0
The last time I used my PC was December 30th, and it worked perfectly. I turned it off, went out of town for a week, and when I returned, I turned it on to discover that my CPU and memory were running well below their rated clock speed that was set in the BIOS, obviously causing performance issues. The CPU hovers at around .77-.79 GHz both while idle and under load. Along with this, my CPU is receiving .88 volts from the socket, and I'm pretty sure it's supposed to be somewhere near 2.5 V. My temperatures hover around 30°C, so it shouldn't be throttling at all.
I updated all of my drivers and my BIOS, and I double-checked the BIOS to make sure that everything was dialed in correctly.
I believe this is a Windows issue, as my boot times are just as fast as they always were, and the performance issues are only noticeable after booting. These issues also only started happening after Windows updated itself automatically two days ago. I have since reverted back to an earlier version of Windows 10, which didn't fix anything except for the BSODs I was receiving due to irql errors.
I have called Microsoft Support four times and none of them had any idea what they were talking about. If anybody here can help me, that would be greatly appreciated. I will include screenshots from CPU-Z.
It's a custom-built desktop. i5 4690k on an ASRock Extreme IV mobo
AdumbCopper
Posted 2016-01-10T23:48:58.737
Reputation: 29
1Are you sure you are not just seeing the power saving techniques in action? Most system components will clock down when idle so you need to check the system under load – Krumelur – 2016-01-10T23:53:43.047
It's the same under load. – AdumbCopper – 2016-01-11T00:13:46.217
Boot a live Linux Mint (http://www.linuxmint.com/edition.php?id=204) DVD/USBKEY, launch Firefox and play some random videos off say YouTube, and execute
– misha256 – 2016-01-11T00:14:56.697watch -n 0.1 "cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep -i mhz"in Terminal to see what's going on. This is your one sure way of knowing whether some Windows Update screwed things over.@Moab Why clean install when the issue hasn't been identified? Booting a live OS off DVD/USB is a great way to troubleshoot as the OS currently installed on the hard drive can remain as is, at least until the cause of the issue is ascertained. – misha256 – 2016-01-11T00:17:48.967
Depends on how much time you have to waste. – Moab – 2016-01-11T00:20:30.227
The Linux mint is going to take a bit to download so I will get back to you in about 30 minutes. Thanks for your help. – AdumbCopper – 2016-01-11T00:23:07.957
@AdumbCopper it might help others here if you post the make and model of your PC that has problems. – Moab – 2016-01-11T00:27:11.983
@Moab it's a custom-built desktop. i5 4690k on an ASRock Extreme IV mobo – AdumbCopper – 2016-01-11T00:30:38.827
Double check your chosen power settings in Windows. Had a similar, rather hilarious situation with a MMO guild member's laptop doing this. He had accidentally left it in super-power-save mode from his last airline flight when he needed maximum battery life. – Zan Lynx – 2016-01-11T00:49:47.927
@ZanLynx It's a desktop and I have a custom high performance power profile.
Extracting the files for mint is taking a while. Will update. – AdumbCopper – 2016-01-11T01:09:01.943
@AdumbCopper I should have said, use Rufus (https://rufus.akeo.ie/) to get the Mint ISO onto USB key. Unless you're burning the ISO to DVD using some tool... either way you shouldn't have to extract the files manually. Anyway I troubleshoot ALL my systems this way, so simple. I have my fingers crossed for you :-) M
– misha256 – 2016-01-11T01:38:05.153@misha256 aha you were a little late, my friend. I did manage to get it up and running on a USB, and proved it is indeed a Windows issue, as the CPU is running at its correct clock speed and even turboing up to 3.9 GHz as it's supposed to.
http://i.imgur.com/iDsIvk8.png
Still not sure how to fix this issue in Windows – AdumbCopper – 2016-01-11T02:34:36.787
I'd start by installing the latest Intel Chipset Drivers. Do you have any overclocking software installed (from your motherboard manufacturer)? Have you investigated the BIOS for any OC settings or anomalies (Mint may not support all Firmware features)? – Frank Thomas – 2016-01-11T02:59:33.920
@AdumbCopper Awesome, at least it's not the hardware (well, better that the OS is screwed than the hardware). I wonder if the Windows Update you got was the big November 2014 (1511) one. Lots of issues with that one, although I've had zero issues with CLEAN installs of version 1511 (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10ISO), so you may want to think about taking moab's advice and do that, nothing like a fresh start for the new year!
– misha256 – 2016-01-11T04:42:25.317@AdumbCopper Hey as a last resort, go into Power Options (the Control Panel version), select High Performance, click "change plan settings", and then click "Restore default settings for this plan" (screenshot of the dialog box, yeah it's for balanced performance it's the only screenshot I could find: http://tinyurl.com/j92sjny).
– misha256 – 2016-01-11T04:52:39.250