Recently I bought a used ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen.4 that seems to be in very good condition overall but one thing: the graphical performance is well under the expectation. And that’s shit, because that was actually the main reason I decided to buy this laptop now.
The graphics card is a Nvidia RTX 3050 Ti laptop, and it is performing consistently and slightly below the GTX 950M I’ve been using up until now. This last card is in an Ideapad that’s identical in specs and configuration to the new one, but with a 4 gens older GPU and a 5 gens older CPU. Both also have Intel integrated chips, that I also benchmarked (with Furmark), and I’ve been getting the same consistent distribution: older iGPU < newer iGPU < 3050 < 950, in which the 3050 makes no sense. This damn laptop has a 2K screen (16:10) but struggles even slightly more than the other one to run at decent 1080p FPS, while everything else runs faster because of the better CPU.
I finally tried out both CachyOS and KDE (I love Plasma!) with the new laptop. I expected an effortless install with Cachy but ended up spending hours trying to debug the bad performance, so I decided to install Windows to test it out and confirm if I was properly utilizing the card. I got the same results.
I’ve tried the discrete card drivers from the Lenovo website, and I now have running the one from Nvidia’s. I’ve got no problem report from anywhere, but the system information in Nvidia control panel displays some unexpected values, like “Graphics boost clock” at 1035 MHz when it should be 1485 MHz, “Memory bandwith” at 176.03 GB/s when it should be 195 GB/s and “Bus” with PCIe x8 Gen4 when it should be PCIe x16 Gen4. I took the reference values from here and here for the bus spec.
It’s the 60W variant (as displayed in the Nvidia CP) and I didn’t know there were several - so something I can’t change in this card? Anyway, this one is close to the best (35~80W range)
Could it have been undervolted/underclocked previously? Is that something that persists between operating systems? Could you do that on this Thinkpad?
The BIOS only lets me force the use of the discrete card and has some power setting for performance that was already on with AC power.
I have MSI Afterburner installed, can I learn something with it? I think the card is fucked somehow, but would really love to find out exactly what’s wrong, since it’s still performing and also because I might wanna pass it on to someone who would be conscious of the limitations, and get another one just like it! The thing is I love this laptop, it’s exactly what I wanted, but without a decent performance in some graphic intense games.
Ultimately I supose I might eventually have to get the board schematics and start measuring currents, but is there something I can try before that?
Anyway, long post already but I would apreciate if someone could help me with these matters. I know Thinkpads usually don’t even have discrete graphic cards but I thought some one here coukd help me. Thanks!
I have a P1 gen 4 (same computer) and it’s performance also disappointed me. Mine was the i9 3080 machine though.
This review Says the A2000 (same as the 3050 ti) has a 35 watt TGP. 60 watts are for the thicker gamer laptops/ P1s with the better cooling system. It might run at 60 watts when there’s no other loads, but when gaming it’s gonna be 35. Only the 3070 and above have the vapor chamber cooler and it’s a MASSIVE upgrade over the conventional heatpipes. Those machines can actually sustain the 60-80 watt TGPs.
I was never successful with undervolting. Intel locked out undervolting for all but the K series laptops a long time ago. In windows I tried undervolting the GPU but MSI after burner would freak out and my clock speed curve would skyrocket to unattainable clock speeds. I never bothered in linux.
Also as a bonus, your CPU throttles to a mere 25 watts whenever the GPU is active and doing things. It will run over 25 for a bit, but under heavy loads (beyond benchmarks) it starts to throttle heavily. I was able to use throttlestop to get the CPU to run up to 35 watts sustained, but any higher and the embedded controller would freak out and drop the power. Just remember, this is not a gaming computer. It’s a portable workstation. They expect you to do workstation things with it. For work I liked the computer. But the Gen 5 was a huge upgrade because the CPU throttles to only 35 watts under heavy loads.
Oh also replace your thermal paste with PTM 7950 (the legit stuff, don’t cheap out and buy a knockoff from aliexpres) it made a MASSIVE difference on my machine. The thermal paste dried out within about 8 months for me. Or if you do use thermal paste use the thickest stuff you can find.
The models with vapor chamber might be much better, but this one should be much better also.
The CPU throtling will definitely impact gaming but I tested quick graphic intense scenarios with low CPU load. The temps never really got high when I measure either.
I’m getting lower performance than a 4 gen older, same low-end-gaming card. I don’t need nor want a gaming powerhouse, but a 950M from 2015 getting easily 36 stable FPS in a specific scenario in Timberborn (not specially heavy) and this 3050 Ti mobile from 2021 sticking to around 27 (and lower lows!) is not normal, and this has been consistent across measurements
I’ll definitely check on the thermal past, thanks for the tip