CPU throttling on unplugged laptop - need help

[benodo]

Hi, I have this problem that I'm pretty sure has been around for a while but only recently have I been able to pinpoint the issue. I noticed that my laptop throttles the CPU power significantly when it's unplugged and it hinders performance of certain operations. I'd like to request some help because I don't really know what to do.

Here are the specs of my computer for reference (it's a bit more than 3 years old now):
Chassis & Display
Cosmos Series: 17.3" Matte Full HD IPS 60Hz 72% NTSC LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Six Core Processor 8750H (2.2GHz, 4.1GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair 2400MHz SODIMM DDR4 (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® MX150 - 2.0GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 12
1st M.2 SSD Drive
250GB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 2300MB/W)
1st Storage Drive
1TB Samsung 860 QVO 2.5" SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (up to 550MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated 6 in 1 Card Reader (SD /Mini SD/ SDHC / SDXC / MMC / RSMMC)
AC Adaptor
1 x 120W AC Adaptor
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre Cloverleaf European Power Cable
Battery
Cosmos VII Series 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
Thermal Paste
COOLER MASTER MASTERGEL MAKER THERMAL COMPOUND
Sound Card
2 Channel High Def. Audio + SoundBlaster™ Cinema
Wireless Network Card
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® AC-9260 M.2 (1.73Gbps, 802.11AC) +BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
1 x USB 3.1 PORT (Type C) + 2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Keyboard Language
SINGLE COLOUR BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]

I've noticed this when working in a Digital Audio Workstation (Reaper) and I reached to the community there for help but so far I wasn't able to resolve the issue. Here's the thread from that forum for reference: https://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=271616.

The Control Center 2.0 app clearly shows that when I unplug the laptop, CPU drops significantly regardless of what I am doing on the computer. A short gif of that can be seen in the Reaper forum thread.

The power plan in W10 was already set to "high performance" (not "balanced") and changing the "processor power management > minimum processor state" to 100 % (advanced power settings) doesn't resolve the issue.

I've checked the manuals which came with the computer and nothing there hints at possible CPU throttling issues.

I've looked in the BIOS menus for some kind of "speedstep" options (when googling the issue, these options when enabled were often said to be the culprit) but I found none.

I wrote a little AutoHotKey script to monitor the battery discharging and charging rates and it seemed pretty much normal (to me at least).

I posted all of these findings in the mentioned Reaper forum thread. I'm not really sure what else to do. I don't really want to have the computer plugged in all the time but on the other hand these throttling issues are hindering performance.

Does anyone have any ideas? Would this be a hardware or software issue? What else can I do to pinpoint it even further? I'll appreciate any kind of help I can get. Thanks!

Benjamin

 

[SpyderTracks]

Hi, I have this problem that I'm pretty sure has been around for a while but only recently have I been able to pinpoint the issue. I noticed that my laptop throttles the CPU power significantly when it's unplugged and it hinders performance of certain operations. I'd like to request some help because I don't really know what to do.

Here are the specs of my computer for reference (it's a bit more than 3 years old now):
Chassis & Display
Cosmos Series: 17.3" Matte Full HD IPS 60Hz 72% NTSC LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Six Core Processor 8750H (2.2GHz, 4.1GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair 2400MHz SODIMM DDR4 (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® MX150 - 2.0GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 12
1st M.2 SSD Drive
250GB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 2300MB/W)
1st Storage Drive
1TB Samsung 860 QVO 2.5" SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (up to 550MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated 6 in 1 Card Reader (SD /Mini SD/ SDHC / SDXC / MMC / RSMMC)
AC Adaptor
1 x 120W AC Adaptor
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre Cloverleaf European Power Cable
Battery
Cosmos VII Series 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
Thermal Paste
COOLER MASTER MASTERGEL MAKER THERMAL COMPOUND
Sound Card
2 Channel High Def. Audio + SoundBlaster™ Cinema
Wireless Network Card
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® AC-9260 M.2 (1.73Gbps, 802.11AC) +BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
1 x USB 3.1 PORT (Type C) + 2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Keyboard Language
SINGLE COLOUR BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]

I've noticed this when working in a Digital Audio Workstation (Reaper) and I reached to the community there for help but so far I wasn't able to resolve the issue. Here's the thread from that forum for reference: https://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=271616.

The Control Center 2.0 app clearly shows that when I unplug the laptop, CPU drops significantly regardless of what I am doing on the computer. A short gif of that can be seen in the Reaper forum thread.

The power plan in W10 was already set to "high performance" (not "balanced") and changing the "processor power management > minimum processor state" to 100 % (advanced power settings) doesn't resolve the issue.

I've checked the manuals which came with the computer and nothing there hints at possible CPU throttling issues.

I've looked in the BIOS menus for some kind of "speedstep" options (when googling the issue, these options when enabled were often said to be the culprit) but I found none.

I wrote a little AutoHotKey script to monitor the battery discharging and charging rates and it seemed pretty much normal (to me at least).

I posted all of these findings in the mentioned Reaper forum thread. I'm not really sure what else to do. I don't really want to have the computer plugged in all the time but on the other hand these throttling issues are hindering performance.

Does anyone have any ideas? Would this be a hardware or software issue? What else can I do to pinpoint it even further? I'll appreciate any kind of help I can get. Thanks!

Benjamin

Hiya

Just wondering, are you still on Windows 10 or have you updated to 11?

First thing I would do is check the health of the battery, you can install HWMonitor for this, that has a battery health reading

HWMONITOR | Softwares | CPUID

HWMonitor for Windows® x86/x64 is a hardware monitoring program that reads PC systems main health sensors : voltages, temperatures, powers, currents, fans speed, utilizations, clock speeds ... The program handles : CPU and GPU-level hardware monitoring...

www.cpuid.com

I doubt it is anything to do with the battery though, all I can think is that perhaps it's an early buggy BIOS version.

I would verify the battery health, and then give PCS a call, run it past them and ask them if there's a BIOS update available.

The other question, what audio interface are you using?

 

[benodo]

Hiya

Just wondering, are you still on Windows 10 or have you updated to 11?

First thing I would do is check the health of the battery, you can install HWMonitor for this, that has a battery health reading

HWMONITOR | Softwares | CPUID

HWMonitor for Windows® x86/x64 is a hardware monitoring program that reads PC systems main health sensors : voltages, temperatures, powers, currents, fans speed, utilizations, clock speeds ... The program handles : CPU and GPU-level hardware monitoring...

www.cpuid.com

I doubt it is anything to do with the battery though, all I can think is that perhaps it's an early buggy BIOS version.

I would verify the battery health, and then give PCS a call, run it past them and ask them if there's a BIOS update available.

The other question, what audio interface are you using?

Hey SpiderTracks,

thank you for helping out. I appreciate it!

I haven't updated to W11 and don't plan to for the foreseeable future (issues with audio plugins compatibility).

I'll be sure to test the battery with HWMonitor and report back.

I'll also ask PCS about BIOS.

I'm using a Focusrite Scarlett Solo (2nd gen) USB audio interface. CPU throttling happens regardless of whether the interface is plugged in or not.

 

[SpyderTracks]

I'm using a Focusrite Scarlett Solo (2nd gen) USB audio interface. CPU throttling happens regardless of whether the interface is plugged in or not.

That answers the question I had as to weather perhaps the audio interface was drawing too much power.

I would contact PCS, I think you've done some good testing there, point them to relevant threads and they'll be able to help.

 

[benodo]

That answers the question I had as to weather perhaps the audio interface was drawing too much power.

I would contact PCS, I think you've done some good testing there, point them to relevant threads and they'll be able to help.

Will do. One question regarding HWMonitor: Do I have to leave it running for a while and then record the measurements or does it suffice if I just record it when I turn it on? I've attached the saved stats when I turned it on. It looks to me like the battery is in an expected condition considering its age and usage so far.

 

[SpyderTracks]

Will do. One question regarding HWMonitor: Do I have to leave it running for a while and then record the measurements or does it suffice if I just record it when I turn it on? I've attached the saved stats when I turned it on. It looks to me like the battery is in an expected condition considering its age and usage so far.

It's just a wear reading on the display, don't need to leave it running at all, it will show the reading when you open the software. It's a static reading which will show percentage wear. I doubt it's over about 30% but worth checking just in case.

Edit: It does state it in that report:

Level 0 22 pc [0x4E] (Wear Level)

So we can safely say the battery is in good health.

 

[benodo]

It's just a wear reading on the display, don't need to leave it running at all, it will show the reading when you open the software. It's a static reading which will show percentage wear. I doubt it's over about 30% but worth checking just in case.

Edit: It does state it in that report:

Level 0 22 pc [0x4E] (Wear Level)

So we can safely say the battery is in good health.

Yes, 22 % seemed quite decent to me.

I'll write up a message to PCS now and see what comes of it.

Thank you again SpiderTracks!