[SOLVED] CPU throttled ?! (W510 i7 720QM)

[1114rk]

hi, my i7 720QM gets throttled at 0.9Ghz instead of 1.6Ghz, and the Turbo Boost doesn't seem to kick in at all.
I tried uninstalling PowerManager in case it was SW issue but that didn't help, although I went through the power config and set the cpu performance min/max at 100%.
I don't think it's got anything to do with temperature either at it's running at ~45C.

I'm wondering if it might be a software issue still, before having it serviced (under warranty) to save time in case it isn't a hardware issue (faulty CPU)



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any ideas/suggestion are much appreciated!

[dr_st]

Are you running on battery or on AC power? If on AC, which power adapter (how many watts) do you use?

[1114rk]

running on AC, 90W (20V)

[dr_st]

I think 90W may be the problem. The quad-core W510 require the 135W adapter, and Lenovo has been known to throttle the CPU to lowest speed whenever the system detects a weaker than recommended power supply.

[1114rk]

just tried on battery only, and it went to 1.46Ghz, interesting
does it mean that W510 needs 130W adapter despite i7 720qm having max TDP of 45W?

[1114rk]

thanks for your suggestion, will try to get hold of 135W adapter and confirm this
btw it came with 90W adapter (although I got it 2nd hand)

[1114rk]

while powering up the following message just popped-up (must have been suppressed before) which only confirms your suggestion, thanks again!

The connected AC adapter has a lower wattage than the recommended model which was shipped with the system.

This will increase the time to charge the battery, and system performance will be adjusted to match the available power.

Please connect the AC adapter which was shipped with the system for best system performance.

Press the F3 key if you do not want to see the incorrect AC adapter warning message again.

[dr_st]

Many believe that the "recommended" rating by Lenovo is grossly over-estimaed. But I guess it is better to be safe than sorry.

The 135W power supply is not an ideal travel companion, but then again, neither is the 15.4" laptop.