How to disable CPU throttling on the laptop

Question

I realize this has been asked before, every solution I've found doesn’t seem to work for me..

In a nutshell, following an activity where CPU is highly taxed, the speed drops from 2.8 GHz to 0.79 GHz. An example of such an activity could be a game or a Microsoft Teams/Zoom video meeting. I think the common denominator here is the usage of 3D cards (the laptop has 2 of them).

The system is a Dell XPS 15 9560 running Windows 10, v2004 but the problem was present on previous versions of Windows as well.

I've tried the following (no success):

1. Updated all the drivers to the latest.
2. I set Minimum and Maximum Processor State in Power Options (in advanced settings) to 100%.
3. I disabled Intel SpeedStep in BIOS.
4. I disabled C States in BIOS.

I thought that maybe the CPU temperature gets too hot, but it maxes out at around 77 Celsius:

And the CPUs are not really that heavily taxed. If you notice, it's at 12% and since there are 8 cores, the application is taxing a single core worth of processing (the OS just distributes it).

What else can I try to fix the situation?

Solution 1

If your laptop is old, and out of warranty, I highly suggest you carefully dismantle and clean where appropriate. 80* at 10% usage is NOT normal. It is a sign that your cooling solution is ineffective as your processor is constantly throttling under any load just in an attempt to keep itself cool. Your machine has some serious problems, and if you are not confident in dismantling the laptop, then you should probably take it to a local "PC repair shop" for a service/cleaning.

Short of this as RamHound says, an external cooling solution may also help prolong the life and performance of this machine, however, external cooling alone will do little for a laptop throttling this badly. It really needs to be looked over internally to identify any dust/dirt which may be blocking airflow internally, damaged/broken fans, cracked heatpipes, or poorly seated heatsinks and dry TIM.

Solution 2

I agree with paddywan. (probably dust clog). You could attempt to use canned air to blow into a bottom vents, if any, near cpu but wouldn't advise blowing into the side vents unless very desperate (it could work or more likely make it worse). If its old or even some brand new laptops are put together in a shabby manner it could need the cpu heatsink repasted. My son's brand new ASUS ROG laptop came with a terrible CPU paste job and also the GPU was jusst awfully done. I always check these things even when new and was horrified by such a poor job by such a renowned vendor. At anyrate if you have never disassembled a laptop then I would leave it to someone who has, especially if its an important and has important on it. I despise when someone recommends to me that I should let a pro handle it (withthings other than computers that is) but I wouldn't recommend experimenting with your laptop as a first-timer. If you want to learn then buy a second hand junker and don't risk yours if its a good one. They don't throttle, btw, from workiong to hard or having to much thrown at them, they only throttle when they get too hot and I woudn't recommend using it, really, until its fixed, because constant overheating can cause mored permanent or difficult to fix problems over time. I do repairs and am in PA, if you are interested but I don't want to seem like I'm telling you to have a pro do it to drum up business (I'm booked solid but will put you in 2nd after the current one I'm working on now). Its not a really costly job and I could video it for you (wouldn't need redone for 3-5 years at least (if you keep it off of carpet/linen while its running). (Disassemble, clear dust, repaste CPU/GPU and new pads on GPU) (GPU pads come in different temperature qulities and the really good ones can be somewhat costly so you would have to decide which ones you would want, but the rest is fairly reaonable. (Oh and btw steps 2, 3 and 4 that you mentioned are probably antagonizingthe sitrep. especially setting processor to 100/100%- Thats making it go full tilt all the time and not letting it go lower when its idle/really cooking it.. You should let it go down as low as it wants to say 5%, so it can if it has nothing to do, it won't lower itself when it has processing to do. ...but 100/100 has got to be making that laptop cry for mercy,especially if its got dust in the cooler, etc..

Comments

[John]

You wrote "following an activity where CPU is highly taxed, the speed drops from 2.8 GHz to 0.79 GHz. " That is normal CPU management and a normal result, is it not?

[gardenofwine]

@John The CPU isn't that hard hit (as you can see from the screenshot). It shouldn't buckle pretty much immediately.

[John]

CPUs can react almost instantly to load changes . That is what you are seeing.

[Ramhound]

Suspect reading this answer will be helpful. (77 Celsius at 4% usage is extremely hot).

[Jahmic]

Your question got me to look into the temperature and, indeed, it was a factor. Possibly the main culprit.

[gardenofwine]

You are onto something. This laptop is not well designed. The heat dissipates out of the bottom. Once I put the laptop on stilts, the problem just magically went away and the temp never reaches 70 degrees.

[gardenofwine]

It's a work laptop, so I won't pasting CPU paste. However, u mentioned side vents - it doesn't have any. The heat vents out of the bottom only. I put up the laptop on small stilts and the heat issue just went away. And the throttling is gone.

[Ravindra Bawane]

That's a damaged power cord and it will impact laptop performance, but it is not a solution to the question that was asked.