Intel i5 3320m stuck at 1.2GHz

[IceDigger]

I have an HP Elitebook with a i5 3320m cpu which is supposed to run at 2.6GHz but seems to be stuck at 1.2GHz.

Any ideas whats wrong?

Running win 8.1 with the high performance setting enabled in control panel.

 

[jedimasterben]

You probably have Speedstep enabled (you should really never disable it) and you are not putting a load on the CPU, or your power adapter is not powerful enough. My Alienware m14x will throttle the CPU to ~800MHz and it will never clock up if the power adapter is not 150w or higher. Even a 130w genuine Dell charger will turn it into maximum power savings mode.

 

[unclewebb]

What program are you using to monitor your MHz?

Give ThrottleStop from TechPowerUp a try. Make sure EIST is checked, check the Set Multiplier option and set that to 33T or as high as it can go, disable BD PROCHOT and then click on the Turn On button.

This is a common laptop problem and there are a variety of issues that can cause this. Play around with ThrottleStop and you should be able to figure out what the problem is.

 

[IceDigger]

What program are you using to monitor your MHz?

Give ThrottleStop from TechPowerUp a try. Make sure EIST is checked, check the Set Multiplier option and set that to 33T or as high as it can go, disable BD PROCHOT and then click on the Turn On button.

This is a common laptop problem and there are a variety of issues that can cause this. Play around with ThrottleStop and you should be able to figure out what the problem is.

Throttle stop worked, thanks. Its idling around 60C. Not sure if that is ok on this cpu.

I'm using a 90W power adapter for the docking station for it which is more than enough.

I'll have to look for speedstep in the bios tomorrow when I get back into work.

 

[unclewebb]

For the Core i5-3320M, the maximum safe operating temperature is 105°C.

http://ark.intel.com/products/64896/Intel-Core-i5-3320M-Processor-3M-Cache-up-to-3_30-GHz

60°C is a safe temperature but it is a little warm if your laptop is mostly idle. It would probably be a good idea to blow out the heatsink and fan if it is easy to get to, especially if you have not done this before.

Some Dell laptops will lock the multiplier at a low value when they detect a power adapter that is not supported. The power rating is not important. If the bios detects an adapter that is not on its approved list, the CPU will get forced into limp mode. Something similar might be happening to your HP. The Dells use the BD PROCHOT signal path so the adapter can communicate with the CPU. Using ThrottleStop to disable the BD PROCHOT signal path has helped a few Dell laptop owners.