Dell Latitude E6400 - Overheating and CPU throttling

[khrystyan27]

Hi guys!

I have a serious problem with my Dell Latitude E6400.

Whenever I watch a Youtube 1080p video for a long time (+10 minutes), I get the CPU throttling down to 0.66Ghz. I've got a Intel Core2Duo P8400 2.27Ghz CPU, 4GB DDR2 800Mhz and Intel Familly HD video card with Windows 8.1 Pro 64 bit on it. The problem is that the thermal paste has been replaced a month ago, and the cooling system is dust-free.

Angry of the problem, I've updated my BIOS to the latest version available, and the problem got a little bit less annoying (let's say 20% improvement), but I still got a massive CPU throttling. I've downloaded RealTemp, and the problem is that, the CPU throttling is there at just 52 degrees Celsius.

How could this be possible? Around 50-70 degrees Celsius, is a perfect normal temperature for a laptop under heavy load, why would it throttle at this temp?

 

[khrystyan27]

@unclewebb, can you please tell me, if I'll buy the Intel T9900 CPU (3.06Ghz) and replace the motherboard with the one that has nVidia GPU (nVidia Quadro NVS 160M), do I still need ThrottleStop, or this is a problem just for the E6400 configuration?

Can you please tell me where is the Clock Modulation Chipset placed on the motherboard?

 

[unclewebb]

The clock modulation throttling that your laptop is experiencing is happening within the CPU. In your situation, it has nothing to do with the chipset.

No one really knows why this happens. Even when the CPU temperature is fine this can still happen. It might be triggered by some other temperature sensor on your motherboard or it might be triggered by something else like power consumption or perhaps the voltage regulator temperature. Only the engineers at Dell know why.

This is a common problem for the entire line. You might get lucky and get a good motherboard with no issues but at some point, you might have to run ThrottleStop to maintain full performance. Maybe immediately or maybe a month or 6 months from now. It depends on what type of apps you are trying to run. They more demanding the application is, the more likely that you will experience problems. Stepping up to a more powerful CPU that consumes more power and creates more heat will likely only make this problem worse.

Most owners are in the dark about this issue. When their laptop slows down to a crawl they just say, oh well, it is a laptop. I guess it is designed to only perform at this level. Too many users were willing to accept this problem so that is why it never got properly fixed. Dell did a few laptop exchanges and shipped new models to users that kept complaining. That was the cheapest way possible for them to "fix" this issue. Other people just dumped them on EBay to people that do not know anything about this clock modulation throttling issue.

 

[khrystyan27]

Ok, thanks a lot @unclewebb.

Do you know why 1 from 10 start-ups, ThrottleStop launches maximized and shows up in the task? Like I said, it's very rare (1 in 10 start-ups).

Thanks!

 

[khrystyan27]

@unclewebb, can you please answer me the last question?

 

[khrystyan27]

Ok, thanks a lot @unclewebb.

Do you know why 1 from 10 start-ups, ThrottleStop launches maximized and shows up in the task? Like I said, it's very rare (1 in 10 start-ups).

Thanks!

Still have this problem...

Need help!

 

[unclewebb]

Are you using the Task Scheduler to start ThrottleStop? That is the most reliable way to start programs with Windows. If the Task Scheduler is not set up correctly, sometimes ThrottleStop might start up before the bottom task bar exists. When this happens, ThrottleStop has nowhere to minimize to so it will probably start up maximized just so the program doesn't disappear. Here are some images of how the Task Scheduler should be setup.

Win8 TS Manual
https/drive.google.com/file/d/0B0dpSo9k93jDcHk5NFA0bUdETWs/view?usp=sharing

If ThrottleStop starts up correctly 9 out of 10 times then I think you are doing pretty good. At least your CPU is finally able to run at its full rated speed.

 

[khrystyan27]

Well, everything it's set up correctly, but the start-up issue is still there...

Don't know why it's doing this, but I don't think it's normal.

 

[khrystyan27]

Now this thing it's starting to get annoying... Am I the only one who I'm experiencing this?

Now 4 out of 10 start-ups it's maximized...

Any ideea?

 

[unclewebb]

Did you use the Task Scheduler? Did you highlight the Task Scheduler Library and did you create a new task for ThrottleStop in that folder? If you use Google Chrome, ThrottleStop should be in the same folder as the GoogleUpdate tasks are.

It works 10 out of 10 for me. Post some pics of how you have your Task Scheduler task set up.

Here is how it should look.

http/i.imgur.com/2ZCA8oH.png

 

[khrystyan27]

And this is the way that mine it's configured. I don't see anything unusual...

http/i61.tinypic.com/dcx56f.png

What is the problem?

 

[unclewebb]

I could not see your picture at tinypic.

Maybe try posting some pics at imgur.com

Tinypic is more like ad central. You can get direct links to images at imgur with zero advertising.

Upload a picture of each tab of the Task Scheduler, General, Triggers, Actions, Conditions, Settings and post another pic like I posted above that shows ThrottleStop is in the correct Task Scheduler Library.

 

[khrystyan27]

I hope it's ok this time...

http/imgur.com/kgCygp9
http/imgur.com/xcDmJNZ
http/imgur.com/Qr8Ccx6
http/imgur.com/2TlxXqR
http/imgur.com/VTjmRZc
http/imgur.com/XRjfupq

 

[unclewebb]

Not sure if this will make any difference but on the General tab I have it set to Configure for Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008.

I do not have "Stop if the computer switches to battery power checked".

ThrottleStop was programmed with a very old version of Visual C++. I am surprised it even works in Windows 8.1 let alone Windows 10. Maybe someday ThrottleStop will be updated.

Hope your starting minimized percentage improves. At least your E6400 runs much better.

 

[khrystyan27]

Well, I don't know why it's getting more f****d up, each day, but now it's starting up maximized everytime I start the computer...

Don't ask what I've done, cause I didn't install or remove a program since months ago...

 

[khrystyan27]

Well, I haven't seen ThrottleStop starting up maximized since 4-5 start-ups... )))))) I know that it's working because it's up there in Task Manager.

I don't understand anything, anymore...

 

[khrystyan27]

Hey guys!

Today when I open my laptop, the ThrottleStop poped-up a message saying that "Your beta version has expired!".

What should I do?

Thanks!

 

[khrystyan27]

Anyone?

Tonight I had a serious throttle when I was playing a game...

Looks like Throttlestop isn't working anymore.

 

[Marco_22]

On windows 10, you can only disable Intel power management in registry.

Work for me on E6500.

Amazing
The same appears to occur on a fresh install of Windows 10. (Installation, boot, and windows are all slow.)



After searching all over online, I found a solution - disable the the service associated with intelppm.sys. There are 2 methods presented:

1. Edit the registry (HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\intelppm\Start = 4)

2. Execute "sc config intelppm start= disabled"

They both do the same thing.



After restarting the computer, it works at normal speed. Sometimes an automatic update updates the driver again and the setting needs to be changed again. There appears to be a bug in the Intel Power Management driver introduced some time after Windows 8. Windows 7 works fine even with all the windows updates installed.



For reference, the specs of this computer are:

Intel Mobile Core 2 Duo T5500 @ 1.66GHz (MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, Intel 64, NX, VMX)

i945GM Chipset, 82801GHM (ICH7-M/U) Southbridge



I suspect that Windows is doing something SpeedStep that causes this problem. There unfortunately isn't any option in the BIOS to disable SpeedStep.



Thanks for your time.

 

[mimomisu]

Another thing, since you keep mentioning watching Youtube at 1080p. If you use Chrome, download the h264ify extension (I think there are versions for Opera and Firefox as well). It will force Youtube stream H.264 videos instead of VP8/VP9 videos which are generally more CPU and GPU demanding