ThrottleStop / how-to-use

How to use ThrottleStop

This ThrottleStop guide is the short path: official download, a folder that will not move, one stock benchmark, then FIVR / TPL / BD PROCHOT only if Limit Reasons tells you to.

1. Download ThrottleStop and leave it put

ThrottleStop download from TechPowerUp. Unzip to something like C:\Tools\ThrottleStop\. Running it from the ZIP or from Downloads breaks Task Scheduler later. If Intel XTU is installed, reset XTU to defaults, uninstall, reboot, then start ThrottleStop.exe or it will treat XTU voltages as stock.

2. The disclaimer, then Save

Click OK on the melt-your-laptop notice. Tick High Performance if you want the Windows High Performance plan. Click Save. ThrottleStop.ini in the same folder is now your profile file. Deleting that ini and doing a full shutdown (not restart) is the reset.

How to use ThrottleStop: main window and Limit Reasons on Core i7-4900MQ — Main window + Limit Reasons. Learn this pair before you touch FIVR. Yellow boxes at boot are normal; red boxes under load are the story.

ThrottleStop Options: name profiles, AC and Battery, Start Minimized — Options: rename profiles (Performance / Game / Internet / Battery), set AC Profile and Battery Profile, Start Minimized, Minimize on Close.

3. Read Limit Reasons while you game

Turn on Log File for a 10-minute session. In Options tick NVIDIA GPU or AMD GPU so the log has GPU MHz. Play. Then look at Limit Reasons:

Thermal red - heat. Undervolt, cleaner fans, lower PL1, or Disable Turbo on a cool profile.
PL1 / PL2 red - TPL. OEM watt cap.
EDP OTHER - current / power delivery. IccMax in FIVR or a board limit.
CPU clocks dying while GPU is hot - BD PROCHOT.

How to use ThrottleStop during a game: TS Bench and main window over Breath of the Wild — How to use ThrottleStop in a game: leave the window visible. FID, C0% and package temp on an i7-6700HQ while BOTW is running.

4. TS Bench before Cinebench

TS Bench is weaker than Cinebench R23, but it is inside the program and it lights Limit Reasons. Run Size 1024M once at stock. Then change one thing. Then run it again. If you need a public number, Cinebench is the one people quote next to ThrottleStop 9.7.

TS Bench running beside ThrottleStop and GPU-Z — TS Bench (STOP icon) + ThrottleStop + GPU-Z. This is the how-to-use ThrottleStop load kit.

ThrottleStop 9.6 on Core i7-13650HX with Limit Reasons — ThrottleStop 9.6 on an i7-13650HX. Same how-to-use layout on a current HX chip.

5. One change at a time

ThrottleStop undervolt first if FIVR is unlocked. Then TPL. Then BD PROCHOT. Then Speed Shift EPP. Then turbo ratios. Changing all of them in one sitting is why "it crashed and I deleted the folder" posts exist.

Task Scheduler: run ThrottleStop.exe at logon, delay 10-15 seconds, highest privileges. If you later move the folder, the task still points at the old path and "ThrottleStop is not doing anything".