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http://forum.notebookreview.com/sag...0cu-np8690-owners-lounge-543.html#post8288854

Great work arne. I am glad someone will learn from my past mistakes! 57W should be absolutely fine just wondering how long can it maintain 2.8ghz x 4 at such a low tdp? On mine it needed 67W to allow a permanent 2.8ghz 21x multi fun at 100% load across 4 cores.

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http://forum.notebookreview.com/sag...0cu-np8690-owners-lounge-543.html#post8289326

I just tested it. Do have 2,8Ghz constantly I need a TDP of 60W.

I ran furmark to get 100 % GPU load and used TS Bench to get 100 CPU load. The clocks shows by Throttlestop stay constant at 2,8 GHz and temperatures are at max. 83°C for the CPU and 76°C for GPU.

After 20 min I got bored because values didn't change anymore. I will leave it at that ...

Arne

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http://forum.notebookreview.com/sag...0cu-np8690-owners-lounge-535.html#post8242308

Basically if your components demand more power than the psu can supply it then means it is time to get a bigger supply.

It has been found that 120W is inadequate to run the 720qm and 6970M which means 150W is more than adequate. In fact 150W should be adequate to run even the 920xm and 6970M.

180W might only be needed if running the 920xm and 6970M and OCing both heavily or running the 6990M which comsumes more power at load.

Considering I would strongly suggest against OCing the CPU past 65W tdp means nets you a solid 2.8ghz stable across all 4 cores 150W still should leave plenty of juice in the tank for the GPU. 180W just gives that much more headroom plus the powersupply will run more efficiently as it will be under less stress than a weaker psu.

Either way to a lesser or greater extent every machine is limited in the end by the vregs so definitely no point in going beyond 180W for this board.

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http://forum.notebookreview.com/sag...0cu-np8690-owners-lounge-535.html#post8245213

Throttlestop all the way.

Do not take the tdp or tdc past 65W tdp/tdc though as the w860cu mobo has weak vregs on the cpu side.

I have blown them once and now I think the second time. My cpu has been tested and works fine. I might be heading to the dell forums soon as a new owner of a M15x..... :*(

On the bright side of things my 6970M will go up for sale in the martketplace during the next fortnight or so

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http://forum.notebookreview.com/sag...0cu-np8690-owners-lounge-536.html#post8245251

I've set my TDP/TDC 62/55 so I think it still on the safe side, am I right? Temp is very good max @ 77C

anyway M15x is really a great machine...hope u will have a good time with

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http://forum.notebookreview.com/sag...0cu-np8690-owners-lounge-437.html#post6797373

Quote:

Originally Posted by genocidew
so it shuts down due that it only operates max at 55w, while it supposed to run above 55w.

interesting, i cant wait to try this myself

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55W is just enough to allow x16 on 8 cores, it seems. According to HWiNFO32, the TDP actually rises to ~62W at times, without any overclocking.

The shutdown problems I get happen when setting the TDP/TDC to 80+/60+, which is the only way to reach higher multipliers.

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http://forum.notebookreview.com/sag...0cu-np8690-owners-lounge-540.html#post8261470

On the heat side of things the w860cu can more than adequately cool the chip no problem.

The problem as you say is with the vregs. I fried mine instantly the first time by settings 75/75. The second time I ran 67tdp and 65 tdc and it still fried. Just took a month to do so.

I would say to be safe 60/60 max. For the multis start with 19x for 4 cores that is a little over 2.5ghz. 67/65 was enough to make 2.8ghz fully stable on 4 cores forever.

Of course all chips are different and you might be able to squeeze 20x before it starts to throttle back automatically.

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http://forum.notebookreview.com/sag...evo-w870cu-owners-lounge-249.html#post7075333

75TDP seems to be the line for an XM in this unit, I fried my system board running 75/63. Completely my own fault, but just as a heads up I'm posting this here. Temps were all in the low 80's at the time, it's power draw, not heat that does it.

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http://forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo/499608-additional-functions-bios-6.html#post6687876

No, you can't change the base frequency with ThrottleStop, but the base frequency has very little functional relevance with the i7 chips. It sets the operating frequency (16x the baseclock (2.13GHz) with the 940XM) when turboboost is disabled. With TB enabled, the base frequency just sets the base upon which the TB multipliers build. The only method available to increase the base frequency is to increase the baseclock (133.3MHz) using SetFSB for those computers with PLL's that can be adjusted. The Clevo W870CU/Sager NP8760's do not permit such changes; I don't know whether the W880CU will either, but doubt it, although I am not aware that anyone has even tried yet.

What you can do is set the multipliers where you wish and adjust the TDP/TDC to provide the power to the CPU that it requires to operate at those multipliers/frequencies. Core i7 multipliers have been adjustable for some time using EVGA's eLeet utility. It is the ability to adjust TDP/TDC that is unique to Throttlestop and which unleashs the power of the i7 mobile extremes. In theory, you can set the multi's to 28-28-28-28 (maybe 29x across with the 940XM). i.e., all cores/threads operating at 28x (3.73GHz), if your power brick can supply the power and your cooling system can manage the heat. My 8760/920XM won't; the most I can use and manage is 26x across the board, and that requires 90 watts of power to the CPU and generates a lot of heat, which makes it suitable only for relatively short bursts of maximum output. The chart below shows the relationships of multiplier settings to power limits to effective useable multupliers and resulting frequencies for 4 core/8 thread (i.e., maximum) operation at full load.

Obviously. you can further customize. To maximize performance in for programs using single or dual core processing, you can increase the 1-2 core multipliers and use something like 28-27-24-24. so that a single core program can be processed at up to 3.73GHz. With any of these combinations, you begin to over-power the QX9300 o/c'ed to 2.93 somewhere around the 940's stock settings of 25-24-18-18 because of the improved efficiency of the Core i7 architecture and the much higher frequencies at 1 or 2 core levels. At higher levels, with higher effective multipliers, your new 940XM blows away your old QX9300. It just takes a little time and some experimentation to fully appreciate the power of the 920XM and 940XM and the flexibility they provide and to learn how to best apply it. It is always a trade off balancing performance, power and heat. For me, 26x across the board (or 28-27-26-26, again.the 3-4 core multis define the power needs) is the practical limit and then only for limited times. You will quickly come to love the 940XM, but it takes Throttlestop to make it sing. I'm sure others can further clarify and better explain the details, but given the equipment you're coming from and your new purchase, you seem to understand these matters pretty well.

I aplogize to all for the length of this post, but have barely scratched the surface of the subject. But remember, the power to manipulate multipliers and power limits can. if used recklessly at the extremes, also be the power to break things, so be careful.

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Anyways, the 920xm is available for around $250 dollars now, and i think you can safely overclock it to 2.6-2.8Ghz with no problems. That is an increase of around 1Ghz coming from the 720qm, so it's definitely a step up. Paired with the 7970m I don't think you will see much difference in games between our three year old machines, and the soon coming m17xR4/P1*0EM

Another relevant question (granted the 7970 will work in our machines) is if it will be bottlenecked by the 720qm/820qm. Some people say it will, others don't. I feel like I'm already bottlenecked on some maps on BF#. No matter how much I drop the graphics and resolution I can't maintain 60 fps on say Karkand.

This post ran a bit long, but I've been thinking about this lately as well. Thanks to JohnnyFlash and others I quoted for sharing their experiences

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