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I have an i7-3612QM@2.1GHz in a Dell Inspiron notebook and now running Windows 10 Technical Preview. The experience described below was also seen in Windows 8.1 previously.
I have been monitoring the Speed in Task Manager (Performance tab). It goes up and down on its own without apparent logic. When it is above 2GHz for sustained periods of time, the notebook becomes unbearably hot, at above 80C. Recently I took out the hard disk and it was charred black. I now have a very expensive 1TB SSD and the heat would definitely void the warranty if it's damaged.
I would like to slow down the CPU clock to no more than 1.5GHz (I am not in the business of Bitcoin mining or code cracking). How do I do it?
Charred black? If that's true, and from heat, then it sounds like you've got big problems. Perhaps that char is just a dust? Overheating is caused by dust/debris plugging vents in like 90% of the cases. When was the last time you cleaned it out? The CPU changing speeds could be it trying to balance giving you as much power as possible, without overheating... – Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007 – 2015-03-21T17:54:48.373
@Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007 I think the ventilation is pretty ok. I can feel the air flowing out from the vents on the left side all the time. But when CPU speed is above 2GHz for sustained periods, even the vent is too hot to touch. Ant the bottom, where the disk is, is equally hot. The charring was slight, but I think it is due to heat. – Old Geezer – 2015-03-22T01:28:12.097
Thanks for that referral. I have set
Maximum processor state
to 50%. Looks like it's working. I ran a simple loopwhile ($true) { $a = 1.0*2.1 }
and the speed is capped. – Old Geezer – 2015-03-22T01:28:57.923