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Toshiba Laptop CPU running at max, overheating

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  • Laptops
  • Toshiba
Last response: in Laptop Tech Support
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October 11, 2014 11:01:17 AM

I previously posted this issue at the Microsoft Community, but nobody there was any help, and neither was the local tech center. I have had a Toshiba Satellite for 2 or 3 years now, and it has had this problem for over a year. To be honest, I have no idea what the hell is wrong with it. It has a dual core i5, and these pictures show that one thread in one core is running almost at maximum.

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I completely re-installed Windows, the issue is present in Ubuntu, and i hear the fan kick on even in the BIOS. The inside of the machine is clean. Antivirus can't find anything. Toshiba Health utility reports that the processor has a temp of 58-64% (no idea how hot that is for the i5) and the fan cycles from 67 to 83% at an idle. I don't know if this is good for the fan or not, but it is very loud and annoying. Here is all the processes taking CPU time.

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Thanks to anybody that can help!

Edit: Pictures did not show up, links now to Google Drive

More about : toshiba laptop cpu running max overheating

a b D Laptop
October 11, 2014 11:19:23 AM

If the problem is happening in both Windows and Ubuntu, it's probably a hardware defect. My guess would be that the one core's Speedstep functionality is broken and it's unable to enter into the lower frequency/power states. You can check if your BIOS has settings to enable/disable Speedstep or change the low power/sleep states, and try toggling them (equivalent to hitting a noisy fan to try to "shake" it into place). But I'm doubtful it would work.

Windows lets you manually set processor speeds. Start -> Control Panel -> Power Options -> Change Plan Settings (for your current plan) -> Advanced. Then in the dialog which pops up, scroll down to Processor power management. Try changing the Maximum processor state to something like 5%. See if that slows down the core enough to quiet down the fan. If my above theory is right, it won't do anything (for that core at least) and may even crash Windows.

If it does quiet down the fan, I guess that's one way to live with it. Try increasing the max frequency until the fan is tolerable. You could even set up multiple power profiles for low, medium, and full (100%) fan noise, and manually switch between them via the power management setting (should be accessible with the battery icon in your toolbar) depending on if you want the laptop to run slow and quiet, or fast and noisy. Unfortunately, I don't think there's a way to set a power state for a single core (so you could just cap that core at 5% and let the other scale automatically). But I could be wrong - feel free to search.
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October 12, 2014 4:12:22 PM

Solandri said:
If the problem is happening in both Windows and Ubuntu, it's probably a hardware defect. My guess would be that the one core's Speedstep functionality is broken and it's unable to enter into the lower frequency/power states. You can check if your BIOS has settings to enable/disable Speedstep or change the low power/sleep states, and try toggling them (equivalent to hitting a noisy fan to try to "shake" it into place). But I'm doubtful it would work.

Windows lets you manually set processor speeds. Start -> Control Panel -> Power Options -> Change Plan Settings (for your current plan) -> Advanced. Then in the dialog which pops up, scroll down to Processor power management. Try changing the Maximum processor state to something like 5%. See if that slows down the core enough to quiet down the fan. If my above theory is right, it won't do anything (for that core at least) and may even crash Windows.

If it does quiet down the fan, I guess that's one way to live with it. Try increasing the max frequency until the fan is tolerable. You could even set up multiple power profiles for low, medium, and full (100%) fan noise, and manually switch between them via the power management setting (should be accessible with the battery icon in your toolbar) depending on if you want the laptop to run slow and quiet, or fast and noisy. Unfortunately, I don't think there's a way to set a power state for a single core (so you could just cap that core at 5% and let the other scale automatically). But I could be wrong - feel free to search.


Well, I set the maximum for 5 percent, and it quieted down. I believe Speedstep is Intel's "Turboboost", yes? If so, I will give it a go, and if nothing comes of it, I'll just live with it till next year when I get a new computer. Also, will completely disabling Turbo Boost help?

Thanks a lot!
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