Well, the power limit throttling on your CPU is a spitting image of this phenomenon.
What is Power Limit Throttling?
It may sound a bit unclear at first, but lets understand this with an analogy.
Imagine yourself as a marathon runner.
you’re able to go over35 milescomfortably.
But the track length is only25 miles.
When you finish the race, you still have enough energy left to run a bit further.
So what does that imply?
The track length is limiting your running ability.
As the processing potential is vastly bound to clock speed in most cases.
Lets narrate running ability as thefrequency of the processor.
Now, pretend that the CPU can utilize125Wand boost up to4.5Ghz.
When you tank the power from the BIOS at 65W, the frequency can only climb up to 4.2GHz.
As a result, your processor cant provide its maximum performance output due to the limited power.
Pretty simple, right?
With that being said, theres another inevitable factorHeat.
When the processor boosts for a long-winded duration, it has to work more.
So, there will be a greater degree of thermal output.
Its just basic physics.
And if you dont have enough cooling headroom,thermal throttlingis apparent.
Is Power Limit Throttling Bad?
Power limit throttling is not bad at all, nor does it always a good thing!
Depending on the circumstances, you might want to enforce or bypass power limit throttling.
You see, laptops are mostly designed with a compact form factor in mind.
So that the users experience the best of both worldslong battery lifeandsmooth performance.
Say, your laptop has a65Whr(Watt Hour) battery.
If the CPU runs at60W, youll get miserable backup out of your machine.
And youll find power limit throttling useful in such instances.
In the worst-case scenario, there might be component damage in order.
youll naturally want to extract the most out of your CPU.
You really dont want to encounter power limit throttling in such an instance, do you?
What Causes Power Limit Throttling?
Besides, insufficient cooling headroom and power delivery can also trigger CPU throttling big time.
You know, on theIntelplatform there are two main power stages:PL1andPL2.
The first one typically has a limit of65Wand the latter offersUnlimitedpower.
No, its not like Thanos thirst for infinite power!
Unlimitedrefers to the maximum power utilization by the CPU.
If it can pull 200W+ of power from the wall, PL2 allows that.
Speaking of throttling, voltage allocation for the processor is directly associated with energy utilization.
Lower voltage prevents the CPU from boosting to a higher frequency.
As a result, you encounter low power uptake and throttling.
Lackluster performance in these two areas can provoke power limit throttling too.
Here are the methods that you could follow to fix power limit throttling:
1. you could achieve this, from the BIOS or software solutions.
Tweaking BIOS for removing the power limit applies to desktop processors, especially locked or non-K Intel CPUs.
This approach allows you to take advantage of the last bit of performance your processor can deliver.
That being said, what about AMD CPUs?
Well, they are, traditionally, not constrained by power, unlike Intel.
Now, run some stress tests and monitor theCPU package power.
It should utilize the maximum power and boost to higher clocks than the stock 65W limit.
Also, you should expect a higher temperature.
It makes the process so easy, like stealing candy from a baby!
Now, this tool is especially effective for laptops with limited BIOS options.
Nevertheless, when you experience high temp, dial down theTurbo Boost Short Power Maxand check again.
Moral of the story find the balance betweenPowerandTemperature.
It wont break anything, rather will allow the CPU as much power it can use.
For laptops, as the heat is a big concern, start off with a conservative power profile.
Another brilliant software tool to fix power limit throttling is the Throttlestop software.
This time, the processor will consume power according to the new values and unleash maximum performance.
Theres no more CPU throttling due to power restrictions.
Note:Throttlestop is currently compatible with Intel CPUs only.
AMD APU Tuning Utility is brilliant on that account.
Increased temperature will eventually force your processor to not go over a certain level of power.
As a result, it will encounter power and thermal throttling at the same time.
At 125W power profile, however, you might cook your breakfast!
Yes, as expected, the temp hovers around 92 degrees.
And thats because of the lousy stock cooler.
Not to mention the dip in clock speed.
So, its a matter of the utmost importance that your machine has a great cooling solution.
Heres what you might do to provide the necessary cooling capability to your system:
3.
Applying the maximum performance profile helps the system run at a considerably higher power state.
This mostly occurs if you apply an aggressive undervolting profile.
So, what is the right measure?
Though the good news is, you dont have to worry about any voltage adjustment with locked CPUs.
Consequently, their physical growth is handicapped and can not meet the formidable potential.
But what does it have to do with power limit throttling?
Eventually, a throttling is in order.
Can you tell, where Im going with this?
Right, the PSU is the one to provide the CPU with essential power when requires.
Just like a person needs food.
For this reason, I recommend you buy a PSU higher than the total consumption by your system.
In that case, measuring how many watts your setup is currently using might be useful.
But dont cheap out on this component.
At least get an80+Bronzerated PSU.PSU tier listwill help you decide in such instance by the way.
Here are the steps to disable power throttling using group policy:
cycle your box.
On the next boot, power limit throttling should be removed from the OS level.
So, before moving on,back up your system.
From now on, Windows will not have a go at conserve battery with limited power usage.
FAQs
Is Power Limit Throttling Good?
Its especially effective on thin and light laptops.
Does Power Throttling Reduce FPS?
Yes, power throttling reduces FPS.
As a result, frames per second in games are lower than expected.
How Do I Know If My PC Is Throttling?
To confirm whether your PC is throttling, open theTask Managerby pressingCtrl+Shift+Escand check the clock speed of the CPU.
Ending Remarks
Have a nice day!
