Playing around with new AN515-53 - power settings, GPU overclock, benchmark tests, etc.

n00bE

Recently bought a refurbished Nitro 5 for my kids. Nobody is really into gaming but figured maybe get something half decent. This AN515-53 came with:
- i5-8300U
- 8 GB RAM (CanadaComputers had Kingston 8 GB RAM sticks on sale so I added one to checkout - easiest install ever)
- Nvidia GTX 1060 (mobile) GPU
- 1920x1080 144Hz display
- SSD + HDD (can't remember exact specs but formatted it shows 238 GB & 931 GB available, respectively)

Power Settings: I've read a few threads already (Performance Mode disappeared, how to turn off Turbo Boost, etc.)... I noticed that Windows Power Options (aka "additional power settings") and the NitroSense app/dash are linked. When you switch to HP in NitroSense it changes it in Power Options and vice versa. I would change the setting in Power Options then later go into NitroSense and wonder why none of the options in Power Plan were highlighted red (all 3 would be grey). Or I'd select one in NitroSense (Balance, for example) then go back to Windows Power Options and the only plan I would see is Balanced (selected), with no other options available to select. Took me a while to realise they were linked and selecting one would update the other - select High Performance in NitroSense then go back to see HP as the Windows Power Option selected.

Turbo Boost: I've checked the BIOS for this laptop and there's very little in there to play with. Seems TB can only be affected by adjusting the power settings. Looking at Task Manager this CPU easily clocks up to 3.9X GHz in Balanced Power mode. Speed will fluctuate based on demand. In Performance mode its always at 3.9X and the fans run non stop. 

GPU: I watched a few vids on YouTube showing ideal DVIDIA settings; I updated the driver, and downloaded MSI Afterburner & Kombustor and did some overclocking. I seemed to be able to get the Core Clock +200 (2050 MHz) and Memory Clock +600 (4608 MHz) and stable through a 15 min stress test. I can say the overclocking made a huge difference when playing Totally Accurate Battle Simulator (TABS) game. Before the overclocking when the kids would line up a hundred archers on both sides and start the fight it would totally bog down and run is choppy slow motion. With the GPU overclocking it runs WAY better - faster and smoother.

Benchmark tests: I ran lots of tests on UserBenchmark (quick & free). Interesting to see there wasn't a huge disparity in CPU performance score when running tests in HP power mode or Balanced mode. Scored as high as 99th percentile in HP and up to 85th percentile in Balanced. GPU scores were interesting; with fps limited to 144 in NVIDIA settings the GPU scored very low and it warned me to remove fps cap. With no fps cap set in NVIDIA setting it would score 100th percentile. I've since set the fps limit to 144 to match the refresh rate of the monitor. 


HERE IS MY QUESTION:

We started playing World of Warships. Seems Medium graphics is the default setting (I hadn't even checked). My son tried playing it but 1 out of every 2-3 matches the game would crash; screen would go white, or freeze, or it would snow in technicolour. GPU was crashing right? I went back to my saved MSI Afterburner settings and scaled back the overclocking. Ended up at +190 and +500 for Core & Mem clock. Tested these settings and game seemed to be stable. I even upped the graphics to MAX it it kept. Great. Kids got 7-8 matches in a row one day. Next day game was back to crashing. I then started testing it out between High Performance and Balanced power settings... turns out when we keep it in Balanced power mode the game will run. It's when we use HP power setting that the game quickly crashes. This is confusing.

By leaving the laptop always in Balanced power mode, am I losing or having any of my GPU overclocking limited? When I've run the benchmark tests in Balanced vs. HP modes the GPU scores have always been very high (with fps cap off), so I'm assuming power mode doesn't throttle the GPU but want to be sure. Is the game stable in Balanced b/c its pulling back on fps? I don't have a view in game to see. 

Guess I'm wondering if its best to use HP mode and mild overclocking vs. Balanced mode with more overclocking (if that even makes sense; I'd assume you could overclock more when set on HP power mode).

batmalin

Well, all I can say is: Keep playing around eventually you will find the perfect setup...
Overckockers are never satisified unless they have liquid nitrogen.