Upgraded CPU in M6600, GPU usage randomly drops to 0% now. AC Adapter the culprit?

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Dajinn

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I recently purchased a Precision M6600 that included the dual core i7 2620M and the FirePro M8900.

When I game, I run throttlestop to make sure that the CPU is running at its nominal/turbo and not getting stuck in speedstep frequencies.

When I had just the 2620M, gaming was fine for many, many hours. I would never have an issue.

I upgraded the CPU to the quad core i7 2920XM, which has a 20 watt increase in TDP over the 2620M(35W to 55W). Now whenever I game for maybe an hour to 2 hours, my game will randomly drop down to like 2-5 FPS and my GPU usage will go to 0%. I can restart the game and get normal frames again; I assume this is because I'm dropping the load and subsequently the power consumption and then ramping it back up.

I believe the culprit here is that Dell shipped the M6600 with a 180W AC Adapter when the M6600 is supposed to come with a 240W AC Adapter.

Does the issue I described just sound like an AC adapter issue? Temperatures are fine and no throttling is occuring when this happens. I went ahead and called Dell Financial Services to have them send me the proper AC adapter but I was just hoping to get some "peace of mind" before I receive it.

Thanks!
 
Sometimes when your GPU drops down to 0%, it is doing this because the CPU is throttling.

Can you post a screenshot of how you have ThrottleStop setup?

Could you also check off the ThrottleStop - Log File option before you start playing so you have a record of your CPU's performance while gaming. Before you start logging, go into the Options window and try turning on ATi GPU monitoring. Having the CPU and GPU temps in the same log file can help troubleshooting. You can copy and paste this data to www.pastebin.com

It is possible that you are near the limit of your power adapter. As it heats up, it might be triggering some throttling. Make sure BD PROCHOT is not checked in ThrottleStop.
 
By the way my actual turbo ratio limits are 35, 34, 32, 32 not 35 all the way across.
 
Now I just need to see a log file from when you are gaming. Many of the Dells use clock modulation throttling. There are two different types of this. When everything is working correctly, the ThrottleStop log should show 2 columns of 100.0 for CMod and Chip. If you see anything less in either column then on the main ThrottleStop screen, put a check mark in the appropriate clock modulation box and set that to 100.0.

Your screenshot shows you have ThrottleStop in Monitoring mode. You need to click on the Turn On button if you are using Set Multiplier or either of the Clock Modulation values.
 
I'm running a log right now while playing FFXIV. It's interesting that you mentioned clock modulation throttling. I have my TRL set but my cpu was only running at the max non-turbo frequency until I checked clock modulation.

Just wanted to post that in case you see the CPU frequency go up from 2.5 ghz to 3.2 ghz in the log. My laptop definitely was running the cpu above 2.5 ghz.

Oh and yes I know TS wasn't on, my laptop was on battery when I was taking the screens so I didn't want it to drain as quickly. I'm plugged in now and have it turned on of course.
 
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If the CPU was only running at the max non-turbo frequency then it was likely clicking on the Turn On button and the Set Multiplier value that fixed that up. Some of the Lenovo laptops disable Intel Turbo Boost as soon as you start gaming. Unless you are logging the data or keeping track of things on a second monitor, most users don't notice that the CPU is not running at its rated speed.

There is no need to check either type of clock modulation unless you see in the log that your laptop is using this method of throttling. It might only be disabling turbo boost.

The other thing I noticed is that you have SpeedStep - EIST disabled. The Set Multiplier feature will probably not work correctly unless EIST is enabled, preferably in the bios. There is no reason to disable this. As long as the Power Options Minimum processor state is set to 100% then having EIST enabled doesn't do anything bad.
 
Sorry, I had a typo, I meant when I clicked on "turn on" but had the multiplier set to 35 T, the CPU was still only running at 2.5 Ghz until I put the check mark in clock modulation. Then it actually ramped up to 3.2 Ghz like it's supposed to be at(TRL of 32 when all 4 cores are active).

edit: After posting this I quickly checked the log in progress and did see that my CKMOD was at 75 when running at said 2.5 Ghz (after I clicked Turn On) so I checked clock modulation and all is well now.

Now I just need to wait until this thing drops GPU usage.
 
Make sure you turn EIST back on. Your laptop might be using clock modulation throttling because you have this disabled.
 
So turn on EIST + clock modulation or disable CM and enable EIST and see if it keeps the clock mod at 100?
 
I would turn on EIST and leave Clock Modulation unchecked and then do some more testing to see what happens.

If you have already seen 75% in the log file, then I am pretty sure that you have found your problem but I just like to double check so I know exactly what the problem is. ThrottleStop has different features to deal with the various throttling schemes that manufacturers use. Some people just check everything off and call it a day. I prefer to only fight against the issues that your specific laptop has.
 
Hey unclewebb, I encountered the issue and got it logged.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PM106fVVCROz7k9IkfzC37wZH9W468HtG64jck6UgkA/edit?usp=sharing

It occured right at 10:44 and 10:45 AM. GPU Usage halted to 0% but CPU frequency was still 3.2 Ghz. I started Throttlestop with EIST on but turned it off and put a check in clock modulation since the CPU wasn't going above 2.5 Ghz.

Thanks for any expertise. Looks like the power peaked at 44.3 right at 10:45;40 before dropping the C0% to 22 and that's when the GPU usage bottomed out. I checked the AC adapter when this happened and didn't see anything abnormal. Power LED on it didn't go out and it's just normally warm, not super hot or anything. Still waiting on my 240 watt adapter from Dell.
 
At the beginning of your log file, up until 08:10:30, Clock Modulation is at 75.0% so your CPU is definitely being throttled then. I am not sure if you clicked on the Turn On button in ThrottleStop or what happened but after that, Clock Modulation goes up to 100.0% like it should be and the multiplier increases from 26 to 32. At this point, until the end of the log file, your CPU is running at a consistent speed without any signs of throttling.

One thing to be aware of is that some Dell laptops will briefly (10 or 15 seconds) use some Clock Modulation throttling when you switch from AC to battery power to protect the battery. That does not seem to be the problem here since you were on AC at the time.

The GPU spends a lot of time running steady near 80C which is fine. At 10:45:40, the C0% goes up from 36.0% to 52.6% and then it immediately drops down to 22.0%. From that point until the end of the log file, the GPU is cooling down which means it is not working as hard as it was. What happened with your game at this point. Did it freeze up or did the frame rate slow down to a crawl?

Both CPU and GPU temps are fine. I am wondering if this is a game specific problem. With ThrottleStop set so Clock Modulation is checked and set to 100.0% and EIST enabled and Set Multiplier checked and set to the maximum value; are there any other games you play which suddenly have a problem like this. Just a wild guess but to me it seems like a memory leak. The game runs fine for quite a while but then it reaches a point where it runs out of memory or something like that and at that point, your game slows down to a crawl or freezes up.

GPU-Z lets you log info about your GPU including its memory usage. That might show something interesting. Also try testing your computer with a different game.
 
Same thing happened with clock modulation checked off and EIST enabled. I dunno what the deal is. If the new AC adapter doesn't fix it(arriving today, hope they sent the right one) I'm just going to return the system and sell the 2920XM back on ebay. It's pretty much a crap chute trying to troubleshoot this without more info. I don't think its the game since the 2620M I was running before I put in the 2920XM was able to go for at least 6-8 hours without a hitch.
 
Hey unclewebb,

Going off your advice I went ahead and just did a quick google to see if anyone else playing FFXIV experienced the same issue. Low and behold, I believe that you were correct in your assumption of a memory leak being the issue.

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/threads/179990-Memory-Leak-Preformance-Issue

It seems to have a work around with some in-game settings so i'll go ahead and try that. I am not too concerned over graphical quality on a mobile platform just consistent performance so I won't mind scaling some stuff back.

By the way, I didn't know you were the author of ThrottleStop 6.0 and I wanted to thank you for all of the work you put into making it a great piece of software for unleashing the overly stifled laptop performance.
 
You're welcome. ThrottleStop has helped out a lot of Dell laptop owners. The M6600 has excellent cooling and comes with a powerful adapter so there is no reason for this laptop to be throttling. Dell probably shipped the 180W AC adapter because your laptop originally shipped with a Dual Core CPU and saved the 240W adapters for the ones with Quads.

Interesting that you were able to find other users running that game that are also having problems.

Are there any options in the bios to overclock your 2920XM? There is a hidden register in the chipset that can limit the maximum multiplier. Unfortunately ThrottleStop does not have access to this register but my friend Dufus on NBR wrote a simple program to remove this limitation.

MaxMulti
https://www.sendspace.com/file/iwzi9j

If Google Chrome complains that it is a dangerous program, they are probably right. :)
Seriously, if you have any problems, download it with Internet Explorer and then scan it with a reputable antivirus program. I have used MaxMulti and have never had any problems. Chrome is becoming over protective.

After you run MaxMulti, it is still possible that Dell is using a different method to limit the maximum multiplier. If you're lucky, maybe you will be able to use ThrottleStop to adjust your multipliers higher in the TRL window now. It won't help with that game but it might help with some other game in the future.
 
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