i5-6300HQ stuck with minimum multiplier

thisisnotnew

Commendable
Mar 21, 2016
8
0
1,510
The problem
I've been trying to diagnose why my laptop's been sluggish recently and think I may be getting closer digging into this poor CPU performance.

I noticed CPU-Z was reporting the CPU always at 8x multiplier and about 800 MHz, as opposed to anything up to the max (32x). Running prime95 and checking resource monitor showed CPU at 100% load but only 33% frequency.

I went into BIOS and disabled SpeedStep which got my frequency up to 100% in resource monitor but CPU-Z was still claiming an 8x multiplier at 800 MHz. And my benchmarks were still pretty sad (see below).

I've updated all drivers, BIOS, etc. I did a clean install of Windows 10 yesterday trying to fix the issue. I've tried booting in safe mode. I've made sure my components' temps are all acceptable and they are. I have all my power settings set to max performance. None of those have fixed it.

My system
  • + Dell XPS 15 9550 laptop
    + OS: Windows 10 Home
    + STORAGE: Samsung SM951 M.2 256 GB PCIe 3.0 SSD (AHCI, not NVMe)
    + CPU: i5-6300HQ
    + GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M with 2GB GDDR5
    + Integrated GPU: Intel 530
    + RAM: 8GB DDR4-2133MHz
And a Geekbench report: http://browser.primatelabs.com/geekbench3/5744109
And a userbenchmark report: http://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/904709
The userbenchmark report only tested my integrated GPU so ignore that part of it.

Any ideas? Should I try ThrottleStop?
 
Solution
PROCHOT# Signal

The primary function of the PROCHOT# signal is to provide an external indication the processor has reached the TCC activation temperature. While PROCHOT# is asserted, the TCC will be active. Assertion of the PROCHOT# signal is independent of any
register settings within the processor. It is asserted any time the processor die temperature reaches the trip point. PROCHOT# can be configured via BIOS as an output or bi-directional signal. As an output, PROCHOT# will go active when the processor temperature of either core reaches the TCC activation temperature. This indicates the TCC has been activated. As an input, assertion of PROCHOT# will activate the TCC for both cores. The TCC will remain active until the system...
Go into control panel, open the Power applet, change the plan to performance. If that fixes the problem, you might want to go further into the advanced profile settings and change the min and max processor power states to min 5% and max 100% later so it doesn't ALWAYS run at full speed, saving on both power and damage from heat. Running at full speed all the time will likely result in a failed cooling fan as they are not designed for 100% duty cycles.

If that does not help, then download and run HWinfo, run "sensors only" and take a look at the core and package temps. It may be that the system is throttling due to heat NOT related to core temp. VRM or package temps, which many utilities don't show, can cause throttling even when core temps are within reasonable limits.
 


Unfortunately I already have it set to max performance and have made sure everything is max power / minimum saving in those settings but no luck.

I checked out HWinfo and looks like the hottest thing in there is PCH Temp (motherboard?) at 45 C which should be fine I assume.

EDIT: Looks like HWinfo is reporting PROCHOT = YES. Could this be the issue? Faulty PROCHOT?
 
PROCHOT# Signal

The primary function of the PROCHOT# signal is to provide an external indication the processor has reached the TCC activation temperature. While PROCHOT# is asserted, the TCC will be active. Assertion of the PROCHOT# signal is independent of any
register settings within the processor. It is asserted any time the processor die temperature reaches the trip point. PROCHOT# can be configured via BIOS as an output or bi-directional signal. As an output, PROCHOT# will go active when the processor temperature of either core reaches the TCC activation temperature. This indicates the TCC has been activated. As an input, assertion of PROCHOT# will activate the TCC for both cores. The TCC will remain active until the system de-asserts PROCHOT# The temperature at which the PROCHOT# signal goes active is individually calibrated during manufacturing. Once configured, the processor temperature at which the PROCHOT# signal is asserted is not re-configurable. One application of the Bi-directional PROCHOT# signal is for the thermal protection of voltage regulators (VR). System designers can implement a circuit to monitor the VR temperature and activate the TCC when the temperature limit of the VR is reached. By asserting PROCHOT# (pulled-low) or FORCEPR#, which activates the TCC, the VR can cool down as a result of reduced processor power consumption. Bi-directional PROCHOT# can allow VR thermal designs to target maximum sustained current
instead of maximum current. Systems should still provide proper cooling for the VR, and rely on bi-directional PROCHOT# signal only as a backup in case of system cooling failure.


Seems your temps are only within spec BECAUSE the system is throttling. If this unit is under warranty, I'd return or RMA it. Being a laptop, there isn't much you can do otherwise. Is the fan even running. It should be running full blast at all times if the PROCHOT signal is positive and the system is being throttled to it's minimum speed.

Make sure in the performance profile that the cooling setting under processor is set to active and not passive.
 
Solution


So I downloaded ThrottleStop and disabling BD PROCHOT does indeed fix the issue. I'm keeping a close eye on temps while doing this in case my fans are faulty. They are set to ACTIVE in power management but definitely aren't running full blast. I'm going to run a test on them to see if they've given out or something.
 
So the test I used was my ear. And I didn't hear anything that sounded like a fan when I drove the CPU temps up to mid 50s. There was a faint buzzing that could be a broken one though. Guess I'll chalk this whole thing up to dead fans then.

Thank you for the help!
 
Absolutely. Had a similar issue recently on my A10-4600 HP Envy laptop. Replacement of the fan cured the problem. Mostly. I think there was still some thermal damage but I replaced the fan, repasted the CPU and it's at least usable now. Good luck thisisnotnew.