RTX 4060 (Laptop) Power Limit/Voltage Issue in Performance Mode (120W TGP)

[GameHero]

Hello,

I’ve recently run into a strange issue with my HP Omen laptop (RTX 4060, Ryzen 7 7840hs). In most situations, the GPU works as expected. However, in certain gaming scenarios and when running FurMark (especially at low resolutions) while using the highest performance mode (120W TGP), the GPU doesn’t seem to sustain full power.

What happens:

• GPU voltage suddenly spikes to ~1.0 V

• This triggers the Reliability Voltage Performance Limit

• GPU power then quickly drops from 120W down to as low as ~60W

• As a result, performance degrades significantly and keeps dropping as long as the load continues

• Once the load is released, power and performance return to normal

Additional observations:

• Temperatures for both CPU and GPU remain within safe ranges

• In “Balanced/90W mode” via Omen Hub, the issue does not occur

• I’ve tested both the official GPU driver from the HP support page and the latest NVIDIA driver — the behavior is the same with both

• In games, the issue can persist for hours once triggered

It looks like the GPU is being forced into a voltage/performance limit whenever it attempts to run at the full 120W TGP, which results in throttling and reduced performance.

Has anyone else experienced this, and is there a known fix or workaround to stabilize the GPU at full power?

Screenshots of monitoring tools are attached for reference.

Thanks in advance!

[NonSequitur777]

@GameHero,

Welcome to our HP Community forum!

Thanks for the very detailed description that is some outstanding troubleshooting work!

What you are seeing is related to how Nvidia’s GPU Boost and HP’s power management (via Omen Hub) interact under certain workloads:

• At 120-watt TGP, the GPU tries to push to its voltage/frequency curve limits.

• A sudden voltage spike (like the ~1.0 V you observed) can trigger the “Reliability Voltage Performance Limit” -this is Nvidia’s built-in protection protocol to prevent long-term degradation of the silicon.

• When that kicks in, power draw is reduced (dropping from ~120-watt to ~60-watt), and not surprisingly performance suffers until the load is removed.

That’s why it doesn’t happen in Balanced/90-watt mode -at lower TGP, the GPU doesn’t hit that protective voltage threshold.

A few things you can try:

1. BIOS & Omen Hub updates

   • Make sure your system BIOS and Omen Hub are fully updated from HP’s support site. Sometimes power management tuning is improved in newer firmware.

2. Nvidia Control Panel settings

   • In Manage 3D settings, set “Power management mode” to Prefer maximum performance (instead of “Optimal” or “Adaptive”).  I'll get back about this in a moment.*

3. Undervolting instead of maxing TGP

   • Ironically, a slight undervolt can stabilize the GPU at high wattage. Tools such as MSI Afterburner could let you flatten the voltage/frequency curve (if your laptop allows it) so the GPU runs cooler and avoids hitting the reliability voltage limiter.

4. Try locking the GPU to ~110-watt TGP

   • Some users report that backing off slightly from the max 120-watt target prevents the trigger, whilst performance loss is minimal. You can experiment with this via Omen Hub’s performance tuning, Nvidia tools, or a freeware program called "QuickCPU" which I used with great success to cap wattage to my CPU to 150-watt in my HP Pavilion TP01-3003w upgrade project.

5. Thermals still matter

   • Even though your temps look fine, localized VRM or memory temps can still spike and contribute to throttling. Keeping the laptop on a cooling pad or improving airflow will probably help.

Unfortunately, this seems to be more of a firmware/voltage curve quirk than a hardware defect, so until HP or Nvidia issue a tuning update, the safest workaround is running at ~90–110-watt instead of forcing full 120-watt.

* Back to the “Prefer maximum performance” setting in the Nvidia Control Panel. This may sound like it would actually push wattage higher. In practice though -or at least in my experience, it doesn’t force the GPU to always use more power -it just prevents the GPU from dropping to lower power states (P-states) when idle or under fluctuating load.

Here’s how it plays out:

• Optimal power / Adaptive mode → lets the GPU rapidly clock down and reduce voltage whenever possible. That’s efficient, but sometimes the rapid switching between states creates instability (voltage spikes or power limit triggers).

• Prefer maximum performance → locks the GPU into its highest P-state while a 3D application is running. That doesn’t necessarily mean the GPU will always draw 120-watt -it just means it won’t downshift aggressively, which can actually smooth out the voltage curve and avoid triggering the “Reliability Voltage” limiter you saw.

So ironically, while it keeps clocks higher for stability, it can also reduce those sudden power/voltage spikes that trip protection -especially in workloads like FurMark at low resolution, where the GPU is under weird stress patterns.

Think of it this way:

• Adaptive = rollercoaster of power/voltage

• Maximum Performance = steadier line, less spiking

That’s why I would recommend this as a primary troubleshooting step when chasing strange throttling or limiter behaviors.

Anyway, I hope this was helpful.

Kind Regards,

NonSequitur777

[GameHero]

@NonSequitur777 Surprisingly After i wrote this IT also started to do this in all Power modes, and im Unsure why, i now deinstalled the Omen Hub for Testing and Now ITS at least stable at the default 80w tgp but i still dont get IT, why does the GPU Push the voltage so much when it isnt necessary, i mean, its been running fine for houres i dont get why when the load is ramping Up IT does need such high voltage wich isnt even necessary for a modern mobile GPU, also i have tried capping the tgp at 110w with the old Driver but that didnt help.