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[solved] i7-6700HQ auto downclock while in performance mode

idata
Employee
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Dear readers,

My laptop runs a i7-6700HQ, gtx960m, and 16Go of RAM with windows 10 installed.

When I play videogames, (AC pluged in and in performance mode) I can run any game smoothly, but at some stage, the processor decide to go down to 0.81Ghz and get stuck in that speed for a few minutes, then go back to 3.6Ghz. This induce a huge FPS drop in my games during that time, and I go from 40-50fps to 10-5fps.

 

Do you have any idea where the problem can come from? I checked the temperature while I experience the downclock and it seems good at 70°C, not more.

Thanks;

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idata
Employee
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Hi, rotorx88, Thank you very much for joining the Intel® Processor communities.

 

 

In order to try to fix this problem we recommend to install the latest graphics drivers provided by the manufacturer of the laptop.

 

What is the model of the laptop?

 

Is this problem happening with all the games or just with one game specifically?

 

 

The processor works with Intel® HD Graphics 530, so we can also try the driver below, 4664:

 

https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/26772/Graphics-Intel-Graphics-Driver-for-Windows-15-45-?product=88345 https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/26772/Graphics-Intel-Graphics-Driver-for-Windows-15-45-?product=88345

 

 

If you get into the BIOS you should be able to see the option for Intel® SpeedStep, please try to disable it and let us know if the problem persists after that.

 

 

Any further questions, please let me know.

 

 

Regards,

 

Alberto

 

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idata
Employee
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Hi,

I already checked the latest version of drivers. The laptop is a dell XPS15. The problem happen with many differents games.

I'll try to install the driver from your link and see if there is any improvement.

I tried to disable the option SpeedStep but the problem is my processor run at 2.6Ghz instead of 3.6Ghz if I leave it on.

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idata
Employee
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Thank you very much for letting us know that information.

 

 

To try to fix the problem, look for the drivers for your laptop on the link below, if the problem remains after that, then you can try the Intel driver:

 

http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/19/products/laptop/xps_laptop?app=drivers http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/19/products/laptop/xps_laptop?app=drivers

 

 

A BIOS update might be a good option as well, please check with Dell directly to get the instructions of how to do it:

 

http://www.dell.com/support/incidents-online/us/en/19/contactus/Dynamic http://www.dell.com/support/incidents-online/us/en/19/contactus/Dynamic

 

 

On the following link you will find a tool to test the processor, if it passed the test it should be working fine:

 

https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/19792/Intel-Processor-Diagnostic-Tool https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/19792/Intel-Processor-Diagnostic-Tool

 

 

Please let us know the results of trying the steps above.

 

 

Any questions, please let me know.

 

 

Regards,

 

Alberto R

 

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idata
Employee
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rotorx88: I just wanted to check if the information posted previously was useful for you and if you need further assistance on this matter?

 

 

Any questions, please let me know.

 

 

Regards,

 

Alberto R

 

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idata
Employee
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Hi,

I just tried everything yesterday, and it seems to solve the problem. No more downclock.

 

Thanks for your help !
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idata
Employee
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Hi rotorx88: You are welcome. Thank you very much for letting us know that information, it is great to hear the problem was resolved and there is no more downclock.

 

 

Any other inquiry, do not hesitate in contact us again.

 

 

Regards,

 

Alberto R

 

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idata
Employee
773 Views

Hi,

I reopen this ticket as the problem reappeared.

Any more ideas why? Should I open a ticket on the DELL support as well ?

Here is a screenshot of the resources monitor where we can see the frequency at 0.83Ghz and the intel monitor on the right.

http://imgur.com/KtIQLFC Imgur: The most awesome images on the Internet

Regards,

Nicolas

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idata
Employee
773 Views

Hi rotorx88: No problem at all. We are sorry to hear the problem came back.

 

 

Yes, at this point the best thing to do will be to get in contact with Dell directly for further technical or warranty assistance, you can always use the link provided above to contact them.

 

 

Any questions, please let me know.

 

 

Regards,

 

Alberto R

 

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idata
Employee
773 Views

Hi,

Ticket open at the DELL support, I'll keep you posted if you want to know about the solution to the problem.

Regards,

Nicolas

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idata
Employee
773 Views

Hi rotorx88: Thank you very much for providing those updates.

 

 

Perfect, yes, once you get the chance please let us know the possible resolution to fix this problem provided by Dell.

 

 

Any questions, please let me know.

 

 

Regards

 

Alberto R

 

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idata
Employee
773 Views

Hi,

I got an answer from DELL. They tried few stress tests on my computer and decided to change the motherboard, the processor, and the graphic card.

After the intervention of the technician, and with all the new parts, I tried again, and the problem remains.

With further research, I found that I could come from the Intel Thermal Framework driver that doesn't work properly under windows 10. A few users on reddit have the same problem since they updated from win8 to win10. They tried to roll back this particular driver to the win8 version and the problem disappeared. So I tried, but every time I launch the driver setup a blue screen appears.

Finally, going in the device manager, and uninstalling all the entities of Thermal Framework, then disable them when they appear as "unknown device" is the only way to get rid of the problem, but temporary because after every reboot the drivers seems to be back. But sometimes I also get a blue screen as the dptf_manager.sys crashed.

I hope that helps you. Do you have any solutions to get rid of the driver once and for all, without having a blue screen?

I tried to use the tool wushowhide.diagcab but when I reboot, blue screen, then the computer reboot, then blue screen, and again, again, until the automatic repair tool appears, and I rolled back to a previous version of my computer.

Hope that helps you.

Regards,

COMTE Nicolas

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idata
Employee
773 Views

rotorx88: Thank you very much for sharing that information in our communities, we really appreciate that.

 

 

We are sorry to hear that after getting in contact with Dell and replacing all the parts the problem remains, but it is a pretty good work around that you found in order to be able to use the laptop, even if it is temporary.

 

 

In regard to your question, as an option, not sure if you tried this already, we can try to install an older driver version provided by Dell that does not show the blue screen problem and then stop the automatic driver update:

 

http://www.tomshardware.com/faq/id-2763685/stop-windows-automatically-updating-device-drivers.html http://www.tomshardware.com/faq/id-2763685/stop-windows-automatically-updating-device-drivers.html

 

 

NOTE: These links are being offered for your convenience and should not be viewed as an endorsement by Intel of the content, products, or services offered there.

 

 

Any questions, please let me know.

 

 

Regards

 

Alberto R
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