Processor appears limited to approximately 65% performance.
Processor appears limited to approximately 65% performance.
Ill start off with qualifying - this is an older machine, its not my main machine but its been frustrating me for some time and I think I'd like to get it resolved before retiring the laptop and giving it to the kids. I have a dell XPS 9550 with an i7 6700hq processor which should have a base speed of 2.6GHz and should boost to more than 3GHz however it wont get above 1.69GHz unless I go into the BIOS and disable speed step which locks it at 2.6GHz I have been using it for the last few years with SpeedStep disabled and its been fine but recently I had some spare time and decided to see if I could work it out and found that enabling speed step AND re-installing the intel dynamic platform and thermal framework drivers got it back up and boosting to 3.4Ghz almost all of the time. But the next time I shut down/restart or (hibernate?!?!) its back to being locked at 1.69 until I reinstall the driver. HW Mon reports that its running < 50 degrees ©, Its plugged into a 180w dock so its getting enough power I cant see any reason for this? I have reinstalled windows (10) multiple times to no avail - It seems fine under linux but I need windows for my day to day and when I give it to the kids they will want windows also so I could do with getting to the bottom of the issue. Any help appreciated. Before I re-install the thermal framework driver After I re-install the thermal framework driver.
It seems the software isn’t properly loaded with the latest Windows update. You might try enabling automatic installation at startup using the provided support link. Alternatively, investigate the installed drivers to identify any missing components that aren’t launching automatically.
Intel 6th Gen mobile chips support Speed Shift Technology. Most Dell laptops from that time lacked the capability or BIOS settings for this feature. Consider using ThrottleStop 9.6 at https://www.techpowerup.com/download/tec...ottlestop/. In the TPL window, verify the Speed Shift option and the MMIO Lock setting near the top right. Once you click OK, the main screen should display SST in green, indicating Speed Shift is active. This replaces the previous SpeedStep method, so whether it’s enabled or not doesn’t affect Speed Shift performance. Remove the BD PROCHOT box on the main display. The Dell XPS line uses various throttling techniques depending on the model year. Enabling Speed Shift helps address certain problems but other issues may still persist. Share some ThrottleStop screenshots showing the main window, FIVR and TPL interfaces. Look at the Log File option on the main screen and play a game for at least 15 minutes. After testing, close ThrottleStop to finalize the log file. Save it in the ThrottleStop/Logs folder with today’s date. Include this log in your next post so I can check for additional issues. Removing the thermal framework driver and preventing Windows from reinstalling it is recommended. If ThrottleStop is properly configured, it will manage CPU speed more effectively. Reducing interference from this driver improves performance. The Task Manager Performance tab shows CPU Utilization—this isn’t actual load, just a reporting feature. Avoid sending more screenshots of the Task Manager data; graphs can be misleading and don’t capture the full picture.
The frequency is 3.13GHz as shown in the image, and the full-core turbo speed is 3.1.
I understand that. That happens after updating the thermal framework driver during a reboot or update; it resets to 1.69Ghz until the drivers are reinstalled. That’s the problem I was discussing. Regardless, unclewebb has shared a fix and it’s now working properly again.
It's great to hear that. I've been thinking more about it and recommend keeping SpeedStep active in the BIOS. This lets the CPU operate at its maximum speed during startup. Some Dell devices may restrict themselves to 800 MHz if SpeedStep is turned off, so it's wise to steer clear of that. Once you're running and use ThrottleStop to activate Speed Shift Technology, after that the previous SpeedStep settings should remain unchanged. I'm excited to see some screenshots and hope for a ThrottleStop log file tomorrow. A few small adjustments in ThrottleStop can significantly improve usability on many Dell machines.