I just got a new gaming laptop, but its Cinebench scores are really low and it struggles with high frame rates in games.
I just got a new gaming laptop, but its Cinebench scores are really low and it struggles with high frame rates in games.
The system ran smoothly overall, but temperatures occasionally reached high levels. Performance dropped noticeably during games, especially at lower settings—30 FPS wasn’t achievable even on low. Benchmarks showed Cinebench r23 around 3079 and r20 about 1325, far below expected scores. No prior issues similar to this have occurred. It’s unclear what to do without making further changes.
Verify that the NVIDIA Control Panel under Manage 3D confirms the GPU selected matches the 1660 model.
Inspect the control panel. It might be configured to utilize igpu. Its location can vary depending on game settings or Windows controls.
Your Cinebench results are significantly lower than expected, indicating possible CPU throttling. This could stem from thermal or power constraints. To investigate further, execute ThrottleStop and capture a screenshot with the Limit Reasons window active during the test. Red boxes in the Limit Reasons log reveal the causes of throttling. Enabling the Log File feature helps maintain a history of performance data. Also, observe your FIVR and TPL windows to confirm power limits are correctly applied. When testing idle, a healthy C0% should stay near 1.0% or lower.
I completed every test you requested and here are the findings...
ThrottleStop helps identify issues quickly. Review all your screenshots during CPU loading. In the Limit Reasons section under CORE, THERMAL appears red. Your CPU overheats and throttles constantly. It runs far below its rated speed when fully loaded. The log’s far-right column displays repeated TEMP alerts, confirming ongoing thermal throttling. A well-built laptop shouldn’t throttle during Cinebench. The top image shows one core at 83°C and another at 97°C. Large temperature gaps between cores doing identical tasks suggest misaligned heatsinks or poor thermal paste. The CPU must be disassembled to verify the heatsink is flat and evenly covers all cores. Another concern is Intel’s stated throttling temp of 100°C for the 9750H. Acer reduced this to 92°C, meaning their PROCHOT setting is much lower than rivals. This indicates a need for better cooling. Upgrade to a high-quality thermal paste like Noctua NT-H2 or similar that performs well at high temps. The core issue seems to be an inadequately designed cooling solution in your Acer machine.