15x Slowdown issues

So nto sure what is going on. I have been troubleshooting for a while. All of a sudden my system will just slow down. I have a Intel Core i7-720QM with the 240m video card.

I actually was able to see it in action today. I was playing STO and all of a sudden my FID in throttlestop went for a max of 12 down to 9. I am plugged in with my power profile set to High performance. I also set the cooling profile to active. Seems that when this happens if I shutdown and turn back on it will recover. do I have a sensor that's bad or is there a bug somehwerer that is causing the system to downclock itself. I am on the a08 bios.

I also use the laptop via mouse and keyboard so I did not hit the stealth mode unintentionally

Thanks for any help.

 

Even though Throttlestop will not overclock your chip, it can provide good data on clock speeds and will log them, along with temperatures. This will give you a much better handle on what is going on.

Joe

 

yup I am using that. The only thing that I see that tells me anythign special is the temp got to 72*C when it was in 9 and the previous reedings were all 71 or under.

Is there anyway to tell what the temp that the system supposedly downclocks the cpu at? is there any way to turn that feature off? 71* seems low to be shutting down

 

ThrottleStop can't overclock a 720QM but it can help reverse the throttling.

How do you have this program setup? You need to enable Chipset Clock Modulation and set that to 100.0% and also enable the Set Multiplier feature and set that to Turbo. That might help reduce the throttling that you are seeing.

CPU Throttling can be triggered by system power consumption and may have nothing to do with the CPU temperature.

 

I had the settings totally messed up in throttle stop. I had disables turbo, unchecked eist and did not have it on turbo. that has given me a HUGE increase in performance. I am monitoring to see if it drops again now that I have things set correctly.

 

are there aftermarket power bricks that give more power than the one the 15x came with? Or is this not something I need to worry about

 

The M15x uber-benchers Inap and The Rev both used/use the 240W PSU from the M17x with the M15x, but they found out that it won't let you draw more power.
With both, the standard 150W and the 240W PSU, the maximum power that the system draws (heavily overclocked) is about 180W. This means the power draw is limited by some components on the mobo, which makes totally sense... it protects the components from being fried.

So short answer: Yes there are other, more powerful PSUs that work, but it won't help.

The only advantage with the bigger PSUs is, that they're not getting as hot as the 150W.

 

what temp would be considered danger zone for the 720? now that I have the right settings it seems to be trail blazing very well.

here is some of my log from last night now that I have the settings correct. is this ok?

DATE TIME MULTI C0% CKMOD CHIPM mW TEMP
06/23/11 19:27:11 13.43 27.4 100.0 100.0 0 76
06/23/11 19:27:12 13.37 31.3 100.0 100.0 0 76
06/23/11 19:27:13 13.60 26.5 100.0 100.0 0 77
06/23/11 19:27:14 14.84 25.9 100.0 100.0 0 78
06/23/11 19:27:15 14.91 24.5 100.0 100.0 0 77
06/23/11 19:27:16 15.73 25.4 100.0 100.0 0 79
06/23/11 19:27:17 16.02 24.7 100.0 100.0 0 78
06/23/11 19:27:18 14.88 25.0 100.0 100.0 0 80
06/23/11 19:27:19 15.28 26.6 100.0 100.0 0 77
06/23/11 19:27:20 13.01 37.2 100.0 100.0 0 76
06/23/11 19:27:21 13.57 29.6 100.0 100.0 0 76
06/23/11 19:27:22 13.24 29.1 100.0 100.0 0 76
06/23/11 19:27:23 13.00 29.2 100.0 100.0 0 76
06/23/11 19:27:24 13.15 28.2 100.0 100.0 0 76
06/23/11 19:27:25 12.97 27.8 100.0 100.0 0 77
06/23/11 19:27:26 13.15 30.9 100.0 100.0 0 77
06/23/11 19:27:27 14.51 15.0 100.0 100.0 0 78
06/23/11 19:27:28 17.14 24.2 100.0 100.0 0 77
06/23/11 19:27:29 13.07 35.7 100.0 100.0 0 76
06/23/11 19:27:30 13.55 28.4 100.0 100.0 0 78
06/23/11 19:27:31 13.51 38.4 100.0 100.0 0 78
06/23/11 19:27:32 13.87 30.7 100.0 100.0 0 77
06/23/11 19:27:33 14.59 25.6 100.0 100.0 0 77
06/23/11 19:27:34 13.98 27.8 100.0 100.0 0 79
06/23/11 19:27:35 13.90 26.8 100.0 100.0 0 79
06/23/11 19:27:36 13.63 28.7 100.0 100.0 0 77
06/23/11 19:27:37 13.91 27.4 100.0 100.0 0 76
06/23/11 19:27:38 14.03 29.6 100.0 100.0 0 78
06/23/11 19:27:39 13.66 25.9 100.0 100.0 0 75
06/23/11 19:27:40 13.70 30.0 100.0 100.0 0 77
06/23/11 19:27:42 14.27 28.4 100.0 100.0 0 76
06/23/11 19:27:43 13.91 29.7 100.0 100.0 0 77
06/23/11 19:27:44 13.85 27.0 100.0 100.0 0 78
06/23/11 19:27:45 14.51 24.2 100.0 100.0 0 76
06/23/11 19:27:46 14.52 24.0 100.0 100.0 0 77
06/23/11 19:27:47 15.23 24.0 100.0 100.0 0 77
06/23/11 19:27:48 14.86 23.6 100.0 100.0 0 77
06/23/11 19:27:49 14.81 23.9 100.0 100.0 0 78
06/23/11 19:27:50 14.81 23.1 100.0 100.0 0 78
06/23/11 19:27:51 13.84 27.4 100.0 100.0 0 77
06/23/11 19:27:52 14.60 23.8 100.0 100.0 0 77
06/23/11 19:27:53 13.97 28.8 100.0 100.0 0 78
06/23/11 19:27:54 14.29 26.6 100.0 100.0 0 78
06/23/11 19:27:55 13.46 24.9 100.0 100.0 0 75
06/23/11 19:27:56 16.36 16.9 100.0 100.0 0 78
06/23/11 19:27:57 13.49 38.1 100.0 100.0 0 77
06/23/11 19:27:58 13.39 24.8 100.0 100.0 0 76
06/23/11 19:27:59 13.34 35.9 100.0 100.0 0 77
06/23/11 19:28:00 14.63 26.7 100.0 100.0 0 78
06/23/11 19:28:01 14.04 28.3 100.0 100.0 0 80
06/23/11 19:28:02 13.46 35.9 100.0 100.0 0 78
06/23/11 19:28:03 14.07 30.2 100.0 100.0 0 79

 

This seems to be fine, I guess you haven't go any issues anymore?

 

still testing

 

so slowdown has not occured but I do notice my temp has reached up to a max of 90. here is a log excerpt. is this too high?

06/24/11 10:03:55 14.71 25.4 100.0 100.0 0 85
06/24/11 10:03:56 15.35 22.4 100.0 100.0 0 85
06/24/11 10:03:57 15.56 21.6 100.0 100.0 0 85
06/24/11 10:03:58 15.22 22.6 100.0 100.0 0 85
06/24/11 10:03:59 15.16 22.8 100.0 100.0 0 84
06/24/11 10:04:00 14.61 23.0 100.0 100.0 0 84
06/24/11 10:04:01 15.44 22.7 100.0 100.0 0 84
06/24/11 10:04:02 15.75 23.9 100.0 100.0 0 85
06/24/11 10:04:03 15.46 23.7 100.0 100.0 0 87
06/24/11 10:04:04 15.27 22.6 100.0 100.0 0 86
06/24/11 10:04:05 15.47 22.4 100.0 100.0 0 84
06/24/11 10:04:06 16.06 21.8 100.0 100.0 0 84
06/24/11 10:04:07 15.09 23.8 100.0 100.0 0 84
06/24/11 10:04:08 15.37 21.8 100.0 100.0 0 84
06/24/11 10:04:09 15.18 22.2 100.0 100.0 0 84
06/24/11 10:04:10 13.70 32.6 100.0 100.0 0 84
06/24/11 10:04:11 13.07 38.2 100.0 100.0 0 84
06/24/11 10:04:12 13.08 39.9 100.0 100.0 0 85
06/24/11 10:04:13 14.33 28.0 100.0 100.0 0 84
06/24/11 10:04:14 14.89 25.3 100.0 100.0 0 86
06/24/11 10:04:15 14.72 25.8 100.0 100.0 0 84
06/24/11 10:04:16 15.55 23.0 100.0 100.0 0 85
06/24/11 10:04:17 14.30 27.2 100.0 100.0 0 86
06/24/11 10:04:18 15.04 25.6 100.0 100.0 0 88
06/24/11 10:04:19 15.03 26.3 100.0 100.0 0 87
06/24/11 10:04:20 14.36 26.4 100.0 100.0 0 84
06/24/11 10:04:21 16.40 22.9 100.0 100.0 0 86
06/24/11 10:04:22 15.19 22.6 100.0 100.0 0 86
06/24/11 10:04:23 14.15 30.8 100.0 100.0 0 85
06/24/11 10:04:24 14.40 27.0 100.0 100.0 0 84
06/24/11 10:04:25 13.44 33.6 100.0 100.0 0 85
06/24/11 10:04:26 13.26 38.7 100.0 100.0 0 85
06/24/11 10:04:27 13.75 32.0 100.0 100.0 0 84
06/24/11 10:04:28 13.75 29.5 100.0 100.0 0 85
06/24/11 10:04:29 13.89 32.6 100.0 100.0 0 83
06/24/11 10:04:30 14.16 27.4 100.0 100.0 0 85
06/24/11 10:04:31 15.60 23.8 100.0 100.0 0 88
06/24/11 10:04:32 15.61 23.0 100.0 100.0 0 86
06/24/11 10:04:33 15.89 23.1 100.0 100.0 0 85
06/24/11 10:04:34 15.27 25.2 100.0 100.0 0 85
06/24/11 10:04:35 14.54 25.4 100.0 100.0 0 86
06/24/11 10:04:36 15.69 24.0 100.0 100.0 0 85
06/24/11 10:04:37 16.61 22.8 100.0 100.0 0 88
06/24/11 10:04:38 15.29 25.1 100.0 100.0 0 86
06/24/11 10:04:39 15.93 24.8 100.0 100.0 0 87
06/24/11 10:04:40 14.92 26.2 100.0 100.0 0 87
06/24/11 10:04:41 15.51 24.0 100.0 100.0 0 85
06/24/11 10:04:42 14.73 25.5 100.0 100.0 0 85
06/24/11 10:04:43 14.01 26.5 100.0 100.0 0 89
06/24/11 10:04:44 15.72 25.8 100.0 100.0 0 86
06/24/11 10:04:45 15.54 23.2 100.0 100.0 0 88
06/24/11 10:04:46 16.24 22.7 100.0 100.0 0 88
06/24/11 10:04:47 16.16 23.9 100.0 100.0 0 85
06/24/11 10:04:48 16.25 24.4 100.0 100.0 0 89
06/24/11 10:04:49 15.07 26.1 100.0 100.0 0 85
06/24/11 10:04:50 15.18 22.8 100.0 100.0 0 86
06/24/11 10:04:51 15.95 23.9 100.0 100.0 0 86
06/24/11 10:04:52 15.44 26.0 100.0 100.0 0 87
06/24/11 10:04:54 15.34 23.8 100.0 100.0 0 88
06/24/11 10:04:55 14.78 25.5 100.0 100.0 0 87
06/24/11 10:04:56 15.00 22.5 100.0 100.0 0 85
06/24/11 10:04:57 15.39 22.9 100.0 100.0 0 86
06/24/11 10:04:58 16.01 23.2 100.0 100.0 0 85
06/24/11 10:04:59 14.37 25.6 100.0 100.0 0 85
06/24/11 10:05:00 14.97 24.3 100.0 100.0 0 85
06/24/11 10:05:01 15.50 22.7 100.0 100.0 0 84
06/24/11 10:05:02 15.63 23.0 100.0 100.0 0 85
06/24/11 10:05:03 14.23 25.0 100.0 100.0 0 85
06/24/11 10:05:04 15.96 21.9 100.0 100.0 0 86
06/24/11 10:05:05 15.90 22.6 100.0 100.0 0 84
06/24/11 10:05:06 15.77 23.5 100.0 100.0 0 86
06/24/11 10:05:07 16.51 22.7 100.0 100.0 0 85
06/24/11 10:05:08 16.13 21.7 100.0 100.0 0 86
06/24/11 10:05:09 15.96 22.0 100.0 100.0 0 86
06/24/11 10:05:10 15.57 23.1 100.0 100.0 0 86
06/24/11 10:05:11 16.19 22.0 100.0 100.0 0 86
06/24/11 10:05:12 15.20 22.2 100.0 100.0 0 85
06/24/11 10:05:13 15.42 22.3 100.0 100.0 0 86
06/24/11 10:05:14 15.66 22.5 100.0 100.0 0 85
06/24/11 10:05:15 15.64 23.1 100.0 100.0 0 86
06/24/11 10:05:16 15.73 22.1 100.0 100.0 0 88
06/24/11 10:05:17 15.87 22.2 100.0 100.0 0 89
06/24/11 10:05:18 15.32 23.4 100.0 100.0 0 84
06/24/11 10:05:19 15.80 24.3 100.0 100.0 0 87
06/24/11 10:05:20 15.27 24.7 100.0 100.0 0 87
06/24/11 10:05:21 15.53 23.5 100.0 100.0 0 89
06/24/11 10:05:22 15.71 22.4 100.0 100.0 0 84
06/24/11 10:05:23 15.81 22.6 100.0 100.0 0 86
06/24/11 10:05:24 15.74 23.7 100.0 100.0 0 86
06/24/11 10:05:25 15.38 23.2 100.0 100.0 0 83
06/24/11 10:05:26 15.83 22.6 100.0 100.0 0 89
06/24/11 10:05:27 16.21 22.9 100.0 100.0 0 86
06/24/11 10:05:28 15.20 23.5 100.0 100.0 0 85
06/24/11 10:05:29 15.03 24.8 100.0 100.0 0 84
06/24/11 10:05:30 15.68 22.0 100.0 100.0 0 88
06/24/11 10:05:31 15.43 22.4 100.0 100.0 0 87
06/24/11 10:05:32 15.78 23.5 100.0 100.0 0 88
06/24/11 10:05:33 15.91 23.4 100.0 100.0 0 87
06/24/11 10:05:34 16.01 22.5 100.0 100.0 0 88
06/24/11 10:05:35 15.60 22.5 100.0 100.0 0 85
06/24/11 10:05:36 14.91 22.9 100.0 100.0 0 86
06/24/11 10:05:37 15.53 25.5 100.0 100.0 0 90
06/24/11 10:05:38 15.41 24.1 100.0 100.0 0 87
06/24/11 10:05:39 15.81 23.4 100.0 100.0 0 87
06/24/11 10:05:40 15.22 23.5 100.0 100.0 0 87
06/24/11 10:05:41 15.48 24.6 100.0 100.0 0 88
06/24/11 10:05:42 15.55 23.9 100.0 100.0 0 85
06/24/11 10:05:43 15.37 22.5 100.0 100.0 0 83
06/24/11 10:05:44 14.94 25.5 100.0 100.0 0 84
06/24/11 10:05:45 15.59 23.2 100.0 100.0 0 84
06/24/11 10:05:46 15.48 24.1 100.0 100.0 0 84
06/24/11 10:05:47 14.99 24.8 100.0 100.0 0 85
06/24/11 10:05:48 16.00 22.7 100.0 100.0 0 86
06/24/11 10:05:49 16.20 22.6 100.0 100.0 0 84
06/24/11 10:05:50 15.60 24.2 100.0 100.0 0 85
06/24/11 10:05:51 15.57 24.3 100.0 100.0 0 83
06/24/11 10:05:52 16.10 23.0 100.0 100.0 0 87
06/24/11 10:05:53 16.03 22.9 100.0 100.0 0 86
06/24/11 10:05:54 15.74 22.9 100.0 100.0 0 85
06/24/11 10:05:55 16.44 22.6 100.0 100.0 0 85
06/24/11 10:05:56 15.95 23.2 100.0 100.0 0 84
06/24/11 10:05:57 16.57 22.7 100.0 100.0 0 84
06/24/11 10:05:58 15.95 22.4 100.0 100.0 0 85
06/24/11 10:05:59 15.20 23.4 100.0 100.0 0 85
06/24/11 10:06:00 14.82 24.0 100.0 100.0 0 88
06/24/11 10:06:01 16.29 21.9 100.0 100.0 0 85
06/24/11 10:06:02 15.52 22.1 100.0 100.0 0 85
06/24/11 10:06:03 15.53 22.9 100.0 100.0 0 84
06/24/11 10:06:04 16.46 21.9 100.0 100.0 0 85
06/24/11 10:06:05 15.19 22.2 100.0 100.0 0 84
06/24/11 10:06:07 15.11 24.6 100.0 100.0 0 84
06/24/11 10:06:08 16.18 22.6 100.0 100.0 0 86
06/24/11 10:06:09 15.93 22.4 100.0 100.0 0 84
06/24/11 10:06:10 15.21 25.4 100.0 100.0 0 85
06/24/11 10:06:11 14.93 27.2 100.0 100.0 0 85
06/24/11 10:06:12 14.72 24.1 100.0 100.0 0 86
06/24/11 10:06:13 16.38 21.8 100.0 100.0 0 85
06/24/11 10:06:14 15.78 23.0 100.0 100.0 0 85
06/24/11 10:06:15 14.73 23.3 100.0 100.0 0 85
06/24/11 10:06:16 16.71 21.8 100.0 100.0 0 85
06/24/11 10:06:17 14.77 22.1 100.0 100.0 0 84
06/24/11 10:06:18 15.15 25.7 100.0 100.0 0 86
06/24/11 10:06:19 14.46 25.5 100.0 100.0 0 84
06/24/11 10:06:20 14.27 28.6 100.0 100.0 0 84
06/24/11 10:06:21 13.63 37.0 100.0 100.0 0 86
06/24/11 10:06:22 13.14 31.7 100.0 100.0 0 83
06/24/11 10:06:23 14.27 22.4 100.0 100.0 0 85
06/24/11 10:06:24 15.89 20.0 100.0 100.0 0 85
06/24/11 10:06:25 14.51 23.3 100.0 100.0 0 83
06/24/11 10:06:26 13.82 10.9 100.0 100.0 0 82
06/24/11 10:06:27 13.84 10.7 100.0 100.0 0 81
06/24/11 10:06:28 13.78 11.0 100.0 100.0 0 81
06/24/11 10:06:29 13.79 11.0 100.0 100.0 0 81

 

According to Intel, the maximum safe operating temperature for a 720QM is 100°C so you are operating your CPU well within spec.

Intel® Core? i7-720QM Processor (6M Cache, 1.60 GHz)with SPEC Code(s)SLBLY

These CPUs are designed to automatically thermal throttle and slow down if they ever reach the maximum safe temperature. This allows the CPU to continue to operate within the safe zone. These safety features are built into all Intel CPUs and software like ThrottleStop or any other software can't prevent the CPU from protecting itself. No worries.

If you want to improve your CPU temperatures then you need to pull your laptop apart and redo the thermal paste between the CPU and its heatsink. Do a search and you should be able to find a few threads at NBR about that subject or head to YouTube for some video of the procedure.

 

I took the back off and gave the fan vents a good cleaning there was a lot of dust bunnies in there. Hopefully that will help. I will look into redoing the paste as well

 

I agree, your temps are within spec, but there are some things you can do to improve. removing dust bunnies is always good - and can halp a lot. Always put your laptop on a hard surface (never on a bed or blanket - cloth inhibits air flow). Elevating the back of your laptop slightly can also help - some use the extended life battery, which will provide some of this. Repasting can help - many of us like MX-4, though there is not universal agreement. Inap has provided an excellent guide for repasting on this forum.

Keep us posted.

Joe

 

aftercleaning out the dust bunnies seems to be running really well. I am going to keep monitoring it

 

When testing, see if you can find a game that uses more of your CPU. The C0% number in the ThrottleStop log file is a good indication of how much of your CPU you are actually using. The log shows that most of the time the C0% is under 25%. That means that you are fully working only 1 of your 4 cores. Windows will schedule that load and rapidly move it around from core to core but there are other games that are more multi-threaded and will work your CPU much harder. That will cause your CPU temperature to go up and up.

 

After testing on a few games and general use, looks like getting the throttle stop settings right, the dust bunnies cleaned out and reverting from a09 to a08 seems to be running much better.

Thanks all for your help.