[SOLVED] DELL laptops: CPU performance & genuine battery & Power management (intelppm)

[frariky]

Hi all,
as some of you may know, Dell laptops have usually got the "nice" feature that if you don't use a genuine battery, there is the possibility to have issues with the Bios or especially with the performance of the CPU.

I have a client with an Inspiron 5559 with Windows 10 x64 (CPU Intel i5 6200U) and 8Gb of RAM (12800s), graphic card: AMD Radeon R5 M335.

NO genuine battery inserted but a "compatible" one.

After a fresh install of Windows 10, the max performance of the CPU was 12% (it looks like that without a genuine battery, the CPU is capped to this value).

I tried different values with the Windows registry (path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\intelppm) and this is what I found (please consider I'm working on the file "Start" of the above registry path).

If I use a value of 1 or 2 or 3 or 5 in the area "Value data" of the "Start" file (Base: Hexadecimal) and then I reboot the system, I have as a result the CPU still capped at 12% (I check it on task manager)

If I use a value of 4 in the area "Value data" of the "Start" file (Base: Hexadecimal) and then I reboot the system, I have as a result the CPU maximized to always 100%, it won't never go down even if the laptop is working with minimal programs open (in addition I have an "error code 32" in the CPU area of Device Manager: basically Intel Power Manager has been limited and the CPU appears not to be happy about it)

If I use a value of 6 in the area "Value data" of the Start file (Base: Hexadecimal) and then I reboot the system, it looks like I have as a result a CPU that "works "normally" (I check it on task manager) so the CPU usage fluctuates depending on the demanding workload of the system and in addition there is "no error 32" in the CPU area of device manager ... is this the magic number?


Now my question is:

what are the meanings of these different values in Windows registry
(path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\intelppm)
related to the "start" file (Base: Hexadecimal)?

Thank you and sorry for the long descriptive message but I hope I gave a solution to people in my same situation.

 

[uWebb429]

Leave the IntelPPM Start value alone. Set this back to the default value which is usually 3.

To fix the Dell throttling problem, try running ThrottleStop and disable the BD PROCHOT box on the main screen.

https://www.techpowerup.com/download/techpowerup-throttlestop/

This is what controls the throttling when a non Intel power adapter or battery is being used. Post screenshots of ThrottleStop if you need help.

 

[frariky]

Leave the IntelPPM Start value alone. Set this back to the default value which is usually 3.

To fix the Dell throttling problem, try running ThrottleStop and disable the BD PROCHOT box on the main screen.

https://www.techpowerup.com/download/techpowerup-throttlestop/

This is what controls the throttling when a non Intel power adapter or battery is being used. Post screenshots of ThrottleStop if you need help.

Nice solution, thank you!

How does it work? Does it apply a permanent change or I have to do this every time I switch on the laptop?

 

[uWebb429]

I have to do this every time I switch on the laptop?

ThrottleStop does not apply anything permanently.

Here is how to add ThrottleStop to the Windows startup sequence.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/the-throttlestop-guide.531329/#post-6865107

After ThrottleStop is setup, if you do not need to access the user interface and if you do not want to see a system tray icon, you can turn this off and ThrottleStop will run hidden in the background. It takes up next to nothing for system resources so you will never know it is there.

 

[frariky]

Thank you for the instructions.
It looks like that using this solution I improved the performance of the CPU from 12% to 37% max

 

[uWebb429]

CPU from 12% to 37% max

Post some screenshots of ThrottleStop. When setup properly, you should be able to go to 100%.

I think the 6200U supports Speed Shift Technology which Dell never bothered to enable. Dell also used clock modulation throttling on many of their computers from this era. Some ThrottleStop screenshots or a log file will explain a lot more.

Make sure you have reset the IntelPPM Start value.

 

[frariky]

https://www.dropbox.com/s/k1qdh536o2x7nwp/20210914_182152.jpg?dl=0

The screenshot as required.
Thanks again

 

[uWebb429]

Open the TPL window and enable Speed Shift Technology. Once this is enabled, on the main screen it will show SST in green. Now you can adjust the Speed Shift EPP variable. Set EPP to 0 for maximum CPU speed regardless of load. Set EPP to 80 if you want the CPU to slow down when lightly loaded.

 

[frariky]

https://www.dropbox.com/s/9s0oi4jr4pafxaz/20210914_184932.jpg?dl=0

Now the laptop runs very smooth, thank you very much

 

[uWebb429]

It looks like the BCLK frequency is not being reported correctly in your second screenshot. When this happens, try pushing the FID heading in the monitoring table a few times. This tells ThrottleStop to recalculate your BCLK. It should be showing 99.767 MHz or very close to that, not 85 MHz.

Post screenshots of the FIVR and TPL windows if you want some more suggestions.

Windows 10 has a screen snapshot utility built in. Try pushing the Windows key and the Shift key. While these two keys are held down, press the S key to open up this tool. It will save a snapshot to the clipboard and then you can use CTRL + V to paste the image into Paint or wherever you like.

No idea why it took Dell so many years to start enabling Speed Shift Technology in the BIOS. All new laptops enable this automatically. This makes for a much better and smoother user experience.

 

[frariky]

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ylrcc55e5y1c3by/20210914_190604.jpg?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/3uaigstwxkwu5ec/20210914_190628.jpg?dl=0

 

[uWebb429]

Dell has locked out CPU voltage control so there is nothing useful that can be changed in the FIVR window. The settings in the TPL window look OK. If you are not having any problems then everything is good.

Here is the hidden FID button I was talking about. That is used to calibrate ThrottleStop.

 

[SamirD]

Hi all,
as some of you may know, Dell laptops have usually got the "nice" feature that if you don't use a genuine battery, there is the possibility to have issues with the Bios or especially with the performance of the CPU.

NO genuine battery inserted but a "compatible" one.

There is a reason for this. Compatible batteries are so crappily made that they will catch fire (and the overseas manufacturers of these garbage batteries don't give 2 Fs if you die in the fire or get burned).

Dell saw enough of this that they created a safety system that won't allow these garbage batteries to become stressed and catch fire. You're trying to defeat a safety mechanism.

And compatible batteries are garbage in their life as well. I have ORIGINAL batteries for laptops that are over 10 years old and still work with at least 80% (more like 90%) of their original power and life. No garbage compatible is going to be able to do that. And when you can get used genuine batteries for older systems cheaper than new compatible batteries, there's no reason to not get the real thing.

Consider what you're doing. I'm sure your client would be upset if that laptop caught on fire.

 

[frariky]

I agree with you.
The client gave me the laptop because of this issues related to the not OEM battery he bought.
The only thing I don't like of Dell is the CPU won't normally work if no battery is inserted.
You really need the original battery inserted, you can't choose to have no battery if the genuine battery is for any reason gone

 

[uWebb429]

Counterfeit batteries are everywhere. It is impossible to know if a battery is genuine OEM or not. Some folks in China have got really good at copying and pasting the Dell logo on to their batteries.

The slow down to 500 MHz problem is usually caused by using a non Genuine Dell OEM power adapter.

 

[SamirD]

I agree with you.
The client gave me the laptop because of this issues related to the not OEM battery he bought.
The only thing I don't like of Dell is the CPU won't normally work if no battery is inserted.
You really need the original battery inserted, you can't choose to have no battery if the genuine battery is for any reason gone

Even a dead genuine battery will allows the system to function correctly. This is why I keep even my 'dead' batteries.

 

[SamirD]

Counterfeit batteries are everywhere. It is impossible to know if a battery is genuine OEM or not. Some folks in China have got really good at copying and pasting the Dell logo on to their batteries.

The slow down to 500 MHz problem is usually caused by using a non Genuine Dell OEM power adapter.

It's not impossible--you just buy from authorized outlets (who are required to buy from legit sources) or genuine used products. And those guys aren't copying and pasting anymore, they're running 'extras' on the same lines that the real ones are on, but are using inferior materials. Hence why getting a 'new' battery for an old laptop is generally a fake.

Good point on the power adapter--they will do this too. I've found thrift stores a great place to get cheap genuine adapters. I would pick up one every week where I used to live and they'd have new stuff all the time.