XTU works but ThrottleStop isn't?

I have an i5 8250u on a Xiaomi Notebook Pro with the BIOS that allows undervolting and TDP adjustments via XTU.

I would much rather use TS since scheduling this to the Task Manager for boot-up is easy.

My issue is that TS isn't offering any performance improvement compared to XTU. Why is that?

My CB score stock or using TS is around 528 and the clock speed will hold at 3.4 turbo for a few seconds then back to 2.3 for the rest of the test.

With XTU it'll hold 3.4 and score at 728. Timer on TS is maxed out. Likely something i'm overlooking in the TPL settings?

I'm sure i'm missing something, so perhaps someone can offer a solution.

Thanks,
Bob

 

There are two power limits that Intel XTU has access to but ThrottleStop does not. If you have ThrottleStop setup properly, I will have to assume that is the problem.

How about start by posting a pic of ThrottleStop with the Limit Reasons window open while you are running Cinebench and the CPU is throttling. It sounds like it is being limited to 15 Watts long term regardless of your settings in ThrottleStop. Also post a screenshot of the TPL window so I can see how you have that setup. Set the time slider to the default 28 seconds and set both of the power limits to something conservative like 30 Watts.

If you want to do some further testing to figure this out, run RW Everything.

http://rweverything.com/

Click on the third icon from the left and open up the Memory window. Navigate to memory location FED15900

Click on the dword 32bit button so your screen looks something like this.



Many laptops like the one I am using do not use these two power limits in FED159A0 and FED159A4
Both power limits are set to 00000000 which means they are not being used.

To test your laptop, boot up without running Intel XTU or ThrottleStop and have a look at that register. Run Intel XTU and use it to change your power limits and see if those two registers change. Post some pics, preferably in the main ThrottleStop Guide thread, and I will tell you if these memory locations are being used and what they are set to.

If the last 4 digits are 8078, I think that is equivalent to a 15 Watt power limit.

 

Ask @Che0063 . He was able to run 8250U at tdp 45W for several hours on his Xiaomi laptop.

 

With ThrottleStop?

 

Yes.

 

Exact same system specs as you here.

Undervolt with ThrottleStop. Ensure package power limits are set high. Then do what Unclewebb said.

That being said, don't expect to run the 8250U at 40W. I can barely do that with liquid metal, so don't expect to be able to do that with thermal paste. Dissipating 40W from 1 shared heatpipe with the GPU is a big ask. Most HQ/HK CPUs have at least 2 thick heatpipes to transfer that amount of heat away. The Xiaomi Mi Notebook Pro only has one thin (2mm) heatpipe shared with the CPU and GPU>

 

@Che0063 - What does CPU-Z show for your bios version? Sometimes a later bios can kneecap a system.

 

As far as I know, BIOS versions don't affect the cpu performance.

BIOS version changelog as I know it:
10X initial.
20X ???
30X SSD Slot 1 changed from 2 PCIe lanes to 4PCIe lanes, allowing the PM961 to reach 3000+MB/s
40x - Fan speed curve edited. Everyone is searching for this but all we have is a BIOS dump which can't be used without a programmer. The last BIOS version before Xiaomi started to cripple things via the BIOS
50x - Undervolting disabled. Eheu, I had this bios so I downgraded immediately.
60x - ???

No way am I ever going to live with no undervolting. Thx for keeping things unlocked initially, Xiaomi.

@B0B

What you are experiencing is exactly normal.
Throttlestop doesn't raise Power Limits on the Mi Notebook Pro. I get low scores on Cinebench with only TS. Everytime I need to play a game, I have to manually do what Uncleweeb told you on the second post (RW-Everythdng).

 

Seems like XTU is the better solution for this laptop then. I haven't seen temps get much hotter than 80c on the CPU at 45 watts tdp so far. That's taxing both CPU and GPU gaming for a few hours in Overwatch. That was the hottest I have had this so far. Editing video was a breeze and ran much cooler.

I too had BIOS 502 installed and I'm on 300 now. Having to rweverything before gaming or just use XTU? What are the benefits of avoiding XTU aside from it not sticking upon wake from sleep or cold boot? I like TS for that as setting it up in the Task Scheduler works like a charm.

Thank for the interesting information everyone!

 

Xtu is too slow, too heavy, too cumbersome, etc. It takes me 3 seconds with Rw-everything, literally.

 

Understood, I’ll take a look at it. I’m going to have to cover it on the review of this laptop so I need to see which one people are more likely to use perhaps I’ll just throw both of them in the mix

 

Oh NONONO do not put it on some review without extensive warnings. Mucking about with Rw-everything can cause serious (hardwareh) damage.

 

I’m sure that will be apparently obvious once I start digging into this LOL