Question My CPU is getting stuck at 1.6 GHz when I'm gaming ?

[halpanikeval]

Hello,

I own a laptop equipped with an Intel i5 8th gen 8250u processor and an MX 150 4GB VRAM graphics card. Normally, when performing tasks such as browsing and general computing, my CPU boosts up to 3.4GHz. However, as soon as I start gaming, the CPU frequency gets locked at 1.6GHz, which is it's base clock speed.

I've monitored the temperatures and can confirm it's not throttling. Additionally, I use a cooling pad and have recently replaced the thermal paste.

After reinstalling Windows, games ran smoothly for a while, but the issue has returned. I'm currently on Windows 11, though I experienced the same problem on Windows 10.

I would greatly appreciate it if anyone could provide insight into what might be wrong with my laptop.

Thank you in advance.

 

[boju]

I wonder if what uWebb says here about throttling (not thermal related, just how it behaves) when playing games or when gpu is in use has anything to do with it. Try throttlestop suggested there.

https://forums.tomshardware.com/thr...eeds-when-playing-only.3802956/#post-22975014

You said it worked fine before so i don't know. See what you get with throttlestop for now. Might be a setting in bios or Windows power plan settings for min processor state, try 100%

 

[uWebb429]

@halpanikeval
Post some screenshots of ThrottleStop if you need help with the program. Include the FIVR and TPL windows.

What laptop model do you have? Many laptops have some bizarre throttling schemes with no logical reason why they occur. Upload some images to www.imgur.com or a similar image hosting site. You can also turn on the Log File option on the main screen. Play a game for about 15 minutes and then copy and paste the log file data to www.pastebin.com

 

[dos_box]

Do you have different modes? EG. Silent Mode, Normal Mode, Performance Mode? Most laptops do and you should put them on Normal or Performance for Gaming.

One other thing to note: Laptops throttle down when on battery mode. Make sure you have it plugged in during gaming.