# ThrottleStop on Dell Vostro 5402 - i5 1135G7?



## will1 (Apr 17, 2021)

Hello

I recent bought a Dell Vostro 5402 laptop with i5 1135G7, 16 GB DDR4 2.400, 256 NVMe SSD, nVidia MX330 2GB 25 watts, Win 10 Pro updated, and when I play CS GO, starts with 131, 226 fps, but after a few minutes (2, 3 minutes), the cpu clock underclock and the fps drop, and the game starts freeze... The temperature is fine, max 163º F, average 147º F. A/C all the time...

High perfomance on nVidia control panel, and energy options... Don't have a option to set the minimum clock for cpu, like on the desktops cpus...

Startup options I used:

-novid -high -w 1280 -h 1024 -freq 60 -tickrate 128 -nojoy +mat_queue_mode 2 +cl_forcepreload 1 +fps_max 0 -allow_third_party_software +exec will.cfg -d3d9ex -emac -insecure

Tried with -threads 4, and without... Tried too many combinations, but can't game...

When I see videos on YouTube with my setup, these guys can play very well, even with high graphics on GTA V for example...

Can anyone help me? ThrottleStop is available on 1135G7? (I don't think so, after a few readings...

Any other ideia could I do to play satisfatory? The only game I can play well is AoE II DE and Stardew Valley... Battlefield 3, GTA V, cpu clock is 800 MHz and can't play without freezes...


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## unclewebb (Apr 17, 2021)

ThrottleStop 9.3 supports the 1135G7 but there are a couple of problems. Intel decided to lock out CPU voltage control and CPU voltage monitoring on the 11th Gen G7 series. There is no solution for what Intel has done.

Some Dell laptops have another problem. They are setting the turbo power limits internally to an absurdly low value, perhaps even as low as 0 Watts. This causes severe power limit throttling so the CPU slows down to 800 MHz and gets stuck at that speed for long periods of time. Maybe a minute or two. Maybe longer. There is no legitimate reason for Dell to be doing this. It completely kills gaming performance. You could buy a 10 year old laptop and probably get a lot better performance compared to a new Dell laptop that is stuck at 800 MHz.

If you want to get to the bottom of this problem, run ThrottleStop and check the Log File option. Play a game for at least 15 minutes or until you go through one of these 800 MHz throttling episodes. When done testing, exit the game and then exit ThrottleStop so it can finalize your log file. The log will be in your ThrottleStop / Logs folder. Attach one to your next post so I can have a look.

Do a Google search for how to delete the DPTF driver. The Intel Dynamic Platform and Thermal Framework driver. Sometimes deleting this driver and blocking it so it cannot be reinstalled can help these severe and unnecessary power limit throttling problems.

You should send your laptop back to Dell and tell them to stop selling junk like this. They will probably not listen. A computer stuck at 800 MHz in 2021 is unacceptable.


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## will1 (Apr 17, 2021)

Thank you guy!

The next laptop I'll buy is a ThinkPad that I supose have a better cooling system. And with AMD Ryzen...

Here is a video I recorded today trying play GTA V... Really bad... CPU like a Pentium 3 OMG.


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## unclewebb (Apr 18, 2021)

@will1 - Post a ThrottleStop log file so I can get a better understanding of what is causing the throttling. Most of these problems that Dell creates are built so deep into the machine that there is little one can do. With some Dell laptops, some users have had success by removing and blocking the DPTF driver from being installed. I think this driver has been finely tuned by Dell to force feed absurdly low power limits to the CPU.

Dell's flashy ads look extra lame when you see one of their 11th Gen laptops limping along at 800 MHz. These sort of throttling problems have been a part of the Dell laptop lineup for over 12 years. Not sure how they get away with it. I guess they learned that spending money on advertising increases sales more than spending money on R&D does.


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## will1 (Apr 18, 2021)

Before try to remove the DPTF driver I tried TS with too many options, combinations... After a few minutes playing cs go the clock goes down to 800 MHz, 600MHz two times...

I'm sending the log attached.

A few options and settings I tried:








And disable power limit control on the TPL window.

Now I'll try delete the DPTF driver. Thank you so much!


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## unclewebb (Apr 18, 2021)

In the FIVR window, check the Disable and Lock Turbo Power Limits box.

In the TPL window, set the power limits up like this.
Make sure Disable Power Limit Control is not checked. 





It is likely that these changes will not make any difference. There is a hidden set of turbo power limits that are managed by an embedded controller that ThrottleStop does not have access to.

The log file shows that at first, your turbo power limit is at 35W. CPU performance is wonderful. As soon as the Nvidia GPU becomes active, this triggers a big drop in your turbo power limits. It goes down to 10W, 9W, 8W, 7W. It seems to randomly vary between these values. When trying to play a game, this forces the CPU speed to slow down to a crawl. Nice of Dell to include and charge extra for a Nvidia GPU. Trying to use the Nvidia GPU makes the CPU unusable. 

As crazy as this sounds, you might get better overall gaming performance if you force the game to run on the Intel GPU. Who knows though. Dell might have some other trick that power limits these two if it determines that your laptop has become usable. It will probably just start thermal throttling since the heatsink is marginal. The CPU is good for over 35W but the heatsink becomes a liability beyond 20W. 

Did you lower the turbo ratios on purpose to try and control the heat?

Hopefully you can find a way to ditch the DPTF driver. It is the only trick I have heard of that might work. I definitely will not be spending any of my money trying to learn new ways to fix another one of Dell's disasters.


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## will1 (Apr 18, 2021)

Q: Did you lower the turbo ratios on purpose to try and control the heat?
A: Yes

Just followed these steps, in my case I had "3 or 4 intel dynamic tuning generic participant" and a "intel dynamic tuning manager". I added these Device IDs in the regedit, rebooted, and clock and voltage works well. But now the game freezes every time, because GPU is running with just 600 MHz... KKKK

But I used TS to force just 2.4 GHz for the CPU, so I think now CPU and GPU have power to them... 

GPU 1400 ~ 1700 MHz
CPU 2370 MHz
FPS 100 ~ 150 on CS GO match

Thank you so much guy!


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