Slow Mode Problem with MSI Z170A Gaming M5

Caynour · Jun 16, 2017

I built my PC in mid 2016, with a i7 6700k and MSI Z170A Gaming M5. There is a problem that I am having that I think has gone on for several months. I have noticed that my computer has been extremely slow at some points, and fast at others. Problems I had been having included a laggy selection box on the desktop screen, drops in game FPS, slow browser speeds, etc. So I tried to fix it with common methods for "speeding up a computer." However, this never worked. At one point, I even brought the whole full-tower computer to Geek Squad. They said nothing was wrong, and when I got it back, it seemed to be back to normal. However, the problems continued after a short while. But now, I have actually seemed to find the problem. In task manager, I noticed that the clock speed was all the way down to 0.76 ghz. When it appeared to be slow, that is the speed it was at, and whenever it was briefly "fixed", the clock speed was normal (4ghz). There is a slow mode switch on the bottom of the motherboard and an LED accompanied with it that indicates whether it is on. However, the switch has never been turned on. Despite this, the LED flickers repeatedly on and off, indicating slow mode to be repeatedly turning on and off, causing the drops in clock speed and the speed of the computer. To ensure my claim, I tried turning the switch on and off with Task Manager running, and noticed that when Slow Mode was on, the clock speed was down and the LED was on.

Now I am making this thread to ask for advice. Is there a possibility that I am incorrect and that it is actually another problem? Is this a problem that can be fixed (such as with a BIOS update), or a defect that will require the whole motherboard to be replaced? And if the latter is the case, should I ever purchase from MSI again?

(I don't think the rest of the specs are important, however, here they are, just in case.)
i7 6700k
MSI Z170A Gaming M5
Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4-300 16GB
ASUS STRIX GTX 1070
WD Caviar Blue 1tb 7200 RPM, Samsung 850 Evo 250gb SSD
EVGA 850 P2 (80+ Platinum)

In addition, there aren't any thermal issues, if you want to know that.

urbancamper · Jun 16, 2017

The cpu is set up to use less energy when it is at idle or your are not doing much of anything. This would include stopping whatever you happen to be doing to look at the cpu speed in the task manager.

download HWMonitor and keep it turned on then go play a game. http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html

Note in the picture below the cpu has a low state, a work state and an at load state. Depending on use will be the speed of the cpu
http://i.imgur.com/bghEmib.jpg

Note, even while using my cpu to do this it was mostly in low state.

Caynour · Jun 17, 2017

urbancamper :

I'd have to disagree. The thing is, the slow mode led activates in periods when I'm having slowness. (As stated, the computer periodically becomes slow.) This, however, doesn't change when I'm playing games. When I'm playing, I will get sudden fps drops, then go back to see task manager displaying a slow clock speed mid-game. And whenever I am at the low clock speed, I get lag on my computer while doing any sort of activity, even dragging the selection box on the desktop, as stated. I am fairly confident that the "power-saving" cpu feature would not be giving me in-game lag and lag on the simplest of tasks, and I am fairly confident that my diagnosis is correct.

I've managed to get a temporary fix by flipping the switch a few times. Right now, when my PC is idle, it doesn't go down to 0.8 ghz. And everything is fine, including gaming.

urbancamper · Jun 17, 2017

Have you checked for viruses? Did you try resetting the cmos? How about checking each stick of memory individually on the motherboard? Or maybe the ssd if full having no write space while executing programs?

Caynour · Jun 19, 2017

urbancamper :

I've thoroughly checked for viruses with MalwareBytes and Webroot, and the SSD has plenty of space. However, I have not tried resetting the CMOS, or the RAM.

However, when I have this problem, it can be fixed by flicking the slow mode switch on and back off again. (It fixes it for a short while.)

medsed99 · Sep 19, 2017

Caynour :

I built my PC in mid 2016, with a i7 6700k and MSI Z170A Gaming M5. There is a problem that I am having that I think has gone on for several months. I have noticed that my computer has been extremely slow at some points, and fast at others. Problems I had been having included a laggy selection box on the desktop screen, drops in game FPS, slow browser speeds, etc. So I tried to fix it with common methods for "speeding up a computer." However, this never worked. At one point, I even brought the whole full-tower computer to Geek Squad. They said nothing was wrong, and when I got it back, it seemed to be back to normal. However, the problems continued after a short while. But now, I have actually seemed to find the problem. In task manager, I noticed that the clock speed was all the way down to 0.76 ghz. When it appeared to be slow, that is the speed it was at, and whenever it was briefly "fixed", the clock speed was normal (4ghz). There is a slow mode switch on the bottom of the motherboard and an LED accompanied with it that indicates whether it is on. However, the switch has never been turned on. Despite this, the LED flickers repeatedly on and off, indicating slow mode to be repeatedly turning on and off, causing the drops in clock speed and the speed of the computer. To ensure my claim, I tried turning the switch on and off with Task Manager running, and noticed that when Slow Mode was on, the clock speed was down and the LED was on.

Now I am making this thread to ask for advice. Is there a possibility that I am incorrect and that it is actually another problem? Is this a problem that can be fixed (such as with a BIOS update), or a defect that will require the whole motherboard to be replaced? And if the latter is the case, should I ever purchase from MSI again?

(I don't think the rest of the specs are important, however, here they are, just in case.)
i7 6700k
MSI Z170A Gaming M5
Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4-300 16GB
ASUS STRIX GTX 1070
WD Caviar Blue 1tb 7200 RPM, Samsung 850 Evo 250gb SSD
EVGA 850 P2 (80+ Platinum)

In addition, there aren't any thermal issues, if you want to know that.

Put the switch in the middle position. Its neither to the left nor right. It has to stay in the middle. Turn your PC back on and it's gone

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