Question CPU speed drops under load (temperature is normal)

[DarKS4ys]

My CPU speed drops under load like gaming, as soon as I open a game and the CPU usage increases, the CPU speed drops from 3.09GHz to 1.8 - 2.0 GHz (CPU temperature is normal)

Specs:
Asus Laptop

• CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-7200U CPU @ 2.50GHz (up to 3.09GHz with turbo)
• RAM: 12 GB
• GPU: NVIDIA 940MX 2GB VRAM
• Local Disk: ADATA SU630 480GB SSD
• External Disk: SAMSUNG M3 PORTABLE 1TB HDD

I've been using this laptop for over 3 years for all of my needs (gaming, video editing etc). without issues but the past 3 month was pretty rough. I was getting very low FPS in games. Recently I realized my CPU speed is dropping when I enter games or do anything heavy( I know, it's strange ). I clear my PC very frequently and I also have a good notebook cooler so my CPU temperature is not the problem here. I was actually going to provide a video of this issue like booting up a game and showing CPU speed suddenly dropping but when I tried to record a video with OBS which made the CPU usage %90, my CPU speed suddenly dropped again. So I understood that it was with CPU usage.(I know it's the opposite of what should happen) When I start recording the CPU speed drops to 1.8GHz, but as soon as I stop the recording and the CPU usage drops to %15, the CPU speed increases to 3GHz again. So what is the problem here? ( Also sorry for my bad English. You may not understood the problem, so if anybody wants a footage of the issue I can record one with my phone)

Cpu on idle:
https://prnt.sc/5DmvesdU3vcF

Cpu on load:
https://prnt.sc/kULDGDg49lu3

 

[Lutfij]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

Have you tried using HWMonitor to see what your temps are when you see the clock speed drops? BIOS version for your laptop? Also, what IS are yo working with?

 

[DarKS4ys]

First, my BIOS version is X556UQK.318
Also these are the temps when the clock speed drops: https://prnt.sc/1P2ePdGqEyb-

 

[Phaaze88]

Gotta look at each core, or you will get mislead. Task Manager reports Core 0.

Doggone HWMonitor... the core thermals you should be looking at are towards the bottom. Package is the hottest core at any time.
HWINFO will have that stuff at the top, unlike backwards HWMonitor.

 

[DarKS4ys]

Gotta look at each core, or you will get mislead. Task Manager reports Core 0.

Doggone HWMonitor... the core thermals you should be looking at are towards the bottom. Package is the hottest core at any time.
HWINFO will have that stuff at the top, unlike backwards HWMonitor.

So I didn't fully understand what you meant but I think this is what I should look for?
https://prnt.sc/ylkYpYAx3bx2

 

[Phaaze88]

Yes. You can even double click it to make a real time graph pop up.

 

[DarKS4ys]

Yes. You can even double click it to make a real time graph pop up.

Okay but, what next?

 

[Phaaze88]

Okay but, what next?

You can monitor the cpu's behavior again, but this time see what both cores are doing.


"when I tried to record a video with OBS which made the CPU usage %90, my CPU speed suddenly dropped again."
"CPU temperature is not the problem here."
"When I start recording the CPU speed drops to 1.8GHz, but as soon as I stop the recording and the CPU usage drops to %15, the CPU speed increases to 3GHz again."
"i5-7200U"
"HWINFO screenshot showing the cpu flagged for Cpu Power Limit Exceeded"

More than anything, the problem is the U-SKU cpu, optimized for high battery life, and in order to do that, the max power limits are very low on them. The con is that there's no real room to multitask or stack operations, or the power limit is easy reached.

 

[DarKS4ys]

You can monitor the cpu's behavior again, but this time see what both cores are doing.


"when I tried to record a video with OBS which made the CPU usage %90, my CPU speed suddenly dropped again."
"CPU temperature is not the problem here."
"When I start recording the CPU speed drops to 1.8GHz, but as soon as I stop the recording and the CPU usage drops to %15, the CPU speed increases to 3GHz again."
"i5-7200U"
"HWINFO screenshot showing the cpu flagged for Cpu Power Limit Exceeded"

More than anything, the problem is the U-SKU cpu, optimized for high battery life, and in order to do that, the max power limits are very low on them. The con is that there's no real room to multitask or stack operations, or the power limit is easy reached.

Are there any ways to increase power limit?

 

[Phaaze88]

Are there any ways to increase power limit?

There isn't. The U-SKU is already crippled out of the gate.