# Intel i5 laptop processor running at half speed



## Absolution (Nov 14, 2015)

So a couple of months back I decided to reinstall my windows from the factory partition. Laptop was okay but games felt slower, but since I had just moved from my FX8350 7970 system to laptop gaming, I didnt notice how slow it was.

Dota 2 was giving 30fps at lowest settings. Borderlands 1 was a bit sluggish.

Two days ago I ran a benchmark test just for fun and checked temperatures. I noticed my CPU clock was always at less than half the rated speed.

Specs:
LG Laptop
Intel i5 2410M sandy bridge (Core clock 2.3Ghz, Boost 2.9Ghz)
Windows 7 64bit with SP1

My CPU was locked at 1.4Ghz (or 1.394Ghz). It wouldnt go up under load and in some cases it would lock itself to 1Ghz -.-

Checked online: Usual replies were
1) to check the power settings for max processor state. It was all at 100%.
2) Disable speedstep through BIOS (didnt have any such option.

I found two other people having the same issue:
Case 1:
http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-1872645/intel-cpu-3ghz-locked-3ghz.html

Case 2:
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2352667

In both cases, the users ended up fixing the problem by disabling some manufacturer bundled software quiet setting (Toshiba and Samsung apps).

I feel the same things going on with my system but cant find the culprit app.

So I kept looking around, hwinfo64 showed "On Demand Clock Modulation" at 50% which was odd. So I kept searching the web for clues to that, and ended up finding ThrottleStop.

Throttlestop had the same field called CMod set at 50 as shown below:








When I clock on "Clock Modulation" which is set at 100% the CMod changes to 100% and my CPU jumps to 2.8-9 until finally settling at 2.2-3 ghz according to load.

Kinda panicked and didnt want to force my processor into running at that speeds (could be a failsafe by the system to prevent my cpu from overheating - VERY UNLIKELY) but still I wanted to revert the settings by ThrottleStop.

I switched between power modes, and CMoD didnt change.

When I pulled the cord, CMod went to 50%. Changing profiles had no effect again. So I made it 100% with ThrottleStop. Put the plug back in and it goes back to 50%, having for force it to 100% through ThrottleStop again.

So thats my story. Something software running is calling the shots to make the CMod run at 50% and stay there, and it happens only when removing or plugging in the power plug.

Using ThrottleStop to fix this issue until the culprit is found. No LG software in running the background.


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## Mussels (Nov 14, 2015)

change your power profile in windows power settings to high performance and see if anything changes. hows the temps? could just be overheating.


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## Absolution (Nov 14, 2015)

Mussels said:


> change your power profile in windows power settings to high performance and see if anything changes. hows the temps? could just be overheating.



Temps are 50-60 idle, 93-96C when gaming. These are fine as I remember these were standard temps from when I used to play games on this laptop about 1.5yrs ago. Also proc is rated for 100C, so fan does a good job at keeping it from reaching there.

As for the profiles and stuff, already played around with it by switching through all these and checking the max cpu state in the power options of each profile.



Absolution said:


> Checked online: Usual replies were
> 1) to check the power settings for max processor state. It was all at 100%.
> 2) Disable speedstep through BIOS (didnt have any such option.
> 
> ...


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## Mussels (Nov 14, 2015)

96C while gaming is not normal, and is at the throttle temps for the CPU.

rated for 100C does not mean it will run at full performance at 100C. sounds like you may need to re-grease it. my i7 laptop doesnt get anywhere near that hot even in stress testing.


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## P4-630 (Nov 14, 2015)

Absolution said:


> Temps are 50-60 idle, 93-96C when gaming. These are fine as I remember these were standard temps from when I used to play games on this laptop about 1.5yrs ago. Also proc is rated for 100C, so fan does a good job at keeping it from reaching there.
> 
> As for the profiles and stuff, already played around with it by switching through all these and checking the max cpu state in the power options of each profile.



Idle temp should be around 40~45
There might be a lot of dust in it, clean it out!


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## unclewebb (Nov 14, 2015)

I know that many Dell laptops will use Clock Modulation when switching between AC and battery power.  The purpose of this safety feature is to protect the battery.  Many Dells would drop down to 50% Clock Modulation for about 5 or 10 seconds and then would go back to 100% after that.  It sounds like LG is using a similar sort of safety feature but it is not letting your CPU go back to 100%.  That's a bug or a poorly implemented safety feature.

96°C is on the high side and you should do what you can to reduce that but even so, when an Intel CPU reaches the thermal throttling temperature, it slows down by reducing the CPU multiplier.  The CPU does not use Clock Modulation throttling to control thermal throttling.  Make sure you are running the latest bios.  After you get your temperature issues fixed up, you might be forced to continue using ThrottleStop so you can run your Intel CPU at its full rated speed.  Clock modulation throttling kills performance and is rarely if ever necessary.

If you have time for a big download, here is what the Dell Latitude E6500 used to do and probably still does.  Not sure if Dell ever got around to fixing this issue with a bios update.  The throttling was definitely excessive and lasted far longer than it needed to.  Sounds like LG is doing something similar.

http://www.mediafire.com/view/1gnwmozzy0w/throttlegate.pdf


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## alucasa (Nov 15, 2015)

My Clevo W230ST 13 inch laptop which has i7 4700m and Nvidia 765m doesn't reach 80c when CPU is rendering for hours. And it's cooled by a single fan. So, something seems off there. Spec seems fairly old, so time for maybe dust cleanup?


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## Absolution (Nov 18, 2015)

Disassembly is quite the task :/










I noticed it throttles down to 1.8ghz when playing dota and temps are around 96C


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## unclewebb (Nov 18, 2015)

Have a look at ThrottleStop after you are finished playing a game.






If the PROCHOT box is checked, that means your CPU reached the thermal throttling temperature.  This box also shows what the thermal throttling temperature is set to.  Intel set the Core i5-2410M to 100°C but they also included a feature called TJ Offset that allows individual laptop manufacturers to reduce the thermal throttling temperature by up to 15°C.  The picture shows that Lenovo was being nice and only dropped TJ Max by 1°C so my laptop starts to thermal throttle at 99°C instead of the full 100°C.

Everyone here keeps telling you that your laptop is running too hot.  It really is too hot.  Pulling your laptop apart might be a pain but it is your only option.


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## Constantine Yevseyev (Nov 18, 2015)

Most OEM's make Sandy Bridge throttle upon approaching 65 C mark (~30-35 Watt output). If this happens to you, there's usually very little you can do. It's a "flaw" in the design of a cooling system for most machines.

I assume you've already cleaned everything up and changed thermal interface? Then stick to "Power Saving" profile, it usually helps bringing down the temp (that way your CPU will only be peaking 1.6 GHz).


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## ShiBDiB (Nov 18, 2015)

Those temps are acceptable..ish for a desktop.. in a tight enclosed space like a laptop they're pretty terrible and you're just asking for other less heat resistant parts to fail.


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## Absolution (Nov 19, 2015)

unclewebb said:


> Have a look at ThrottleStop after you are finished playing a game.
> 
> 
> 
> ...









This is what it looks like.

Im pretty convinced the paste has dried out. I checked the laptop fan and it seems clean through the air vents. The weird thing is that even at 90C I cannot feel hot air coming out though so this suggests things like a blocked vent or heat not being conducted properly because of poor heatsink to CPU contact.

Ordered some paste and and will try to open it all up.

Checked a review on the LG A520 (same specs except for memory and i7 2820qm instead of 2410M) and it had a max temps of 80C during stress test.


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## xvi (Nov 19, 2015)

Absolution said:


> The weird thing is that even at 90C I cannot feel hot air coming out though so this suggests things like a blocked vent or heat not being conducted properly because of poor heatsink to CPU contact.


If it's dust, you should be able to feel the heat radiate out of the vent, but not feel much airflow. If it's thermal paste or a heatsink issue, you should feel a high volume of air (and have a noisy fan), but the air would be relatively cold.
If the fan is failing or failed, it should have a gurgly rattle or be completely silent.


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## Absolution (Nov 19, 2015)

Well I fixed the CMod being at 50%.

Was changing from ethernet mode to wifi, and enabled my wifi through one of the hotkeys (Fn+F6), and noticed  that CMod went back to 50% in Throttlestop.

The F11 key had a fan on it, and when I pressed it (fn+F11) it changed between *Silent *and *Normal *mode, which set the CMod back to 100%.






That was the problem all along lol.

Still might consider opening it up and cleaning it. With just firefox open and a couple of pages, temps are at 60C


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## Mussels (Nov 19, 2015)

just saying but i got 40% faster benches in Wprime re-greasing my years old i7 laptop, even if you've got the fan/performance at full speed now the thermal throttling will cripple your performance.


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## Absolution (Nov 19, 2015)

Mussels said:


> just saying but i got 40% faster benches in Wprime re-greasing my years old i7 laptop, even if you've got the fan/performance at full speed now the thermal throttling will cripple your performance.



It seems like Ill have to do that.

Just ran a CPU only Lux test and the CPU throttle mode didnt trigger (hwmonitor). When I used the CPU+GPU mode, it triggered ON a few seconds in. Same thing happens at Dota 2.

could be that the shared heatsink and added heat output from the 540M causes the throttling.


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## unclewebb (Nov 19, 2015)

*PROCHOT - 3* means that LG set the thermal throttling temperature to 97°C (100°C - 3°C).  That's why you are only seeing a peak of 96°C.  As soon as your CPU hits 97°C, it will immediately start thermal throttling (running slower) which is designed to keep the core temperature just under 97°C.  Some new thermal paste will help keep you under this limit.

A peak core temperature like this will not result in flames shooting out the side of your laptop.  CPUs are tiny.  The air will be warm but it is usually not as hot as you would think it should be.


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## MustSeeMelons (Nov 20, 2015)

Didn't know LG even made laptops, haven't seen even one in my travels  I had a similar laptop, i5-480M paired with a 540M - that thing got hot, had to replace the TIM at least once a year to keep it performing, suggest you do the same as it's a Fermi..


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## Filip Georgievski (Nov 20, 2015)

AMD based laptops have a history of high temps. 
My own ACER ASPIRE 5542 has a dual-core AMD that at max load goes to 80-ish degrees and haven't changed paste in a year now.
So I was surprised to see these temps on an Intel in a laptop. 
Opening it, dusting and repasting it is a must in your case.
I have a suggestion here in my mind:
DONT GAME WITH YOUR BATTERY ON
They are not temperature friendly and die at a little bit higher temperature.
Configure power plan on your laptop for battery and power cord.
It is safest to say, my laptop is 6 years old and running Windows 7 with a power plan like this.
Also NEVER put CPU usage to 100% as you might experience BSODs and crashes.
A little experience of mine with an older AMD based laptop, I suggest you do the same and see how it works.


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## Absolution (Nov 21, 2015)

Im just afraid of screwing it up, part of me just wants to sell it off and build a portable itx, especially removing the wifi pci's connectors, idk if they can be put back in or not.


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## Absolution (Nov 23, 2015)

Well then I decided to go ahead and do it.

Here are the pictures:

The Board





CPU Block





GPU Block





CPU Shots

Old paste





New paste






GPU Shots

Old paste





Cleaned (...somewhat didnt wanna push towards the tiny parts)





New paste





Temperatures:






About 10C drop all over.


Other improvements/stuff
I can also feel hot air streaming out from the sides of the laptop, guess thats because of some little dust/dirt that flew out when I blew it hard.

The fan does not run at full speed anymore, even when gaming, its one step lower than full speed.

-Mission Accomplished-


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## P4-630 (Nov 23, 2015)

Glad the DIY worked out for you! 

Personally I would not attempt this with my Asus G750JX laptop.
If in the future my laptop needs fresh TIM, I would send it to Asus.
I'm afraid of damaging the laptop.


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## Mussels (Nov 23, 2015)

if it didnt have a thermal throttle you'd be seeing more than a 10C drop, because of the fan speed being lower.


done any benches to compare performance?


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## xvi (Nov 23, 2015)

I've never seen anything too terribly conclusive about thermal paste losing performance due to drying up. I'd suspect the majority of the improvement was from getting all that dust out. Certainly doesn't hurt swapping the paste while you've got it torn down though.


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## Mussels (Nov 24, 2015)

xvi said:


> I've never seen anything too terribly conclusive about thermal paste losing performance due to drying up. I'd suspect the majority of the improvement was from getting all that dust out. Certainly doesn't hurt swapping the paste while you've got it torn down though.



it definitely happens on laptops, because they get moved around and flexed the paste dries up, cracks and leaves air pockets.


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## xorbe (Nov 24, 2015)

Awesome!


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## Absolution (Nov 24, 2015)

Mussels said:


> if it didnt have a thermal throttle you'd be seeing more than a 10C drop, because of the fan speed being lower.
> 
> 
> done any benches to compare performance?



I wish I had strong numbers. Only two somewhat weak cases I can dig up:

*Dota 2: 40-60fps to straight 60fps.*

I had hwinfo run in the background and logging to see the thermal throttling states. It would reach close to 100, and had several "Yes" under core throttling flags.

Dota 2 performance would start at 60-70fps and drop to 40ish after everything got heated up (minimizing would reveal core clock bouncing between 1.4-1.8Ghz on CoreTemp)

After the thermal paste change, since temps go 85C max, there is no thermal throttling, and fps are stable 60.

*Luxmark: 761 to 904*







Since the 761 score is on Nov 13th, I suspect it was run during the 50% CMod. Running it again at 50% Modulation gets a similar result.

So its not really solid evidence.



xvi said:


> I've never seen anything too terribly conclusive about thermal paste losing performance due to drying up. I'd suspect the majority of the improvement was from getting all that dust out. Certainly doesn't hurt swapping the paste while you've got it torn down though.



Well before changing the paste, I had a vacuum cleaner hose at the outlets of the laptop to hopefully get rid of any dust. The cleaner was kinda weak and I couldnt find my industrial blower i usually clean my heatsinks with 

Nevertheless, idle temps did drop a bit, Id say 3-4C. But I still couldnt feel any hot air streaming out from the sides, and temps would still go 90+.

When I opened it all up, the HS was relatively clean and did seemed to be all that clogged up or dusty (except 1 small piece) which was probably causing airflow stream issues.

I feel like the paste change has definitely made the difference though.


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## Mussels (Nov 24, 2015)

eh, you've noticed a decent improvement. that's good enough.


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