Sudden huge underperformance in lenovo legion 5 pro

[analog umbra]

So long story short, I have a Lenovo legion 5 pro-2021 rtx 3070 intel i7 11th gen. When the laptop is on battery it is worth crap. I am not talking about gaming, regular tasks barely can do them knowing that I have my settings at max performance on battery. My friend with a similar laptop can game on battery until 30 percent battery! I ignored this problem and stayed almost always on the charger. Occasionally I use it on battery just to extend its life. Recently, while on charger and battery is full, the laptop with or without gaming become very slow as if I am on battery with fps drops which is unbearable. Restart or EC reset solved the problem for a short while but it returned. I did a screen recording on HWMONITOR sensors and took some interesting screenshots that might help diagnose this problem. The screenshots I am going to share are in a short time frame. You will notice that gpu and cpu wattage is low all of sudden and this is where the problem is happening. Not only these two are low, many other factors that I do not totally comprehend. I updated the bios to the latest version but still, nothing has changed. I tried to contact Lenovo support but there is no way to do that if you do not have a warranty.
Please Help!

[chrome willow]

#1019663974737924126

[stray crater]

Nothing in any of these pictures looks wrong.

[kindred helm]

Is this a possible cause? https://www.tomshardware.com/news/windows-11-update-slows-ssd-storage

[analog umbra]

Perhaps I wasn't clear in the description. If you notice gpu and cpu wattage, core clocks and different variables. While I am on battery power, all of these drop to very low level which is normal (cpu 10w, gpu 30w, clock 700 etc.). When I put charger they increase (gpu 100w, cpu 25w, clock 2000+ etc.). The pictures I sent all are while I am on my 300w brick and gaming. The variables drop all of a sudden causing extreme lag and fps drops not only in game but for the whole computer and after a minute or two the variables get back to normal. This is happening always, suddenly the numbers go from high to low and the opposite.

So the problem is why the hell the laptopnis acting as it's on battery power lowering power consumption while I am on charger every now and then.

[analog umbra]

I do not think so as gpu, cpu and other things are using less power. Not ssd performance related, but I will look into it more. Thank you

[kindred helm]

You know I've encountered an issue on two different Lenovo laptops one Intel and one AMD that both will randomly just drop the CPU frequency to 0.38 GHz and just be stuck there until I restart the computer. Have you been able to capture any screenshots during the lagging? I see one where it's around 0.7GHz, which might be it.

And I've seen this issue on win10 and Win11 with no satisfactory solution 😦

[stray crater]

EC reset. Guide in #1020285176531669012

[analog umbra]

I did it. Didn't work! The thing is it come and goes while on charger, it's not a constant under power.

[analog umbra]

Oh that is sad to here. Yes i have showed 4 screen shots for different variables. While at good performance while at low ones. Not only frequency, the whole thing just drops, perhaps its something related to power control i dont know

[stray crater]

DDU your driver and install a recommended version. Again, guides in #1020285176531669012

[analog umbra]

You mean the graphic card driver?

[stray crater]

Yep

[analog umbra]

I did that didn't work 🫠

[stray crater]

Reinstall windows then

[analog umbra]

Do you think that this is a windows problem? Not a power problem?

[stray crater]

Unless you can show it’s a power.

Like I said, your hwinfo screenshots show nothing.

Maybe try running a timespy benchmark

[analog umbra]

How it is showing nothing? Its normal for the laptop to have a sudden drop in everything and super lag while on charger?

I showed how much the values are being on hwinfo

[stray crater]

The screenshots don’t show that. That’s what I’m saying. That’s just an instantaneous snapshot of time.

[analog umbra]

I see. You have average and max to see. However those snapshots are from a screen recording i have made. Didn't share it because no one would see it :p

[stray crater]

Just do this and show the results.

[analog umbra]

I did this twice. Once the laptop was not lagging it showed good benchmarks, and once the problem was happening it showed very low results

I even have different benchmarks on this app that i paid extra just to see

[analog umbra]

Would you like to see a 6 mins recording?

[stray crater]

Sure

[analog umbra]

Deal. Will share it later today when I'm home. Thank you for your assistance

[chrome willow]

@analog umbra do you use throttlestop? if not, get it
I might have an idea

[analog umbra]

ok will check.

[analog umbra]

I downloaded it

Here is a link for the record. all was happening while playing cs go. It happens randomly while both gaming and regular tasks. When the numbers drop it means the lag started
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JJgptKbM9-Z8J_wjIu7oUYfBx7DMJvxt/view?usp=share_link

[chrome willow]

Open throttlestop, open TPL from it
send screenshot of it while it's throttling
Don't send cropped, send full screenshot

[analog umbra]

sure

now i am trying to use the battery while battery disabled. Just trying to isolate the problem

[chrome willow]

Open limits****

not TPL

[analog umbra]

ok

[stray crater]

You have this set to private.

[analog umbra]

oops. it should work now

[stray crater]

what are you doing during this?

[analog umbra]

Playing cs go

Note that this happens while playing any game or while not playing

[analog umbra]

I have some lag now . Not as extreme as the video i shared but it is enough

note that temps are fine

[chrome willow]

can you show TPL?

yes, I saw you are being current limited in earlier screenshot

just wanted to make sure

[analog umbra]

on the way

yea current limited i think is a proper diagnosis

[chrome willow]

change power limit 4 to something high like 190-250

45 is too low

[analog umbra]

worked like magic

is this healthy ?

[chrome willow]

yes

it's current limit

[analog umbra]

the min should be what ?

[chrome willow]

Current is drawn, not pushed
so it will draw only what's needed

there's no min

you can only set one value

[analog umbra]

the value is in w ?

[chrome willow]

if you are asking about the min for processor, it varies
usually I see 165

[chrome willow]

it's in A afaik

[analog umbra]

what

[chrome willow]

Amperes

[analog umbra]

aah

200 amps

at 51 volts?

why would it limit itself so low btw

all of a random reason

[chrome willow]

no idea

[analog umbra]

this is permenant btw?

[chrome willow]

hmm, tbh don't know

idk if it resets since I have always used ttstop

if it happens again, just launch ttstop and set again

[analog umbra]

i see

if i put 400 for instance

what will happen?

[chrome willow]

nothing

since it will draw only what it wants

*needs

[analog umbra]

ahh

v cool

there should be a way to control this from windows itself

thank you v much bro i hope this solves it ❤️

[chrome willow]

well exposing power controls to your average user wouldn't be a smart move on Microsofts part

[analog umbra]

facts but there should be hidden doors ;p

hehe

you are a tech guy?

[chrome willow]

no

i am just cat

[analog umbra]

smart cat

btw i was trying to isolate the problem. I disabled battery from bios and used it for a while. the problem did not happen

weird yea ?

[chrome willow]

might be triggering something in the EC

[analog umbra]

hmmm

[analog umbra]

Y

Yi

[analog umbra]

Problem happened again with power limit 250

[chrome willow]

this is pl1

just disable MMIO from TPL

[analog umbra]

`

You mean this?

if yes it is already disabled

[chrome willow]

no

the checkbox under lock

in the MMIO column

Check that box

[analog umbra]

ahh

done

[chrome willow]

lmk if it happens again

[analog umbra]

will check if it worked and give you feedback. Thanks again cat :"D

[chrome willow]

today

i is doritos

[analog umbra]

ah

lol

[analog umbra]

Yo Cat

[analog umbra]

Status update, it happens but when i launch throttle stop it works

why would this shit laptop not function as it should ?

[chrome willow]

are you still under warranty?

[analog umbra]

i bought it refurbished. The problem wasnt happening at start. I purchased the laptop 7 months ago

i still have the shop warranty

what would lenovo do to fix it anyway?

[chrome willow]

probably try a board replacement
then if that doesn't fix
most likely a unit replacement

do you use #legion-toolkit ?

[analog umbra]

motherboard"

?

[analog umbra]

no

[chrome willow]

do you know if the battery was replaced while refurbishing?

[analog umbra]

No i cant know that.

is it a battery problem?

[chrome willow]

don't know
just wondering

[analog umbra]

I am downloading the toolkit. What should I do with it ?

[chrome willow]

nah, nothing
just asked

you are free to use it tho
since it better than vantage

[analog umbra]

by the way, i disabled battery form bios for a while and it seems that having ac power directly going to laptop solved the problem . Im not sure if its a battery or power control thing

ahh sure

throttle stop solved it. I mean it must be a software issue no ?

[chrome willow]

i do know that a faulty battery can sometimes cause issue

[chrome willow]

my speculation is the battery or the charger might be triggering a throttle event
which tells the cpu to slow down

since it happens while you are on battery too
i am assuming it is the battery

are comfortable opening it?

[analog umbra]

I cant. because if i do the sticker would break and the shop will not give me gurantee anymore

what are you thinking of? perhaps I can open it with the technician at the shop

[analog umbra]

the gpu and cpu both are slowing down tho

[chrome willow]

the cpu is holding back the gpu

[chrome willow]

just wanted to see if it was a lenovo battery or third party

[chrome willow]

can you show me the sticker?
what country are you in?

[analog umbra]

Lebanon

[chrome willow]

i see
so a sellers sticker

[analog umbra]

yes

a seller sticker

i check the sn and the laptop came from US

[chrome willow]

let me guess
does it say the laptop was sold without warranty?
or it will show 0 for warranty status

[analog umbra]

right

it saus

says

1 day warranty

or smth

[chrome willow]

anyway
the shop will open it up for you?

[analog umbra]

yes he can do that

[chrome willow]

actually
if they are good enough
just tell them of the issue

and say you suspect the battery

[analog umbra]

I can try that.

but what I can understand is a program could solve the problem it means that it might not be a hardware

and oh yea

battery warranty 6 months. laptp 1 year

so no warrant on battery anymore

[chrome willow]

we are overriding the signal that is being sent to the cpu manually
you shouldn't need to do that every time

[chrome willow]

oof

[analog umbra]

I see. This signal is bios related no ?

[chrome willow]

i used it as a metaphor
i do not know exactly how things work
just saying based on correlation observed from the past

[analog umbra]

Oh i see

I have taken a lot of your team

thanks buddy!

time*

[chrome willow]

no worries

[nocturne linden]

Experiencing similar problems on Legion Pro 5 but ThrottleStop 9.5 doesn't run, says "CPU not supported". Can you advise?

[chrome willow]

you have amd
throttlestop is only for Intel

i am not familiar with amd

[nocturne linden]

Hmmm... any hint as to where I can look?

[chrome willow]

amd does have similar sensors to Intel
mind sharing your hwinfo when it happens?

[nocturne linden]

15 seconds into Cyberpunk and my temps hit 85+

When I alt-tabbed it dropped to 83

[chrome willow]

i asked for hwinfo
not hwmonitor

considering your temps you are likely thermal throttling

[nocturne linden]

Any suggestions as to how to address this?

[analog umbra]

clean fans, put a cooling pad and dont use highest graphics