Precision M4800 CPU Throttling & Throttlestop

Hello everyone, I have a 130w power adapter for my used M4800 and when I turn it on when it's plugged in I get a notification that the power adapter is less than the recommended 180w and there will be performance issues. At first there were no issues, till a few memory and drive upgrades and now it runs at 350mhz when plugged in, while on battery power the CPU runs at around 3ghz. I've heard of a program, Throttlestop that can remedy the situation until I order a 180w power supply, but don't want to cause any damage with it.

Anyone have experience with Throttlestop, apparently using it to force the CPU to continue at nominal speeds even if the power supply is insufficient? I don't even need it to charge when plugged in and being used; I can charge it when it's asleep, but at least for it to draw power from the power supply without taking such a performance hit. Or any other remedies recommended?

 

There might be a legit reason why Dell does this or maybe Dell just wants to make some more money by selling you a new Dell branded power adapter.

Lots of people have used ThrottleStop to get around Dell's safety feature. I have not yet heard of any horror stories but anything is possible. If you are comfortable taking full responsibility for your actions, run ThrottleStop and clear the BD PROCHOT box. That might help get your CPU up to its rated speed.

Most power adapters have a built in safety feature so if you try to draw too much power, they will simply shut off and your laptop will switch to battery power. If you were running a CPU or GPU intensive app, a shock like this could damage your battery.

Usually unplugging your laptop and plugging it back in will reset the power adapter if it is ever overloaded. It is impossible to know if your non Dell power adapter has this feature or not. This is why Dell puts extreme limits on your CPU's performance when it is not sure about the power adapter being used.

If you have any ThrottleStop specific questions, post them in the ThrottleStop Forum.

 

Thanks. I tried it & cleared the BD PROCHOT. Didn't work. Maybe I'll get a 240w power adapter, see if that works.

 

Open the Limit Reasons window and find out the reason for throttling. Dell might be forcing throttling by reducing the turbo power limits to zero. BD PROCHOT was their old method. Post some screenshots of ThrottleStop while your computer is throttling.

 

Here's unplugged, plugged in and with BD Prochot unchecked. What else can I try?

 

Put a check mark in the ThrottleStop box to the left of High Performance to access the Windows High Performance power profile.

Open the FIVR window and set the Non Turbo Ratio to 1.

On the main screen of ThrottleStop, put a check mark in the Set Multiplier box and click on the Turn On button. You do not want to see Monitoring in the title bar. Continue to leave BD PROCHOT disabled. This type of throttling is rarely necessary. Your CPU will still throttle if it ever gets too hot whether this is checked or not.

After all that, is your CPU still stuck at the 8 multiplier? No need to show me the Task Manager. ThrottleStop is correctly reporting your CPU speed. If you are still having problems, post some screenshots of the TPL and FIVR windows so I can see how you have them setup.