1260p performance woes

Framework Laptop 13
1

I have a Framework with the 1260p motherboard running Kubuntu 22.04. When I try to run a heavier task, the laptop throttles quite quickly.

I first noticed this while running consistency on a model check in FreeCAD .020.1. This is what that looks like:

20221108_160328_freecad
20221108_160328_freecad2162×1504 461 KB

I then did a little stress test with stress --cpu 16

20221108_155259_stress_test_16c
20221108_155259_stress_test_16c2162×1504 300 KB

Both tests were conduced while plugged in and while using the performance power profile.

The length of the graph area is 240 seconds. I think that the laptop starts throttling too soon under load if that is after only 120 to 150 seconds.

Any way I can fix this?

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2

I had some success with better thermal compound like other users here:
https://community.frame.work/t/honeywell-ptm7950-phase-change-thermal-pads-sheets-application-tips-and-results/

But I would think we need a bigger cooler. I have yet to try putting an AIO or a bigger heatsink to see if it helps.

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3

While your temperatures look a little high, the max clock looks about right. Here are the results from my 1260P running stress -c 16 with results from turbostat. It ends up settling at about 2.5-2.6GHz. I ran this in my normal config, open on an elevated laptop stand on Arch Linux w/ Sway (curent ambient temp: ~25C)

I’ve included the exact turbostat flags I’m using because otherwise its output can be a bit much:

# turbostat -c package -S --show Avg_MHz,Bzy_MHz,TSC_MHz,PkgTmp,PkgWatt,CorWatt

Avg_MHz Bzy_MHz TSC_MHz PkgTmp  PkgWatt CorWatt
5       1460    2496    37      0.91    0.25
11      2079    2496    37      0.99    0.49
5       1668    2496    37      0.95    0.27
5       1550    2496    37      1.00    0.26
523     3269    2496    69      8.61    7.60
3339    3347    2496    82      50.21   48.63
3322    3329    2496    89      51.82   50.00
3240    3248    2496    97      49.72   47.76
3227    3235    2496    100     49.93   47.96
2773    2780    2496    85      35.20   33.22
2556    2562    2496    82      27.74   25.89
2566    2572    2496    81      27.87   26.05
2568    2574    2496    79      27.93   26.09
2573    2579    2496    79      27.97   26.15
2577    2583    2496    78      27.98   26.20
2575    2589    2496    76      27.99   26.25
2579    2585    2496    78      28.00   26.24
2580    2586    2496    76      28.00   26.19
2583    2589    2496    78      28.00   26.28
2582    2588    2496    76      28.00   26.22
2582    2588    2496    76      28.00   26.21
2573    2595    2496    78      28.00   26.26
2584    2590    2496    76      28.00   26.29
2583    2589    2496    78      28.00   26.26
2584    2590    2496    78      28.00   26.29
2583    2589    2496    76      28.00   26.25
2581    2587    2496    76      28.00   26.22
2581    2587    2496    76      28.00   26.21

Things to note: the hard PL1 (sustainted) limit for the framework is 28W. If you are reaching that, then you are not being thermally limited. The PL2 is 64W, but the time window for that is 2440 micro-seconds (~0.0024s) if I’m reading it right. You can see that for my CPU, basically it holds about 50W for about 20s (turbostat samples once every 5s), and then drops down.

AFAIK the most legible way to your PL settings:

# powercap-info -p intel-rapl
enabled: 1
Zone 0
  name: package-0
  enabled: 1
  max_energy_range_uj: 262143328850
  energy_uj: 8034164002
  Constraint 0
    name: long_term
    power_limit_uw: 200000000
    time_window_us: 27983872
    max_power_uw: 28000000
  Constraint 1
    name: short_term
    power_limit_uw: 64000000
    time_window_us: 2440
    max_power_uw: 0
  Constraint 2
    name: peak_power
    power_limit_uw: 90000000
    time_window_us: 0
    max_power_uw: 0
  Zone 0:0
    name: core
    enabled: 0
    max_energy_range_uj: 262143328850
    energy_uj: 5141981221
    Constraint 0
      name: long_term
      power_limit_uw: 0
      time_window_us: 976
  Zone 0:1
    name: uncore
    enabled: 0
    max_energy_range_uj: 262143328850
    energy_uj: 7017071
    Constraint 0
      name: long_term
      power_limit_uw: 0
      time_window_us: 976

Anyway, if turbostat show’s you aren’t able to sustain 28W, then you should try to see if better ventilation helps or a repaste. Otherwise, you’re getting the most performance out of your laptop as is possible.

BTW, you may also want to look at turbostat's full output to see how your idle is (C10%). When my laptop isn’t doing anything, it’s at ~99.8% idle. This is a lot more important for idle power usage but still, if you’re not mostly at idle when you’re not doing anything, you’re probably giving up some performance/thermal headroom.

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