I7-1165G7 cpu sudden downclock issue

[2elm3alem]

Hello i hope you all doing well, i have this issue (if it matters the laptop is dell inspiron 5406 2n1) were whenever entering a game it runs smoothly starting with the pl2 limits then after few seconds switching to the pl1 limits, the temps are good sitting at 60 without any concerns, but after few minutes the cpu clock speeds just drop roughly to 994 mhz without any reasons, i checked thermals still 60 which is pretty good, power limit not exceeded, no background tasks, pl2 and pl1 static limits are ok BUT pl1 dynamic limit is set to 8 watts out of nowhere and then the temps drops to mid 50s, i checked the drivers all up to date nothing to worry about here, so i don't really know why the cpu just after few minutes downclocks itself to 994-1093 mhz out of no where and the igpu is not even utilised fully, i even ran a hardware diagnostic and no issues detected.

So please if anyone know why this issue occurs don't hesitate to provide me a solution .

Thanks in advance.

[Earl_Intel]

Hi 2elm3alem,

Thank you for posting in the communities!

I do understand that you're experiencing issues with your Dell Inspiron 5406 laptop, but for us to better assist you and determine the most appropriate resolution, could you please provide the needed details listed below? This information will help us tailor our support to your specific situation.

• Can you describe when the issue happened? is it after a driver update, software update, or hardware update?
• Have you already tried checking if your BIOS version is up to date?
• May I know what game you're trying to play?
• Does the issue only happen on this particular game?

Once we have this information, we will be able to proceed with the next course of action and work towards resolving the issue you are facing.

Best regards,

Earl E.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[2elm3alem]

Thank you very much for your response,

1) the issue was likely started whenever i started playing the first time on the laptop but recently as i started monitoring the laptop's performance (such as temps, clockspeeds, power draw, etc...), I noticed the huge drop in cpu's clockspeed and hence the fps as well, and no certain bios/graphics or any other certain driver update caused that.

2) I checked the bios version i am running and compared it to the latest available and the one am running is the latest (which was released in early 2025).

3 & 4) I tried this on many older/lighter games such as sabnautica, some simulator games and i even tried it on far cry 4, the situation is the same for all of the games, runs smoothly at the beginning then the clockspeeds just drop after few minutes (and this likely as i noticed the dynamic power limit sets itself to 8 watts even though the temps are way below the thermal throttling limit (thermal throttling limit for me is 70 and i was playing at 58-63)).

I tried to cover the main points you mentioned in order to help identifying the problem causing the issue.

Thank you very much.

[Earl_Intel]

Hello 2elm3alem,

I appreciate you gathering all this information for us to better understand the cause of the issue.

Before we proceed, please note that this is an OEM device.

We will try to assist you with general troubleshooting steps even if it's something not traditionally covered in our support.

However, if the issue still persists, you will have to contact the Original Equipment Manufacturer of your device.

Your device manufacturer may have altered features, incorporated customizations, or made other changes to some components for better compatibility with your system.

To further troubleshoot the issue, try updating your GPU drivers to the latest version (32.0.101.6078).

• OEM website: Support for Inspiron 5406 2-in-1 | Drivers & Downloads | Dell US

Try running Intel® Processor Diagnostic Tool to test if your processor will pass; provide us with the screenshot of the outcome after.

After downloading the latest GPU driver from your OEM website, kindly run this on your system so that I can also gauge the following peripherals and the driver versions that you have:

Intel® System Support Utility for Windows*

Once finished downloading, open the tool, click on scan (leave the default items checked), click next, then save the system information to a .txt file. Please provide us the .txt file.

Best regards,

Earl E.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[2elm3alem]

Hello,

Thank you for the steps provided in detail, i have made sure that i installed the latest Intel Iris Xe drivers (via intel graphics software), i ran the diagnostic tool in addition to adding a file (.txt file) that contains the system information. Also there is something weird i have noticed, the base speed of the CPU (even in the task manager) says 1.69 (1.7) GHz while it is advertised that the CPU has a base speed of 2.8 and can boost up to 4.7 GHz depending on thermal headroom, and i am pretty sure this is not an old situation, as the first time i got the laptop it was clearly stated that the base was 2.8 and the boost is 4.7 in the task manager even when setting the maximum speed at 99% (disabling turbo in windows power plan to save power) the CPU will still clock up to 2.8, but now (by now means i monitored that by myself recently but of course it was doing that a while ago without me noticing) it will lock at 1.69 only (which indeed much slower), i don't know if it is a problem related to the situation or not, and i don't know maybe new bios update or something, i got to inform you this detail as it is something i recently noticed.

the screenshots i attached are:

- system info (.txt file)

- diagnostic result

- latest driver installed (according to intel graphics software)

- windows task manager detection to CPU speed.

Thank you very much.

[Earl_Intel]

Hi 2elm3alem,

Thank you for the detailed update and for providing the system information.

I appreciate the effort you've put into troubleshooting.

Regarding the CPU base speed discrepancy, it's definitely worth investigating. A few possibilities could be contributing to this behavior:

• Power Settings: The system might be running in a low-power mode, affecting performance. Checking the power plan settings and ensuring it's set to High Performance might help.
• BIOS Updates: A recent BIOS update could have changed how the system manages CPU frequencies. Reviewing BIOS settings or rolling back to a previous version (if available) may be worth considering.
• Thermal Limitations: If the laptop is experiencing thermal constraints, it might be throttling performance to prevent overheating.
• Background Processes: Certain applications running in the background could be influencing CPU behavior.

To better assess the situation, could you check your power plan settings? Let me know what you find, and we can explore further troubleshooting steps!

Best regards,

Earl E.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[2elm3alem]

The windows power plan is set to balanced (no high performance plan available). However, in the bios i set the power management previously to "ultra performance" setting

[Earl_Intel]

Hi 2elm3alem,

Thanks for sharing this information with me.

Based on your analysis, your CPU is capable of outputting a baseline power of 2.8GHz, with boost speeds up to 4.7GHz.

However, after performing a BIOS update, you’ve noticed a drop to a stable 1.7GHz, which is likely related to how the OEM configures or optimizes their system using our CPUs.

Since your CPU is an embedded/mobile processor, the laptop manufacturer may have implemented specific power and thermal management settings through the BIOS update.

In addition, I recommend:

1. Checking with your laptop manufacturer regarding any performance adjustments introduced in the latest BIOS update.
2. Reviewing the BIOS settings for any configurable power or performance options.
3. Reverting to a previous BIOS version (if applicable) to test whether the performance restores to expected levels.

Also, it best if you coordinate with your OEM about this issue since they can provide you with a much-detailed information and troubleshooting regarding to your concern.

With that being said, I will now close this inquiry.

If you need further assistance, please submit a new question as this thread will no longer be monitored.

Best regards,

Earl E.

Intel Customer Support Technician