CPU speed/multiplier wrong, running way slow (Win10)

[sremick]

This one has been kicking my butt for a while and I just can't seem to sort it out.

Laptop is an HP 15-f039wm, running Win10 Home, with an Intel Celeron N2840 CPU:

http://ark.intel.com/products/82103/Intel-Celeron-Processor-N2840-1M-Cache-up-to-2_58-GHz

A while back (laptop isn't mine), the user noticed that it was now running very slow. Turns out the CPU speed is horribly lower than it should be. It's only running at 500 MHz (yes, 0.5 GHz) via a multiplier of 6x83.333 MHz even when under heavy load. I think the multiplier should be more like 26.

The issue isn't hardware related at all: I can take a test HDD, put it in, set it up with a fresh Win10 install and the CPU is fine... idling low, but jumping up high all the way to rated speed under load. But I'd like to save this existing Windows/app environment if at all possible, and fix the issue surgically.

I've tried updating the BIOS (there's also no BIOS settings worth anything or applicable as far as I can tell... it's pretty anaemic). I've also tried updating all the Win10 drivers HP has available for this model. No change.

Any thoughts or advice?

(My technical skill level is extremely high so feel free to ask me to do whatever or provide any info you need, without dumbing it down or painful hand-holding instruction.)

[John.D]

Could be speedstep kicking in. Disable it in the BIOS

 

 

[Shiranui]

Your friend is expecting blazing speed from a Celeron?

Are you saying that it is slow with your friend's installation, but runs normally with a fresh installation?

 

When the CPU clock speed gets stuck @ 0.50 GHz, are you running any cpu/graphics intensive apps?
 
If yes, how is the CPU temp? (you can use tools like HWmonitor to check)?

If no, is there any specific scenario where you get this issue?
 
In addition, the N2840 can go up to 2.58 GHz but only if the CPU is not throttling due (due to heat or power saving feature).
 
Things that you can try:
1. Plugged-in the AC adapter, set the power plan to High Performance and ensure that the maximum processor state (while plugged-in) is set to 100%.
   - Sample image
 
2. Close any running apps (or restart the machine) and check your CPU clock speed on idle. You should be able to get 2 Ghz to 2.16 Ghz.

 

  Reveal hidden contents

Stolen from here: https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/Lenovo-B-and-G-Series-Notebooks/Lenovo-B50-30-Problem-with-CPU-stuck-on-0-5-GHz/m-p/2163641#M47252

 

[Mindovermaster Global Moderator]

  On 07/12/2016 at 06:26, sremick said:

(My technical skill level is extremely high so feel free to ask me to do whatever or provide any info you need, without dumbing it down or painful hand-holding instruction.)

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May I ask why you are asking us, then?

[Hum]

I would replace the CPU

[xendrome]

Check/Replace the AC Adapter, it may not be the proper wattage to power the laptop and give it enough juice to clock up the CPU. Especially if it's aftermarket and not the OEM original.

 

The CPU is probably fine, it should downclock to 500mhz when idle.

[Anibal P]

See problem is you know the solution but choose to try and "fix" it the hard way 

Just backup anything important, nuke the drive and do a fresh Windows install

 

Most likely the owner "tweaked" Windows using one of the many shady apps out there and hosed it like they tend to do and is really just a waste of time, a full resintall should take a few minutes plus time to install a secondary browser and any other "needed" apps, not like this is a powerhouse machine and likely should not be used for anything but browsing and light "work" 

[goten259]

My Lenovo laptop was having this exact same issue, Plug in the laptop. It seems fixed now even after I unplugged it. Windows 10 has some issue with power state changes. Check out the issue Windows 10 had with AMD GPU's, it caused the fps in games to drop when you put your computer to sleep and woke it up.  The only way to fix the issue was to restart the computer, Shutting it down and starting it back up wouldn't even work. I hate the fact that windows 10 was programmed for tablets and phones first. From what I understand, Windows 10 was programmed for mobile non-x86 instruction set processors. They then programmed a layer on top of it to make it compatible with x86 processors which is the opposite of what they did in the past. I think this is one of the reasons why Win 10 feels weird and kinda unresponsive.

[xendrome]

  On 28/12/2017 at 22:41, goten259 said:

From what I understand, Windows 10 was programmed for mobile non-x86 instruction set processors. They then programmed a layer on top of it to make it compatible with x86 processors which is the opposite of what they did in the past. I think this is one of the reasons why Win 10 feels weird and kinda unresponsive.

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Nope.

[Jim K Global Moderator]

Old thread.  Locky Locky