Solved! High CPU power with Low CPU usage

[Ocmersh]

I think the issue might be a windows issue, as this only started happening recently. I apologize if its in the wrong section:

The issue:

MSI GE75-9SG Laptop, Win10 PRO

Until about a month ago I would get 4 - 5 hours of battery life, Now I get less than an hour.

CPU is 0-1% usage at idle

CPU power (while at idle) is 7 - 10 watts, previously it was a mere 0.2 - 1.0 watts at idle. (7-10 watts doesn't seem extreme but on a laptop it means the difference of have 1 hour or 5 if its constant)

This constant high idle power has tanked my battery life, and is uncomfortably warm when doing basic word or web browsing. This wasn't an issue before.


What i've done:

Tried uninstalling Windows updates from the last two months, via admin cmd, and via windows software utility (Two keep reinstalling upon boot, OS wont let me block it: KB4515871 and KB4532693)

High power usage exists in Diag mode/safe mode without networking, running only windows services. (No background programs running, hence the low cpu utilization).

Re-flashed BIOS.



Any input, suggestions, questions or feedback are appreciated. Really frustrating to go from a pretty decent battery life to next to nothing.

All figures are based off the laptop being in power saver mode, so the cpu runs around at 800 MHz in this mode, rather than full speed, which is how I previously was getting decent battery life on this particular machine.



Thanks.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Check and make sure that SpeedShift and SpeedStep are enabled in BIOS, and also do a "deep malware scan" for a mining trojan.

 

[Ocmersh]

Thanks for the reply. I have done those scan with webroot and they've returned nothing. Speedshift is enabled (Processor does indeed shift down to 800 mhz on power saver), however power usage remains high. The only thing I can think off that may be causing is is processor C states, though i've never messed with them, and don't know why they'd be causing a problem now. Mine is also a locked chip, so the processors power states should be locked. Also the high power usage is persistent when not connected to the internet and in safe mode.

 

[fralexandr]

Are you sure that your laptop is staying on the igp?
You're not using an external display right?
Are you using msi's graphics drivers or one's from nvidia?

That laptop has a 51whr or 65whr battery, so even at 10w cpu, you should see longer run times

 

[Ocmersh]

Are you sure that your laptop is staying on the igp?
You're not using an external display right?
Are you using msi's graphics drivers or one's from nvidia?

That laptop has a 51whr or 65whr battery, so even at 10w cpu, you should see longer run times

It has the 65whr.

Yes it is I monitor the wattage and make sure it is using the igpu only on battery, making sure the dedicated gpu is disabled. I checked the C states for the processor and they look good. Weirdly, I removed throttlestop and deleted its INI file. Boom, cpu package power drops less to 1 watt at idle. I am thinking "Great!" (Maybe TS set some registry to an odd setting) so I reboot. Now its at high power usage again (again all while on battery saver, igpu only, 800 mhz on the cores), and with or without TS active. I couldn't replicate what I did before.

edit: nvidia drivers, no external display. I haven't changed my use case, last month it worked now it doesn't. (I mean obviously something changed but I can't for the life of me figure out what)

 

[VirtualLarry]

Could it have something to do with software mitigations for exploits in the Intel iGPUs? Software workarounds, that are kicking the CPU up a notch from idle, possibly just to composite the Windows Desktop, whereas it used to be handled mostly in hardware before?

 

[Ocmersh]

Could it have something to do with software mitigations for exploits in the Intel iGPUs? Software workarounds, that are kicking the CPU up a notch from idle, possibly just to composite the Windows Desktop, whereas it used to be handled mostly in hardware before?

Thats what I was thinking it might be. There are two updates from microsoft in the last 2 months, and I tried uninstalling them without success.

 

[killster1]

Thats what I was thinking it might be. There are two updates from microsoft in the last 2 months, and I tried uninstalling them without success.

sorry but you been trying how many different things and didnt just reinstall windows? or you tried that too? a fresh windows install takes me 1 hour to install windows and all the drivers and programs i ever want to use.

 

[Ocmersh]

In case anyone cares, or has a similar problems in the future: It was the intel iGPU. It was pulling maximum power regardless of load. The thing that fixed it was a clean driver install. I don't know how it happened however.