The Ryzen 5 3500U is showing poor performance and unusual behavior.
The Ryzen 5 3500U is showing poor performance and unusual behavior.
Hi everyone,
I own a laptop equipped with a Ryzen 5 3500U processor, a Vega 8 integrated GPU, 1GB of VRAM, 8GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD. While the game isn’t extremely demanding and still delivers decent frame rates, I’ve noticed it’s been lagging lately. Initially, temperatures were capped at around 70°C, after which the CPU began throttling.
After some research, I tried using the Ryzen Controller to raise my temperatures to about 85°C, which helped the CPU perform better. This worked for a while, though the laptop’s cooling wasn’t sufficient.
A few weeks ago, a friend recommended doing a DDU clean install of all drivers—both chipset and GPU. We were testing streaming at low quality, but the CPU still struggled. He suggested it should handle higher loads, but the improvement was minimal.
I also observed something unusual while playing Genshin Impact: when I limited my FPS to 30, my GPU usage dropped to nearly zero, and its clock speed stayed at 200MHz regardless of load. This behavior was strange, possibly related to an MSI issue. My CPU clocks remained normal but increased during boost phases.
However, when I raised my FPS cap to 60, the GPU clock spiked to 600MHz or 700MHz, but it never reached the Vega 8’s maximum of 1200MHz. At the same time, my CPU clocks dropped and were capped at 1700MHz, never exceeding them.
Occasionally, the laptop just felt sluggish, rarely achieving more than 20 FPS, without any clear reason. My Ryzen Controller settings are set to a max temperature of 85°C and a CPU TDP of 15W, with no other changes. I could try increasing the GPU minimum clock speed, but it only raises temperatures without improving performance. All drivers are the latest versions from AMD.
I’m puzzled by these issues and wondering if there’s a solution or way to boost performance further.
The 15-watt limit seems appropriate since the CPU supports a configurable TDP of 12-35 watts, covering both CPU and GPU. If the GPU demands more power, the CPU will automatically lower its clock speed to stay within those limits. For full performance, the GPU requires a 25-watt TDP, but exceeding this will cause further overheating. It's recommended to use drivers from the laptop manufacturer rather than third-party ones.
The 15-watt limit seems appropriate since the CPU supports a configurable TDP of 12-35 watts, covering both CPU and GPU. If the GPU demands more power, the CPU will automatically lower its clock speed to stay within those limits. For full performance, the GPU requires a 25-watt TDP, but exceeding this will cause further overheating. It's recommended to use drivers from the laptop manufacturer rather than third-party ones.
I thought it would be fine, but when the TDP rises the CPU overheats significantly and throttles aggressively (0.4Ghz) to avoid exceeding limits. I've noticed TDP values between 20-25W reaching up to 95°C, which isn't ideal for laptops or long-term CPU health. I attempted using an external cooler, which lowered temperatures to about 90°C at 20W, but it still led to similar problems with the CPU and GPU.