GPU throttling and FPS issues

[fireslash]

i am having a serious fps loss when using dx11 when reverted to dx9 it all went ok

750m nvadia here

[LappelDuvide]

Going to copy/paste from Yokami here:

My GPU clock is acting very strange. I can't really say when this problem started, but it was working perfectly fine at a time before.
My specs:
Macbook Pro Late 2013 15" with geforce gt 750m
Playing on bootcamp (windows 7 home premium) with latest graphics driver.
bought it Dec 2013

I already tried:

- Changing energy plan (changing processor state, high performance, etc.)
- Changing settings in Nvidia system control (changing energy setting for gpu to highest performance and some other settings)
- Forcing p-states (and forcing specific clock values) with Nvidia Inspector ---> helped at first, but after some time ingame it starts fluctuating again between 270 and 660 mhz
- Over- and Underclocking in conjunction with forcing p-states
- Force constant voltage with MSI afterburner
- Using ThrottleStop to control CPU usage
- clean uninstall of graphics driver and fresh install
- completely reinstall windows (also tried with windows 8)
- using older driver version (the version that bootcamp provides)
- Doing SMC and PRAM reset

Some of those of course weren't supposed to help in the first place but i was kind of desperate, so I tried anyways... also i'm not the extreme technician, I found all of those solutions via. google and really searched to death, but nothing helped.

I really don't think it's a temperature problem, since it stays at about 70°C, max 80°C with forcing p-states (so that it works for some minutes / seconds).

I'm running Windows 8.1 and my rMBP was purchased in April 2014, although it's a late 2013 model, with 750m GPU. My GPU's max core clock is 926mhz, and can be played without any FPS drops at 845mhz and 765mhz. It is only when it throttles down to 660mhz that my performance takes a hit, but because it's cycling between these power states, the performance is constantly choppy.


Throttling begins immediately upon logging in and is constantly switching between 765mhz and 660mhz (which causes a FPS drop). The switch is every 1.5 seconds going from 765mhz and every 2.5 seconds coming back from 660mhz.


Even while idle, with reasonable temps, it is throttling me for absolutely no reason.

I was able to play perfectly fine with no issues, even doing CT and SCOB without any throttling or FPS loss up through the end of the last year. I stopped playing for several months and now I am experiencing these GPU throttling issues.

[KisaiTenshi]

That is a thermal throttle and you'd be better off throttling down than up if you can get it to just sit at that rate first. You need to remember that mobile devices can NOT have their thermal throttle reduced otherwise there will be severe damage to the motherboard. In a desktop system, the GPU is nearly always on a separate PCIe card and the cooling headroom is much much higher.

Also, in quad-core systems (especially in hyperthreaded mode) when all 4 cores are active, the top clock rate goes down. So for example my i4770 goes from 3.9 to 3.7ghz when all 4 physical cores are in operation. That is by design.

If there have been any firmware updates, or bootcamp updates since the last time you played, there may be cooling parameter changes that weren't present the last time you played. That's all anyone can really offer any insight into.

[LappelDuvide]

HI! I'm having trouble accepting that my GPU issues are by design, because they didn't exist until recently. Can you elaborate on some things?

That is a thermal throttle and you'd be better off throttling down than up if you can get it to just sit at that rate first.

As far as I can tell, I don't seem to be overheating at all. The highest I get during constant play is mid 70s celsius, which should be fairly benign for a rMBP. Are you telling me that the GPU is now throttling on purpose at fairly safe temperatures? Why is it only NOW doing this and ONLY with FFXIV? I do not have these problems with any other games.

You need to remember that mobile devices can NOT have their thermal throttle reduced otherwise there will be severe damage to the motherboard.

Until this problem began, I never touched the GPU, so these issues are not a result of me futzing with the settings. I'm only doing these things to test possible solutions. I also never attempted to raise my GPU's clock settings above what it can naturally do. I just really want it to stop cycling down every 2 seconds.

Also, in quad-core systems (especially in hyperthreaded mode) when all 4 cores are active, the top clock rate goes down. So for example my i4770 goes from 3.9 to 3.7ghz when all 4 physical cores are in operation. That is by design.

According to my task manager, my CPU load never goes above 40% while playing FFXIV. I also installed MSI Afterburner to track my CPU cores and they all seems to be doing well, performance and temperature wise. It seems to really just be the GPU rapidly cycling between my P1 (765mhz) and P5 (660mhz) power states.

If there have been any firmware updates, or bootcamp updates since the last time you played, there may be cooling parameter changes that weren't present the last time you played. That's all anyone can really offer any insight into.

I have not updated my firmware or bootcamp prior to these issues starting. I did update some bootcamp stuff in an attempt to fix the problem but nothing changed.

I am definitely willing to try whatever you can recommend! Can you explain to me how I am supposed to throttle down and how that will help with performance? Thanks!

[Arturia]

This is a known issue with almost all models of the MBP, my work provides us with these models and luckily enough - We're allowed to use them for personal as well when off the clock. I've had the last three models, this issue is rampant with these laptops. Your best bet is to underclock and undervolt your GPU with afterburner or some similar software.

Mobile GPUs are designed to be run at 70c or under, this is their thermal throttling point unlike desktop GPUs where the thermal throttle is at 81c. It is possible to overwrite the throttle but I do not advise it.