ThinkPad W550s - very low performance after 30 sec of load

Hi,

I've brought home a new Lenovo's workstation ThinkPad W550. I really like this machine in many ways. However I cannot use it as a real workstation.

Every time the CPU is under load for about 30 seconds it disables TurboBoost and goes down to 1,9GHz (single-thread computation) or even 1,2GHz (multi-thread computation).

It usually happens when CPU reach temperatures around 70°C. Then the clock rates remains low untill I stop a CPU intensive program and CPU cools to ~40°C.

There is no difference when working on battery or connected to the wall. BIOS settings was restored to defaults and Windows 7 is a "clean" recovery.

Performance results are now very similar to 4-core Atom-based tablets. Very disappointing.

Any ideas what can cause the problem?

(my configuration: i7-5500U, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, 2880x1620 LCD)

--

Cinebench R11.5:
single = 0,87 pts
multi = 1,50 pts

 

Hm, interesting. I did some testing with Cinebench R15 and R11.5 (multicore 64-Bit both) with my W550s (Core i7-5500U, 128 GB M.2 SSD + 500 GB HDD, 8 GB RAM).

What was stange for me: The CPU didn´t run on maximum - it stuck to 1.39 GHz from the beginning, which means 50 % load - only going up to 2.5 GHz for a short amount of time. And this wasn´t a problem with the temperatures, cause they stuck to 45°C! There was clearly a artificial blockade somewhere...

I did search the Windows energy settings, and couldn´t find anything there...but, then I thought I might take a look into the Lenovo Settings app, thats installed on my W550s. And voila: In the Energy section, there is an option (new, wasn´t there on my T440s) " Intelligent Cooling". After I disabled this option, the CPU clocked to 2.9 GHz for a short peak (maximum turbo boost for Multicore) at the beginning of the test and then stayed at 2.49 GHz, which is the expected clock speed. The fan kicked in at 4000 rpm and the temperature stayed at 68 - 72 ° C.

My bechmark results with the "Intelligent Cooling":
- R11.5: 1.59 Points - 2.03 Points (second run was better somehow)
- R15: 190 Points

Way to slow. With the "Intelligent Cooling" disabled, its like it should be:
- R11.5: 2.86 - 2.90 Points
- R15: 260 Points

 

I've installed a new version of Power Manager (6.67.4) which is only on lenovo website (not in the System Update). Also I updated the firmware to 1.06 with. However the problem is still here.
Unfortunatelly there is no Lenovo Settings app in Windows7 preload and I didn't find the Intelligent cooling option in PM. I would like to use Windows 8.1 but Lenovo decided to preload this system with Win7 in Czech Republic and there are no DVD recovery in the box (only a small piece of paper with information that they can be ordered for a small fee).
Sometimes all Cinebench tests are completed with correct results (~2,8 pts for multi), but after repeating them the computer slows down again. Lenovo is really good in providing unnecessary software and functions... :-(

 

You can get a clean .ISO of Windows 8.1 from Microsoft: You need to use a Windows 8.1 machine to download this however.

 

I'm to lazy to do the clean installation.

I tried to uninstall crappy Lenovo's Power Manager and it looks like that the issue is fixed now.

It is funny that CB R11.5 multi-thread performance of the W550s is 2,94 pts and a much cheaper E550 with the same CPU has 3,25 pts (+10%).

 

I am also running the w550s on Windows 7, noticed the exact same problem. It was actually extremely evident in normal desktop and web browsing choppiness and it drove me crazy.
I found the solution though. If you want to keep the power manager version 6 installed (because it actually has some nifty features that windows power manager lacks) you can switch to advanced mode in the top right corner, and go to the "Global Power Settings" tab, find "Cool Mode" and make sure you disable both the "Automatically enable Cool Mode..." and the "Cool Mode" itself. I think this is equivalent to the "Intelligent Cooling" ibmthink found.

 

I just disable turbo boost in the bios, I've found it very gimicky and poor for performance on all my laptops and apps. Also makes them hotter.

 

http://support.lenovo.com/us/en/pro...ies-laptops/thinkpad-w550s/downloads/DS101991

• [Important] Fixed an issue where the Intelligent Cooling function erroneously set the CPU to low power state or low clock speed on ThinkPad T550 and W550s.
  Note: You should install this software to improve the CPU performance and enable Intelligent Cooling functions.

 

Once installed and updated. Do we then go to Power Manager 6 and check the option to turn on "cool mode" or the "turn on cool mode when device is being held"?

 

Wait, a W Thinkpad with an ultra low voltage CPU needs intelligent (software) cooling? Can it get more disappointing?

 

My .02 - are you guys addressing the fact that this has a 5500-U...or "ULV" / ultra low voltage dual core cpu? These things are made to run more power efficient, quiet, and even run in tablets...so they do sacrifice a big chunk of performance in the process.

I like Lenovo, I have a T540p with a 4700mq and think it's great. That said, I do not like how Lenovo is advertising the W550S as a workstation. The main issue is the i7 5500-U! I don't like how Intel even labels these "U" processors as i7. An i7 to me, at minimum, should have four real cores. The 5500-U is essentially a dual core cpu branded as an i7. Can we really expect a cpu with a 15w tdp to have workstation performance?

That's why I made sure I got the 4700mq. I don't have a desktop...the laptop is my desktop. I don't need a video card these days so I opted for a business laptop. The 4700mq is close to a stock 3770k desktop cpu basically. But it runs a lot hotter than a 5500-u. 47W TDP versus 15W TDP of the 5500-u. You get the 5500-u if you want a quieter machine while you work, and can withstand the performance loss.

So maybe the real issue is the overall lack of performance from the 5500-U?

 

That is very bad,
1.2GHz of Broadwell is equivilant to 1.4~1.5GHz of sandybridge, or 1.3~1.4GHz of Ivybridge.

Any sandybridge/Ivybridge laptop in power saving mode, can do that kind of load while being silent or quite.

I wonder if the heatsink design is made for 15w processors, and it didn't take in consideration the wiggle roam required for full turbo boost.

Things that might help:
1. Lenovo release a BIOS update to remove those limits.
2. add a quality thermal paste (example: Gelid GC Extreme) under the heat sink, not sure if that would affect the warranty.

 

I have same problem and waiting for Lenovo to do something about it too

 

^This

 

Don't panic I found the solution !

1. Download the latest bios and upgrade it.
2. Download all windows updates and lenovo updates. (Also the optional updates from lenovo which update the power management). Lenovo updates can be found from "lenovo solution center " > system > software updates.
3. Open lenovo center and go to power, (slide to the right) DISABLE the "intelligent cooling" and set manually to high performance.
4. Create a power plan on windows power management for high performance, then go to advanced and set Minimum cpu speed at 50% on battery and 100% on ac.
5. Go inside your bios settings and set the performance to MAXIMUM. (Yeah there is a setting there as well, its crazy !)
6. Give a strong cursing to lenovo's initial review for your laptop settings by them

You should experience at least a 100% performance increase on your w550s.

I hope I helped the rest of desperate people out there with their new w550s.

And with this chance I found, I give you a True Review for the ones that think of buying it :

Some bits and bytes from my story. I have the w550s for 48 hours. I am an IT. I spent a great amount on this laptop and it was slower than my 6 year old hp at first. This was such a shock that I thought I should turn it back. Then I calmed my self and started trying everything until I did the actions described and it got much much better.

And its reasonable that since this is a Ultralow Voltage CPU its not going to be as fast as a desktop i7... I knew this when I bought it but I thought that its better to balance both mobility and power.
However the default settings done by lenovo are just stupid because it can drive you crazy ! Its not even worth browsing on facebook. This is just lame from lenovo for a laptop that costs 2.2k+ with full specs. Okay my laptop battery now is not 12 hours, its 6-7 , still its normal for a desktop replacement.
I belive they set up the defaults to such ridiculous power savings just to demonstrate how long the batteries last.
Still the laptop glitches some times when watching 4k video on youtube. I suggest not to make the mistake I did and buy it with the 5550. Get at least the 5600. I got the 5500 because there was no stock for 5600. However since the CPU is ULV you should get the most you can. SO DONT MAKE THE MISTAKE I DID AND BUY IT WITH 5500 i7.

Apart from that first bad experience, its an AWESOME machine.

The User Experience is top. Awesome keyboard, awesome touch. The only con is that the fn and ctrl buttons should have been in reversed with each other.

The audio is fantastic and may I say its the loudest laptop speakers i've heard, I couldn't believe it was so loud.
The 4k monitor I got it with is awesome.

The quality is awesome. No noises, no stretching , feels rock solid even though it doesn't have a clip like old thinkpads did.
The only bad thing is that the materials are fine but your fingers leave dirt on it and you have to clean it if you don't want to look dirty to others

The quadro is what you would expect from a quadro and more !

On your laps, its always cool even when at full throttle , and its super silent, you can't hear the fan !

And yes, It makes macbooks wanna go to a dark lone room and cry. If it also had a quad core i7, the laptop would have probably been a server replacement, not just desktop