WIndows 10 Power Options - Balanced Power Plan

OmniDyne

Active Member
Has anyone noticed stuttering in Windows 10 and/ or stuttering during gaming when using the balanced power plan setting? I'm not sure if this is common but I've had this issue since Windows 7. I'm assuming it's processor related because of how the processor drops way below base frequency when using the balanced setting. I had the same issue with my Phenom 9550 and FX-8300 builds.

The issue only goes away after switching to high performance and then restarting.
 

Darren

Moderator
Staff member
Has anyone noticed stuttering in Windows 10 and/ or stuttering during gaming when using the balanced power plan setting? I'm not sure if this is common but I've had this issue since Windows 7. I'm assuming it's processor related because of how the processor drops way below base frequency when using the balanced setting. I had the same issue with my Phenom 9550 and FX-8300 builds.

The issue only goes away after switching to high performance and then restarting.
I can't speak to the older AMD chips but I know the AMD Ryzen Balanced or whatever they called it actually had a noticeable effect on this kind of behavior and benchmarks. Might check for chipset drivers from AMD directly (not mobo).
 

OmniDyne

Active Member
I can't speak to the older AMD chips but I know the AMD Ryzen Balanced or whatever they called it actually had a noticeable effect on this kind of behavior and benchmarks. Might check for chipset drivers from AMD directly (not mobo).

Well it affects my current i5-8400 build. Not sure how accurate HWMonitor is when it comes to power, but when using high performance the voltage and wattage drops when at idle, but the frequency doesn't drop below 3.8GHz; I'm assuming this is because of the motherboard (Gigabyte) because my buddy has an i5-8400 with an ASRock Z370 board and under high performance his processor follows Intel spec by idling at the base frequency of 2.8GHz and then boosting appropriately. This must be the motherboard manufacturers doing because I can get an all core frequency boost of 4.2GHz (out of Intel spec) and he can't, likely because of Gigabytes "MCE" feature. I've tried disabling MCE but it doesn't make a difference.
 

Darren

Moderator
Staff member
Well it affects my current i5-8400 build. Not sure how accurate HWMonitor is when it comes to power, but when using high performance the voltage and wattage drops when at idle, but the frequency doesn't drop below 3.8GHz; I'm assuming this is because of the motherboard (Gigabyte) because my buddy has an i5-8400 with an ASRock Z370 board and under high performance his processor follows Intel spec by idling at the base frequency of 2.8GHz and then boosting appropriately. This must be the motherboard manufacturers doing because I can get an all core frequency boost of 4.2GHz (out of Intel spec) and he can't, likely because of Gigabytes "MCE" feature. I've tried disabling MCE but it doesn't make a difference.
I found HWMonitor inconsistent, especially with power and voltage stuff. HWInfo seems to give better readings and basically pulls every single sensor on the board so you can cross reference them. For instance I have 2-3 different "CPU temp"s. Same with clocks. Might at least help you track down the issue better.

Done a BIOS flash for good measure? Is there anything wrong with just running high performance mode and then customize it as needed?
 

OmniDyne

Active Member
I found HWMonitor inconsistent, especially with power and voltage stuff. HWInfo seems to give better readings and basically pulls every single sensor on the board so you can cross reference them. For instance I have 2-3 different "CPU temp"s. Same with clocks. Might at least help you track down the issue better.

Done a BIOS flash for good measure? Is there anything wrong with just running high performance mode and then customize it as needed?

The BIOS reports the same voltage drops and frequency being at 3.8GHz, but yeah I'm using the most recent BIOS version and I'll check out HWInfo. Nah it's not an issue to run it in high performance mode. Even though the frequency isn't dropping, the voltage definitely is so I think the power saving states are still working as intended, not that I'm really concerned about power consumption or longevity.

Makes me wonder how many people this affects and if professional reviewers have tested the differences between power plans. I've noticed this issue on others peoples computers, this definitely isn't isolated to my builds.

And just to clarify, in balanced mode the processor will drop below 1GHz, or at least that's what Windows and all third party software shows, which makes me wonder if this issue isn't caused by a conflict between Windows and the motherboard; MCE or something else.
 
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Darren

Moderator
Staff member
The BIOS reports the same voltage drops and frequency being at 3.8GHz, but yeah I'm using the most recent BIOS version and I'll check out HWInfo. Nah it's not an issue to run it in high performance mode. Even though the frequency isn't dropping, the voltage definitely is so I think the power saving states are still working as intended, not that I'm really concerned about power consumption or longevity.

Makes me wonder how many people this affects and if professional reviewers have tested the differences between power plans. I've noticed this issue on others peoples computers, this definitely isn't isolated to my builds.

And just to clarify, in balanced mode the processor will drop below 1GHz, or at least that's what Windows and all third party software shows, which makes me wonder if this issue isn't caused by a conflict between Windows and the motherboard; MCE or something else.
There's countless Windows tweaks and stuff that the general public doesn't have a clue about or even care to know. I know I've seen some comparison videos of power modes but it's not frequently measured/counted.

I'm with you though in that there is a noticeable effect, I remember my whole system just seemed tuned up and snappier after that Ryzen Power Plan first dropped (the joys of early adoption).
 

OmniDyne

Active Member
There's countless Windows tweaks and stuff that the general public doesn't have a clue about or even care to know. I know I've seen some comparison videos of power modes but it's not frequently measured/counted.

I'm with you though in that there is a noticeable effect, I remember my whole system just seemed tuned up and snappier after that Ryzen Power Plan first dropped (the joys of early adoption).

Absolutely. And it doesn't help that Microsoft hides these settings or uses vague names. "High Performance". I mean, compared to what? It's not even an accurate title ha. It changes settings that have nothing to do with performance or, in the case of the processor, it just hands over control to the motherboard which can still stifle performance lol.
 
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