i7 2760qm performing poorly - please help ;-)

[ianmason]

Hi all,

I have just upgraded my Asus U46SV from an i5 2410m to an i7 2760qm. I have been performing a number of benchmarks and all of them seem to be coming out low. One thing I have noticed using CPU-Z is when all cores are stressed using Prime 95 instead of it running at 2.4GHz (100 x 24) it runs at 2.1GHz (100 x 21). The turbo boost seems to work ok when one core is stressed but its really doing my head in.

It it doesn't look to be thermal throttling as its as soon as the work starts (40 Deg) and tops out at about 70 Deg.

HELP!

 

[IntelEnthusiast]

When are you experiencing these issues; when you are on battery or plugged in?

 

[Bryf50]

It could be because you put a 45w cpu in a laptop designed for a 35w one. Maybe the bios is still limiting the chip to just 35w. Cooling aside the circuitry might not have ever been designed to handle 45w. Download HWmonitor and check your cpu power draw. If it's bouncing off of 35w and downclocking then you know that is your problem.

 

[ianmason]

I have the laptop plugged in. Just ran HW Monitor and the package W peaked at 28.92w. That's below the 35w an i5 needs..... Is that correct? Is there anyway to get around it?

Thanks for your replies guys

 

[IntelEnthusiast]

TDP (Thermal Design Power) and it has to do with the amount of cooling that the processor needs.

I have a feeling that this has to do with the settings in the Bios on the board for that laptop. I have you checked the Bios to see the setting in it for this processor. It does seem to want to be treating this processor like it should. For power saving on these 2nd generation Mobile Intel® Core™ processor I think it would change them down to 1.6GHz with Intel SpeedStep. So where is the 2.1GHz coming from, I don't know. Check with the laptop manufacturer to see if there is some new updated Bios for this board and see if that might help.

 

[Bryf50]

I have the laptop plugged in. Just ran HW Monitor and the package W peaked at 28.92w. That's below the 35w an i5 needs..... Is that correct? Is there anyway to get around it?

Thanks for your replies guys

Run Prime and watch the package wattage. If it really is only hitting around 30w then you found your problem.

It should be closer to 45w for that i7. The i5 that the laptop is designed for is only 35w. My guess is that the bios is still limiting your chip to the 35w that the i5 required. That power includes the GPU but even without it running the cpu should be hitting the 45w limit alone when running Prime or linpack.

I doubt you'll find a fix for this unless Asus ever comes out with an updated version with the i7. But in the mean time 4 cores at 2.1ghz should still handily outperform your old i5.

 

[Kenmitch]

Welcome to the forum

Does CPU-Z show 4cores 8threads? If not anything in bios to enable hyperthreading?

Laptops most of the time come with some power management software that may need to be looked at or configured.

 

[sm625]

On a good desktop motherboard bios you can set the maximum current allowed ("core current limit"), which you want to be a good deal greater than what corresponds to the actual TDP. On a notebook this limit may be hardcoded at some low value.

 

[ianmason]

There are no power settings in the BIOS and I have the latest version (203). 4 cores and 8 threads show up fine but they're just running at a lowered 2.1GHz instead of 2.4GHz. I upgraded as I saw two online retailers (xoticpc.com and gentechpc.com) selling the laptops with upgraded CPUs, one even offers it with the 55w 2960XM!!

I have emailed their support department to see if they load theirs with a custom bios or know of a way around the problem. I suppose the next port of call would be Asus but I don't hold out much hope with them!

Hmmmpfff! :-(

 

[ianmason]

on another note, I hooked up the PSU to a wall Watt monitor and ran Prime and FurMark and it showed it was pulling 115w!!! the PSU is rated at 90w!

 

[Kenmitch]

on another note, I hooked up the PSU to a wall Watt monitor and ran Prime and FurMark and it showed it was pulling 115w!!! the PSU is rated at 90w!

That's kinda exteme for a laptop. I'd suggest not subjecting it to those kinda unrealistic exteme loads.

 

[ianmason]

That's kinda exteme for a laptop. I'd suggest not subjecting it to those kinda unrealistic exteme loads.

Got scarred after 2 mins and shut it off. Shame I didn't do the same with the i5 as it would have been interesting to compare. Ain't no way im pulling the laptop apart again though!

 

[sm625]

Got scarred after 2 mins and shut it off. Shame I didn't do the same with the i5 as it would have been interesting to compare. Ain't no way im pulling the laptop apart again though!

I'm curious as to why you pulled it apart in the first place. What kind of single/dual thread performance increases were you expecting when you did the upgrade? When I look at the i7 the thing that jumps out at me is the single/dual thread turbo. That's where you should be looking for the big improvement. When you run 4 or 8 threads you are pushing up against some hard physical limits so it might not meet expectations, but then again when do you really need to put that kind of sustained load on a notebook? I would be very happy if I was able to get the advertised 3.5GHz single thread turbo.

 

[ianmason]

I use Photoshop and Premier pro so the difference in performance between the i5 2410m and the i7 2760qm should be enourmous. Even crippled in its current form the 2760qm is 35% faster in Passmark than the 2410m but it should be about 85% faster. I haven't yet run any tests with Premier pro but the 4 core 8 thread should give plenty more omphff.

 

[Ferzerp]

That's kinda exteme for a laptop. I'd suggest not subjecting it to those kinda unrealistic exteme loads.

Huh? If your laptop cannot handle any workload you throw at it without overheating/crashing/etc, then your laptop is broken and should be returned.

 

[Kenmitch]

Huh? If your laptop cannot handle any workload you throw at it without overheating/crashing/etc, then your laptop is broken and should be returned.

OK....Just make sure when your doing it that it's sitting on your lap. After all if the bottom gets too hot and burns your thighs then it must be defective.

Did you look and see what laptop he has? It's not designed for cooling effeciency.

 

[Bryf50]

Huh? If your laptop cannot handle any workload you throw at it without overheating/crashing/etc, then your laptop is broken and should be returned.

He upgraded his cpu to one not meant for the laptop. It is not broken.

 

[Ferzerp]

I was meaning in regards of fearing to stress a laptop. Sure. They get hot on the bottom and at the vents. Too hot for skin. It is why you've see them marketed as portables or notebooks over the past 7 years or more. An increase in 15w is not going to cause crashing even. Intel is too smart for that. If the proc gets toasty, it throttles. seems like it isn't even allowing it to approach that.

Test away. (on a table, not a couch or a bed)

Years ago, I did a stint at dell and we were explicitly forbidden from saying laptop because they got too hot for laps

 

[Ferzerp]

In reply to myself, if that model proc was offered as an option in yours, cooling should be good

 

[beginner99]

I use Photoshop and Premier pro so the difference in performance between the i5 2410m and the i7 2760qm should be enourmous. Even crippled in its current form the 2760qm is 35% faster in Passmark than the 2410m but it should be about 85% faster. I haven't yet run any tests with Premier pro but the 4 core 8 thread should give plenty more omphff.

Most of the stuff in these apps (especially photoshop) is still single threaded. I would not expect much gain except in encoding.

 

[Blastman]

Are you sure that i7 is a i7-2760qm (2.4Ghz) and not a i7-2710QE (2.1Ghz)?

The i7-2710QE runs at 2.1Ghz. Check CPU with CPUZ.