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CPU Speed Drops After A Few Minutes

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  • Drops
  • Speed
  • CPUs
  • Drop
Last response: in CPUs
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October 9, 2014 12:17:32 AM

Hi all,

I'm pretty bad at computers, especially hardware. I've had my laptop for about a year, and it's been working fine. It's a Samsung ATIV Book IV, and I noticed that Minecraft abruptly started running really choppy. My specs appear to be fine, as I can run other games (Arkham City, Bioshock Infinite, Mass Effect) perfectly fine.

However, one thing I notice that might be a problem is my CPU speed, as displayed by my task manager under the performance tab. Upon startup, it's at around 2.8 GHz, but a few minutes in, it slows to and remains at 0.75 GHz.

I've tried everything I could to raise it. I've increased the processor percentages in my power settings to 100%, I've tried various power modes, I've tried plugged and unplugged, removing all unnecessary startup programs.

Any ideas would be really appreciated, as I could really use the help. Thanks!

More about : cpu speed drops minutes

a b à CPUs
October 9, 2014 12:21:46 AM

Have you checked the CPU temps?
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a c 393 à CPUs
October 9, 2014 12:25:53 AM

Yeah, that sounds like thermal throttling. Test your temps with HWMonitor and let us know what they get up to. All you have to do to fix it is clean it out with some canned duster. Most laptops will throttle around 70c.
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October 9, 2014 7:34:00 PM

Everything's fluctuates around about 48-53 degrees celsius, according to HWMonitor. Nothing seems as though it's particularly high, and my laptop never feels even warm. Is there anything else it could be?
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a c 393 à CPUs
October 9, 2014 8:06:00 PM

That's while you're playing?
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October 9, 2014 9:07:08 PM

No, that's while I have only Chrome open, but the speed is still at 0.75, of the 2.5 max speed, even when I'm not playing.
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a c 393 à CPUs
October 9, 2014 10:55:53 PM

It could still be throttling. When was the last time you cleaned it?
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October 10, 2014 8:26:58 AM

Admittedly, it's been a while since I've cleaned it. What do I need to do to properly clean it? Just spray into the vents on the underside and the back of the laptop casing with a can of compressed air?
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a c 393 à CPUs
October 10, 2014 12:47:31 PM

Yep. It wouldn't hurt to open it up a little, though, there should be a few screws on the bottom.
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October 10, 2014 6:28:53 PM

I've opened it and cleaned it through. It was a bit dusty, but not excessively, and the problem still persists :( . Any other ideas?
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a b à CPUs
October 11, 2014 12:17:43 AM

Maybe the turbo-boost, or hyperthreading have something to do with it. Assuming your CPU supports those
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October 11, 2014 7:12:12 AM

Turbo-boost? Hyperthreading? What are they, and how can I check if they are affecting performance?
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a b à CPUs
October 12, 2014 12:04:51 AM

As I saw on the net, Samsung ATIV Book IV has i5 3230m which supports HT and Turbo Boost. Here are threads where you can find info about these problems

Hyper-Threading problem:
http://steamcommunity.com/app/202990/discussions/0/8109...
https://www.disruptorbeam.com/forums/gota/viewthread/44...
http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/archive/index.php...

Turbo Boost problem:
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/364585-28-intel-tur...
http://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?13862-G74sx-In...
http://forums.auran.com/trainz/showthread.php?98304-Int...

PS: Turbo Boost is in use when Applications(Games for example) require more CPU power which causes the CPU to activate it and raise the frequency. In your case from 2.6GHz to 3.2GHz. Hyper-Threading happens because your CPU has 2 physical cores and 4 threads. So in order for those 2 cores to become 4, Hyper-Threading activates and the CPU now becomes "quad-core".

PPS: again, this is all assuming you have the i5 3230m
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!