Saturday, January 24, 2009

Nvidia PowerMizer

PLEASE NOTE:
Since Nvidia driver Geforce version 185.XX, perflevelsrc is no longer used for controlling GPU throttling.
In Driver Version 19X.XX the GPU performance control is in the control panel.

If your graphics card is running overheating frequently when monitored using HWMonitor and you happen to be using Nvidia Graphics this post is for you

Note:
PowerMizer is a feature created by Nvidia to save power and reduce heat on Graphics Card
PowerMizer is built into all the graphics card
It is optional for Desktops because Desktops have infinite power from Wall Sockets and manage heat well
However it is very essential for Notebooks as they have to conserve power and produce less heat when no intense graphical application is running

Run “Regedit”

Go HKEY_Local_Machine\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Video\{ Your graphics adapter}000 and 0001

To locate the registry entry expand all the entries until you see one with lots of registry setting That will be the the registry containing your Graphics Options


Right click on the right Window to create a new DWORD 32bit value
The value name change to “PowerMizerEnable” value select “1″ in hexidecimal
Repeat
The value name change to “PerfLevelSrc” value data “3333″ in hexidecimal



Reboot
Verified using GPUZ and HWMonitor

The Result

After PowerMizer is activated successfully you should see the GPU Clock drop below default clock at idle

Optional:

If you want finer control over PowerMizer change “PerfLevelSrc” values to achieve desired effect

  • PerfLevelSrc=0×2222 - fixed PowerMizer mode (and appropriate fixed frequency) is used for battery power source and fixed PowerMizer mode is used for AC power source, these PowerMizer modes may be the same or different
  • PerfLevelSrc=0×2233 - fixed PowerMizer mode is used for battery power source and adaptive clock frequency strategy is used for AC power source
  • PerfLevelSrc=0×3322 - fixed adaptive clock frequency strategy is used for battery power source and PowerMizer mode is used for AC power source
  • PerfLevelSrc=0×3333 - adaptive clock frequency strategy is used for battery and AC power sources

8 comments:

  1. Florile au un limbaj aparte. Cat de incantator ar putea sa vorbeasca un tanar iubitei sale fara sa foloseasca cuvintele!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks weinter. You are seriously 4530 Guru.

    Keep it up :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. if for any reason, i want to change it back to the normal settings before this tweak, how do i go about doing it?

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  4. Just delete the registry entries "PerfLevelSrc" and PowerMizerEnable".
    For Desktop it is optional because Desktops have unlimited power supply and heat dissipation is excellent

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  5. Hmm didnt change anything for me and I did as you told. gpu and default values are exactly the same at 500mhz when idle. Core clock is 169.0mhz and gpu memory clock is 100mhz.

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  6. There are 2 ways around it.
    It should work but you must restart your computer because the values are taken at boot time.

    Alternatively you can change it to 0x2222 which fix the GPU frequency

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  7. I have installed the Acer Empowering Technology, do I still need to enable the Powermizer?

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  8. Yes.
    Acer Empowering Technology is a software that controls power scheme.
    It is actually identical in functionality to Vista Power Scheme hence I uninstalled it because I find it "extra".
    PowerMizer on the other hand is a Nvidia Technology to conserve power and reduce heat by controlling the GPU frequency.
    If you installed Nvidia Mobile Drivers PowerMizer is automatically enabled usually.

    ReplyDelete