CPU throttling when the temperature isn't high?? Far Cry 3

[yuuki_m]

Hi, I just bought Far Cry 3 and when I start the story mode, my processor speed suddenly drops and my turbo boost is no longer activated. My laptop is fairly new so there isn't much dust in my laptop and I have a external cooler with it so it doesn't really overheat. When I'm in the menu, my processor speed is at like 2.55GHz but when I start the story mode, it suddenly drops to around 0.7GHz-1.4GHz and never even reaches 2.0GHz... When playing this game, my laptop is at 50-55 Celsius, and my laptop is usually at around 45 celsius when I'm browsing the web. Any solutions?? I know my laptop doesn't exactly meet the minimum requirements but here's my specs:

Lenovo u430P
Intel i5 4210U 1.7GHz @2.4GHz(Turbo)
Intel HD Graphics 4400
8GB RAM
Windows 8.1

[Bad 💀 Motha]

Run an app in the background that can actually log the Current/Min/Max, as that will help.
Due to, as soon as u ALT+TAB to check a TEMP (when u can't see it in-game), your CPU/GPU temps can basically drop instantly upon ALT+TAB'bing to check when an app doesn't monitor "Min & Max"

Try SpeedFan or HWMonitor apps for this.

The issue I see here is you playing a game using Integrated GPU that is not supported. What's most likely occurring here is the Intel HD GPU running out of available/usable VRAM.

Most games will not run correctly without there being a supported NVIDIA/AMD GPU present in the system. While it may technically work on an Intel GPU, it's very doubtful it will fully function as intended, since it doesn't support that GPU.

The only Lenovo series of Laptops that have adequate hardware to suit most gaming requirements, is their "Y series" of Laptops.

[_I_]

notebook?

could be windows power save or low battery

the intel 4400 isnt very good for gaming
lower the res to 720p (1280x720)
since the gpu cannot keep up with the cpu, the cpu can be throttled without hurting the game any farther

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-HD-Graphics-4400.91979.0.html
dont expect much over 20fps in farcry3

[Bad 💀 Motha]

Ensure the Drivers are up to date as well:
http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support/detect


And that Power Options in Control Panel is set to the "High Performance" profile for when you're Gaming, or running heavy-CPU/GPU intensive tasks. If you try to run off Battery Power, the CPU and/or GPU may auto-run at a lower state to help conserve power, so ensure intensive tasks are done while connected to the AC Power Adapter.

[yuuki_m]

Thank you both for your very quick replies. I use realtemp since speedfan crashes on windows 8 .1 and when I check the max temp I got 58 Celsius. I also have Razer game booster so I set it to that power plan so there isn't really a problem with the power plan. I have also tried with high performance mode but same thing. I am connected to a charger and I have a feeling I'm supposed to get more than 30fps cause even when throttling I'm getting 20+ and this guy in this video is getting really good frames for a surface pro that has weaker components than my laptop except for the SSD that he has. I have an HDD.

YouTube™ Video: Far Cry 3 on Surface Pro Gamer (intel hd 4400) Gameplay on Microsoft Surface Pro 2 

Views: 30,234

Help Me Sub ;) https://www.youtube.com/user/MicrosoftsurfaceproG?sub_confirmation=1 Far Cry 3 Cheapest HERE!! https://www.g2a.com/r/farcryspg And if you Want 5% of Discount Tell Me!

[yuuki_m]

Oh sorry forgot to mention that he has the same graphics card as me. His processor/RAM is weaker than mine though. His SSD beats my HDD. And since Intel HD Graphics uses shared memory, is it really possible for my graphics card to run out of vram? I have 8Gigs so... And probably best to mention that I do not have dedicated memory I couldn't find the option to add dedicated memory in my BIOS.
And yes my video card is up to date

[Bad 💀 Motha]

The most the Intel HD can utilize is around 256 - 512 MB, regardless of how much Installed Physical RAM u may have.

For a game like FC3 for example, u want Dedicated GPU with it's own VRAM, of around 512MB - 1GB, Minimum.

It's NOT technically throttling, the GPU just is not on-par with CPU power, and this particular game requires both, decent CPU & GPU. Basically it comes down to this: your laptop has much more CPU horse-power -vs- GPU horse-power. The CPU isn't being used much while the GPU is being completely tapped out. That's just how it is.

Also, when u go within Options in FC3, ensure it gets set to DX9 Mode, then Apply, Exit Game and Relaunch it. As DX11 (if that can even run on that GPU, will be VERY demanding)

Performance could come down the Drivers as well. So check for updates to Intel INF Chipset and Intel (HD 4000 / IRIS series) GPU Drivers and ensure they are up to date. If the Intel HD GPU Driver has an issue updating, u may need to first Uninstall the OEM version supplied on the laptop that Lenovo pre-installed. As is usually the case with most pre-installed OEM Drivers.

[yuuki_m]

Well technically the intel 4400 can go up to 1792MB but this graphics card can only go up to 1100MHz... So does that mean if I want to play this game I need to tweak the game so that it doesn't totally overkill my graphics card?

[Bad 💀 Motha]

U fail to see the point here; Games have minimum requirements, to which your system lack.

[yuuki_m]

then uh, how is that guy with the surface pro able to run the game so well?

[Bad 💀 Motha]

Well did u take a look at the settings?

800x600
Visuals and everything all on LOW

FPS average approx 30-35 (jumps between around 27 - 42 range)

And when u change Settings while in-game, DO NOT expect to see an instant results in FPS until after you Exit and then Re-Launch the game. As some settings simply will not fully Apply until this is done. Which is the case for alot of games.

Huge difference between 800x600 and 1366x768

[Lateralus]

I don't know much about intel, but is there a bios setting that you can turn off turbo and OC the cpu to the 2.4GHz?
For instance with a AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz / 4.1GHz-Turbo it is actualy beneficial to (in desktops) to disable turbo and all power saving features in the bios and OC it to the 4.1GHz
Maybe there is somthing like that in your bios, a little unlikly as its a laptop but worth taking a look into..

[yuuki_m]

by tweak I meant by the settings. so that does mean the answer to my previous question about tweaking the settings is yes, right?
And yes, I have changed a lot of settings and rebooted the game and all, running in the lowest quality, modding, running in direct X 9, etc... I just didn't know that the graphics was the reason why my processor was underclocking.

[Bad 💀 Motha]

Laptops such as this won't offer anything in the way of "OC'ing options"
You would want SpeedStep & Turbo on!

As for in-game settings, try this and then compare.
Put everything on the lowest possible in-game setting. Such as OFF or LOW, and DX9. And even the 800x600 res. Apply that. Then exit the game and relaunch. Then monitor the FPS (which u can do via Steam > Settings > In-Game > Overlay Enabled & FPS Counter Enabled)

Then simply direct-compare the FPS u get between 800x600 and 1366x768 (all same settings). If you want 768 res for the overall fit and picture clarity, fine, but then of course u that will limit what Visual Quality u can raise up, due to your basic FPS u will get while running at this now higher screen res.

[yuuki_m]

Sadly, none of those options are available in the BIOS :(
and yes, I updated my bios as well today.
They lock everything when it comes to laptops...
Oh, and one more thing I forgot to mention. The voice and the character is out of sync, so I'm guessing my video card just can't keep up with all the stuff?

[yuuki_m]

Thank you! I will try that and once I get to the stage where it's open world, I will give an update on this. Thank you all so much!