Core i5 8300H sudden clock drops on high performance mode and normal temperature?

[JBarr10]

I own an Acer Nitro 5 laptop with Core i5 8300H, 8gb ram, Optane and Nvidia Gtx 1050 ti.

I have been getting CPU clock drops suddenly. For example:

When I'm playing CS:GO, sometimes the clock goes down to 800 MHz for a while and then comes back to normal.

Today I got worried because I was playing PUBG and my clock dropped to 800 MHz, but it didn't recover. I had to close the game, but my CPU clock was stuck at 2.3 GHz, even plugged in to the power outlet and on high performace settings. Tried restarting it, didn't work.

I even tried to run a stress test but the max core speed was stuck at 2.3 GHz. Then, it suddenly came back to normal-ish.

The temperature didn't even reach 75°C when this happened so it was no thermal throttling and my Bios is updated to the latest version.

I ran the Intel diagnostics tool, but it didn't detect any error, it passed the diagnostic.

I hope you can help me.

Regards.

[idata]

Hello BtoBaCh,

Thank you for your joining our Intel ® community.I understand that you are experiencing issues with the clock readings from your Acer* Nitro 5 laptop.May we ask how long ago did the issue start?Do you remember performing any changes/updates on the system? (OS, Bios, drivers)Based on the brief description of your issue, there are some things to consider:

1. The clock values of the laptop are limited by your customized (OEM) BIOS.

Some of your readings might be affected by the customized BIOS created by your manufacturer. If you already updated your BIOS, you may consider the following:- Restore the BIOS back to default.- Disable the following BIOS features: Intel® Adaptive Thermal Monitor/Intel SpeedStep® Technology if those are available in your BIOS.-Recovering your BIOS 2- Running games only with Nvidia* Gtx 1050 ti just for testing purposes.You may want to monitor the unit's performance when only the Nvidia* card is working. 3-Temperature and test results According to the results and the temperature of the system at the moment of the tests, you can be confident that the CPU is working fine, but is being limited by either your OS or your BIOS (as shared above), so we recommend you to make sure that your system is running the latest version for your OS.Since you state that high performance settings were tested, the best approach in this moment is to contact your System manufacturer for the BIOS troubleshooting.Also I would like to gather the .txt file that the https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/25293/Intel-System-Support-Utility-for-Windows-?product=91600 System Support Utility will generate. To attach a file, you must click the "Attach" option on the bottom right-hand corner of the response box.In this way I can take a deeper look into your current settings. I hope to hear from you soon.Regards,Diego Sanchez Campos.Intel (R) Customer Support TechnicianUnder Contract to Intel (R) Corporation

[JBarr10]

Hello, Diego.

Issues just started suddenly, about 1 week ago.

I haven't made any Bios changes or updates. The laptop came with it latest Bios version. I have just updated Windows and Nvidia drivers, but the issue started way before that.

I'm gonna try to locate the Bios feature you're telling me, but I don't remember seeing it before (It wasn't there, the only options I get are Intel VTX and VTD and both are enabled, not really sure what they are)

All games I play are set to run on the Nvidia GPU, is that what you are asking me to do?

And actually the GPU performance it's excellent, I monitor the performance while gaming with the MSI Afterburner OSD. When my FPS drops to les than 20fps and image goest weird, the only change it's the CPU clock running at 800 MHz.

I already tried to contact Acer, but I get the Mexico's support center, and most of the times they won't do a proper troubleshooting, they just want me to send the computer over to the tech center on another state and wait 15 days, which I think is unneccesary at this point, I will if needed, eventually.

Diego, I attached the txt file you asked me.

UPDATE: Not sure if relevant, but, I started gaming for a while, and noticed that my battery was 90% aproximately and was plugged in and charging, it ran smoothly for a while, but then I started having the same issues I said before, my clocks would go down to 800 Mhz sometimes, and an hour after my clocks were fluctuating between 800 Mhz and 2300 Mhz, even at high performance settings, which normally gives me 3900 MHz+. Then I started monitoring the clocks on all cores with CPUID and all clocks on all cores were fluctuating a lot while pc idle as if my profile was set to power saving, I usually get steady 3900 when in high performance even idle. Then I noticed that after gaming with the laptop plugged in, the battery was below 50% when the issues started. My laptop is losing power while plugged in and gaming... Not sure if this is the cause or a symptom.

Thank you for your help, I'll expect your response

Regards.

[idata]

Hello BtoBaCh,

Thank you for your response.In this case, the Intel ® VTX and VTD are both virtualization features, so we do not really need those.If the actual performance of the GPU while using the Nvidia* GPU is fine, it means that the issue could be caused, your OS or your BIOS and based on your last update, it all points to be a power management issue.Have you tried to test a different power supply, just to compare if there is any difference?I understand that contacting the manufacturer of the machine might be a little difficult; however the readings from your machine depend totally on the customizations of the BIOS added by them.I strongly recommend you to contact them on their live support through the following link and ask for an issue replication/escalation to a higher level of support from their end:https://us.answers.acer.com/app/chat/chat_launch https://us.answers.acer.com/app/chat/chat_launch I hope this helps.Regards,Diego Sanchez Campos.Intel (R) Customer Support TechnicianUnder Contract to Intel (R) Corporation

[idata]

BtoBaCh,

Thank you for your patience.We just wanted to double check if you still need further help?Please do not hesitate on contacting us back.Regards,Diego S.Intel (R) Customer Support TechnicianUnder Contract to Intel (R) Corporation

[JBarr10]

Hello.

Well, it appeared to be a power issue. Basically my fault, I plugged an Opolar heat extractor and a cooling base to the USB ports, so it seems that drained quite a bit of the laptop's power. Now I just plug my cooling devices to an alternate power supply.

Now, the processor still goes into trottling every once in a while, not sure if power or thermal, but I'm always monitoring my temperature and it never goes over 81°C, before I changed thermal compound a while ago (way before this started happening) it would easily go over 90°C with going into thermal trottling, so, that's what I don't understand, and I'm still trying to figure out(Also monitored each core's temperature, no hotspots found, temperature even).

It happens less than before, but it's still present, specially noticeable in Counter Strike: Global Offensive as far as I noticed.

[idata]

Hello BtoBaCh,

Thank you for your response.In this case yes, it seems that the actual throttling is caused by an actual power management issue.Specially because (based on your previous post) the actual temperature of the CPU is fine.I strongly recommend you to contact your system manufacturer so they can provide you with more steps to regulate the actual power as this one might be limited by the customized BIOS of your machine.I hope this helps.Regards,Diego S.Intel (R) Customer Support TechnicianUnder Contract to Intel (R) Corporation

[idata]

Hello BtoBaCh,We just wanted to double check if you still need further assistance.Please do not hesitate on contacting us back.Regards,Diego S.Intel (R) Customer Support TechnicianUnder Contract to Intel (R) Corporation

[smisr3]

hello did u manege to fix the problem . because im having the same problem with same specs i5 8 gen , 1050ti but my laptop is asus fx504ge plz respond and tell me what did u do . im desperate

[JBarr10]

Yes, well, kinda. It's a power issue, just try and play once your battery is fully charged, and also try and not use high power consumming peripherals.

[smisr3]

What do u mean by high power consuming ​peripherals and did u try changing the power brick

[JBarr10]

Like for example I used to plug in an Opolar heat extractor and a cooling base at the same time. Not really the smartest move, now I plug them to an outlet. Also, I didn't try to change the brick, but sometimes when this happened, I would unplug and plug back in the charger, and it would fix it. But that's in my case.

[smisr3]

Hey dude. Did u fix that problem ? If not I finally found the problem and a solution . I thought it might help u since u having the exact same issues . So what happening is Ur and my laptop stuttering and power throttling while gaming. There's a lot of soln on internet . Search it like how to fix stuttering on Asus fx504ge . Thats my laptop. And ull see some results check them it ll fix it . ​