Need help/advice from overclockers and other performance buffs ...

[eppur_se_muova]

Recently, I acquired a LeNovo Idea Centre 5 with a 2.9GHz (base) i7-10700 CPU. According to this review, however, the CPU is limited to 65W TPD due to an arbitrarily set parameter, PL1, which can have a big impact on performance. I found running Prime95 under Windows8.1 gave temps of around 65C and clocks around 3.6GHz, with the multiplier fluctuating between 36x and 37x. Under Manjaro Linux, with nice=-20 for mprime (the Linux port of Prime95), temps go up to 75C and clock to 4.0 GHz, with multiplier pretty steady near 40. So the first thing I'm looking into is seriously upgrading the heatsink/fan, where choices are somewhat limited by available height within the case, but multiple options are available. After that, how can I got about changing this "PL1" parameter ? I haven't messed with overclocking since the days when I had multiple Mac 7x00s tweaked up using jumpers on the MB, so I have *no* clue as to what's involved. Apparently, I can skip right over anything connected to BIOS tweaking, though, since this machine uses EFI, not BIOS, for booting. Any short, clear answers, or links to same, would be helpful.

(BTW, the main reason I"m bothering with this is that I wanted to have one CPU in the house running Win8.1 rather than Linux, b/c I am interested in several programs, Web sites, DBs, etc. where Windows is the best, or sometime only, option. Otherwise, I wouldn't bother. Oh, and I'm seriously trying to avoid Win10, although that might be the most straightforward option for tweaking this CPU. :^/ )

[mr_lebowski]

1. Try mucking with the power settings

Settings/System/Power/Addt'l Power Settings

Choose a High Performance option.

It may very well let you hit the clocks you're seeing in Linux.

Let me know how that goes.

[eppur_se_muova]

2. Thanks! I'll reconnect the Windows drive and try that tomorrow. nt

[eppur_se_muova]

4. Well, that helped -- I'm using Classic Shell, so the actual settings looked different, but ...

... the multipliers averaged around 38-39x after that (i.e. 3.8-3.9 GHz clock).

Apparently it matters a lot just which algorithm I'm using at the time, as well as how many workers are sharing 16 threads, how much RAM is available, etc. With Prime95 running P-1 jobs the multiplier goes up to a steady 40x in the first stage and 41x in the second. I tried running something called ThrottleStop which allows a little tweaking (but not resetting PL1) and that squeezed out a bit more -- occasional bursts up to 45-46.5x, with TPD going over 100W at times and temps as high as 92C. I think when the new cooler comes in I'll be able to get most of what I want just by removing more heat. If not, I'll have to learn how to modify the EFI and/or BIOS -- it's not clear what the distinction is on this newer machine.

[mr_lebowski]

5. Cool ... yeah the load is going to matter ...

If the Linux P95 is inherently different than the one in Windows (likely I suppose), it's going to be hard to compare across the platforms.

The improved cooler will likely help, but because we have perf limits based on both temps and TDP, it can be hard to predict just how much impact adjusting only one of those two things will have. Depends on which is the limiting factor is for the given test case. But given you can really only affect one of the two easily, might as well try it.

The only way you're likely going to be able to tackle the TDP side ... is thru undervolting the chip. And you're not going to be able to do that without an aftermarket type of motherboard, one that's designed for tweakers/overclockers. And it's very touchy because when you reduce volts, you can reduce stability at higher clocks, so ... you gotta REALLY wanna get into tweaking for it to make sense.

[Earthshine2]

3. I don't overclock. It wouldn't really speed things up for my usage. However ...

... I do use a RAMdisk. I route all internet caching and local temporary files to the RAMdisk, which makes the computer much snappier.

Even with two NVME drives, I get better system response using the RAMdisk.

> I am interested in several programs, Web sites, DBs, etc.

This is typical of what I do. OCing the processor is not going to give you better performance in any meaningful way.

Most computer bottlenecks occur in the disk drive subsystems, so upgrading and optimizing your drives can make a difference.

OCing is useful only where extensive math processing is entailed (e.g., Prime95, transcoding video, certain types of graphics-oriented games).

My system performs better under Win8.1 than Win10.