Asus zenbook i7 (max) cpu frequency 1Ghz

Ronald · 24 Jul 2016 at 08:05

I'm running Windows 10 on an Asus Zenbook UX32VD Core i7 3517U - Upgraded to 10GB Ram (2GB is soldered) and Samsung 830 SSD.

I'm having an issue where the maximum multiplier / frequency becomes limited to just 10x / 1GHz.

Just after boot it turbo's fine up to 2.9Ghz (which it should), but this seems to reduce in a few steps to just 1GHz over a variable number of minutes.

So far I have:

Cleaned fans
Bios reset to defaults
Reinstalled Windows
Monitored Temperatures (HWINfo64 / GPU-Z)
- When running up to 2.9Ghz, it reaches 65-75C, well below its limits (Which HWInfo thinks is TjMAX at 110C...)
- At no point is HWINfo reporting thermal throttling, and temperatures when running just 1GHz never exceed 55C
- No other temperatures reported seem out of line either

I'm open for any ideas to try, as at full speed this laptop has years of life left... but at 1Ghz it is rather like a posh netbook :rolleyes:

leezer3 · 24 Jul 2016 at 09:36

Are you plugged in or on battery?

Sounds suspiciously like battery saving tactics. If you can't see anything in the Windows power settings, I'd try the BIOS.

-Leezer-

Ronald · 24 Jul 2016 at 12:55

Plugged in all the time!

Bios is incredibly basis, the only setting referring to power is something related to sleep modes, while it is enabled, it doesn't sound relevant at first sight.

Windows power settings are 5% min, 100% max for both Balanced and High performance (Set to use Balanced)

Pretty sure power management is a problem though:
I ran a few Bench sessions in CPU-Z, after it's been a 'good ol' laptop' for a while and running up to 1.9Ghz.
Then pulled the power and ran Bench again during which it speed up to 2.8 (Still short of the 2.9 max, but hey, it's better...)

Any further ideas?

Orcvader · 24 Jul 2016 at 13:13

Could try using this: https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/24075/Intel-Extreme-Tuning-Utility-Intel-XTU-

It can tell you if the CPU is being thermal limited or power limited.

leezer3 · 24 Jul 2016 at 13:53

Ronald said:
Plugged in all the time!

Bios is incredibly basis, the only setting referring to power is something related to sleep modes, while it is enabled, it doesn't sound relevant at first sight.

Windows power settings are 5% min, 100% max for both Balanced and High performance (Set to use Balanced)

Pretty sure power management is a problem though:
I ran a few Bench sessions in CPU-Z, after it's been a 'good ol' laptop' for a while and running up to 1.9Ghz.
Then pulled the power and ran Bench again during which it speed up to 2.8 (Still short of the 2.9 max, but hey, it's better...)

Any further ideas?

Sleep mode won't be (That's standby)

Does the battery work at all- If it cant detect the battery this is a prime cause.

I'd try looking for a BIOS update as my next step.

Really feels like a battery/ associated power management issue to me

-Leezer-

Ronald · 24 Jul 2016 at 18:08

@Orcvader: Interesting application.

CPU, GPU, Memory stress tests followed by a second CPU test immediately following the memory.

CPU stress test starts weirdly limited to 1.9GHz, hitting neither Thermal, or power limit.
Then it speeds up peaking to 18W (XTU claims it is allowed to go above its 17W TDP for a limited time)

GPU stress test looks normal, with the bulk of power budget used by GPU, leaving limited power for the CPU cores.

Memory test looks okay at first sight, except it was running just above 1GHz average at first, then it goes flat to 1GHz 'buggy' limit... Only around 7-8W TDP.

Second CPU test is still on the 1GHz limit, and TDP is just 7-8W.

It never hit thermal issues on either CPU or GPU sections of the chip, and TDP limited operation looked sound for a while.

@leezer3:
Yes the battery works. It will run off it fine for a couple of hours. Windows reports on it as normal as well.
Bios is latest available (Has been for years now... as usual, even at the premium end things get "forgotten" about very quickly)

leezer3 · 24 Jul 2016 at 22:13

I've come across this thread, which suggests that installing the Asus power management stuff may make things better:
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/answers/id-2897280/cpu-throttling-1ghz-windows.html

I normally wouldn't install manufacturer power control utilities, but this still smells power management related....

-Leezer-

jpaul · 25 Jul 2016 at 13:58

you did not seem to say what initiated the problem ?

But like the surface pro (3 or 4 I forget) they updated bios to prevent running turbo boosting to high levels and producing reliability issues within the thermal characteristics of the tablet package and its fan/cooling capabilities.
I guess finding user forums should indicate if that is true for Asus.

I had a viao with fan control problems and here chipset firmware was effectively taking the temperature from sensors and adding a 20c or so offset before that was used to dictate the fan -speed and you could not easily intercede.
You can look at temperature and match with chip power dissipation but that is not incorporating power disippation of the laptop and additional limiting that might impose.
Algorithm employed could be evaluating gradient of temp increase with time and trying to avoid overshoot .
Do you have other temperature sensors that you could be monitoring too eg.ACPI thermal zone ?
Summertime and higher ambient temperatures could be contributory.

Ronald · 28 Jul 2016 at 22:03

@jpaul No clue what initiated the problem unfortunately.

Currently it is on Windows Insider Build 14393, which in its own doesn't seem to make a difference. Asus have a package called ATK Package, which seems to have something to do with ACPI... but on its own it doesn't seem to make a difference either, and I should have had some version installed before I reinstalled/updated.

I found a forum reference where a user 'solved' low performance using Power4Gear hybrid... I never had this installed as it is a bit of a bull in the china shop, and it used to work perfectly without. I have it installed now, and it definitely has an effect. It now doesn't clock down very well...

CPU package power is hovering at 3.5 Watt package power, which is pretty high idle (I can get my Haswell i7 4790K down to that) Core temps and any other temps in Hwinfo are not excessive for the power used (about 50-55C)

It is workable... but will still hit the battery badly at 15W total system drain as a minimum.

Ronald · 29 Jul 2016 at 20:49

Right, none of the answers given may have been towards a direct solution... but they definitely been helpful in guiding me to find the solution, so thanks to all who contributed here.

I have only done a few brief tests, but installing an old version (Windows 8 / Ivy Bridge / Version 6) of the Intel Dynamic Platform and Thermal Framework appears to have solved the issue.

http://ivanrf.com/en/latest-asus-drivers-for-windows-10/

Some Intel drivers provided by ASUS are related to a specific Intel chipset. So, if the driver file name contains words like Skylake, Broadwell, Braswell or Bay Trail be sure to check which chipset do you have before installing it. I included chipset lists in the Graphics section. A user with a UX32VD (Ivy Bridge chipset) reported to have CPU low frequency and overheating caused by the Intel DPTF driver for Skylake. The solution was to downgrade to the Windows 8 version of the DPTF driver corresponding to his chipset.

Version 8 / Skylake of this didn't change a thing for me, so My guess something may have trickled in through Windows Update to get me into the state of problems.