Hi all.

I noticed a problem with my laptop quite a long time ago.

When demanding applications were using the machine, it would slow down massively. Turns out it was running at 1596MHz (266*6) instead of the expected 2527MHz (Core 2 Duo T9400 266*9.5) when first booted... so I was losing 1GHz per-core from the start. But then when it went under further load, it clocked down to 166MHz... Yeah... 266*0.5.

I downloaded a program called ThrottleStop from TechPowerUp and since then I've been running flat out at 2.53GHz.

Just thought I'd let you know!



This article helped me

Hmm, the throttling definitely shouldn't be doing that, but I would check your temperatures.

I'll download RealTemp tonight and see how hot she burns.

Is RealTemp still the good one for Core 2 chips?

Not a clue, but definitely worth checking. TBH, if it's throttling that much then you should probably be able to feel the heat.

Other thing would be to check the BIOS for the threshold temperatures.

I couldn't see anything in the BIOS about any thermal limit. It's pretty locked down in the BIOS, there's very little I can do besides disabling Intel SpeedStep and stuff.

The laptop does run very hot, but the throttling is not caused by the temperature, it's caused by the power draw from the adapter and the BIOS incorrectly detecting it as a 90W one instead of a 130W one.

Didn't get around to loading this last night as I got back very late.

If it's a BIOS issue, I take it you can't replace the BIOS with something else?

I got the latest BIOS loaded now. I was running A11, and replaced it with A14... Apparently the issue was fixed in A07 but it seems not! I think using ThrottleStop is pretty much essential if I want to get the most out of my system.

Well that sucks.

Could it be faulty hardware lying to the BIOS or anything like that? Or is that unlikely/would never happen/a fool's hope?

GPU is pretty hot too I expect.

Update:
CPUID Hardware Monitor reports slightly differently:

Well at least those temperature readings don't seem as high in the second image as the first, but which one is the more accurate one do you think?

Probably the second one. Over 90 just seems a bit too hot. Could be true though... it is extraordinarily uncomfortable to use.

How hot is it to the touch and how hot is the air coming out?

Really really hot. If I had a thermometer I would tell you

Actually...

I have a digital thermometer at work. I'll bring it home tomorrow.

So I started running Prime95 and FurMark at the same time to see how it coped...


Below is the temperature from the vent about 5 minutes in to the tests...


So yeah, that was just the vent...

As for the CPU itself...

EDIT: As you can see, thermal throttling kicked in in the above screenshot, overriding the settings in ThrottleStop... I should probably be thankful

And then the thermometer gave up on me...


But the laptop is...

STILL ALIVE!

Part 2... without ThrottleStop activated:

Vent temp was cooler...


Chip temp was cooler also, but throttled way back to 798MHz (cannot play EQ2 at this frequency)

What's the limit for the thermometer where it was just saying 'Hi'?

It stopped at 69C

So it got to 69 and said hi? I think you're missing a hint here Aaron

Saw it coming.

That's pretty funny actually

I have since enabled a power saving profile, which takes the CPU voltage down to 1.05 (instead of like 1.2)

I also changed the super performance mode so that the CPU voltage does not exceed 1.162V because this is apparently the limit defined by Intel. Maybe that will help me some...

Still expecting the laptop to go KABOOM at some point.

Also - My laptop got so hot over the weekend that I literally burnt my thumb resting it on the bezel in front of the touchpad. Surely this is not normal...

Photo of burnt thumb due to hot laptop.

Recommend immediate application of Aloe Vera.

Watercooled laptop would be nice. lol.