Spectre x360 BUG in clock management, PC running at 0.39 GHz !!

[yursel]

I have a new Spectre since few days, and second time I use it plugged to the charger I get a steady clock speed of 0.36GHz, no matter if any app is fully loading all the cores of the CPU.

When I disconnect the charger, it goes to normal dynamic clock speed from 30% up to above 115%.

As soon as I connect the charger, it goes steady 12 - 14%.

I have tried to reboot, to power off, to change the power profiles in Windows, I set the "Maximum performance" profile, but nothing is changing. As soon as I connect the charger.... I get the speed of a 486.

Shall I live on batteries only ?

Thanks for the support.

[yursel]

Update.

I have discovered that once the battery reaches 85% the CPU clock is ok.

I have tried to go don to 82% on battery and then plugging it on charge and the issue was again there up to 85% of battery.

[Mrstenter · Accepted solution]

Hi@yursel,

Thank you for visiting the HP Forums!

I understand your HP Spectre x360 is having an issue on battery. You will need to return the Power plan option to balanced options if it is on High performance this will not wake from sleep mode.  Here is a link on the sleep mode issues.

Try to reset the power options:

Here is a link to put the Notebook in Safe Mode.  Choose command prompt.

a) Press Windows key + X, type Command prompt
b) Type: cmd powercfg.exe –restoredefaultschemes in the box
c) Then press ENTER

Please let me know if this information helps you.

Clicking the Thumbs up below is a great way to say thanks! 

Thanks.
 

[yursel]

Hello,

I tried to reset the power options and it was not successful.

I tried to update the MEI driver and it was not successful.

I tried to use the "HP AC Power Control" and again, by disabling battery charging, the issue was disappearing. But of course PC was running on battery power.

Then by following your link on sleep mode issues I saw that BIOS update was suggested.

BIOS update SOLVED it!

My BIOS version was F.03. 

I did put F.05 which was solving and while I was doing it today, a new version was just released few minutes ago, the F.07. Now I am running on F.07 and it seems good as well.

Thanks for the support.

Yuri

[Mareklang]

Hey guys,

I have HP Spectre x360 13-4102TU 13.3" Notebook and have the EXACT same problem.

Unplugged the computer runs amazing, with clocks of 2.4ghz etc but the moment I plug the laptop in the Clock rate drops and swaps between 0.36Ghz and 0.39Ghz, The CPU utlization will only go to 15% (but can go lower). 

The computer runs terribly until I unplug it again.

my issue is present regardless of what the battery percentage is.

I tried updating the bios to f.35, which didn't fix the issue then tried f.32 the only other version available.

I tried booting with "Windows + B + power button" to reset the Bios which also didn't help and again I updated to f.35 which again didn't help.

I'm really desperate to get this issue fixed without having to send it back for warranty. 

Please help!  If you can provide a link to some of the other versions of the Bios that could work? 

Maybe if there's a BIOS setting that could be doing this.

Please don't ask about windows power options, I'm a computer programmer so I've checked that minimum CPU power states are set to 100% and the multimedia power setting is balanced. 

[dave_jj]

I have this exact same problem.  It has ruined my experience with the Spectre.  I believe this was introduced in a prior BIOS update, but it seems that you are unable to go back to prior versions of BIOS.

Shame that HP has this problem and is ignoring it.  

I would not recommend this laptop for this reason alone.  Other than that it's fantastic, but if HP thinks that using a laptop at 0.36GHZ until it charges until a certain point, they are completely nuts.

It is UNUSABLE when it's at this speed, as you would imagine.

FIX IT HP.

[yursel]

You are completely right.

It ruins the user experience... and they are not able to solve it.... BUT

I found a solution 🙂

The problem is the power supply which is not big enough.

Being not able to supply enough power, I expect it's voltage drops and as an effect (protection ? ) the CPU clock is the first impacted thing.

So, I bought a 150W HP power supply, and.... it's perfect! Even with 10% battery, the PC can run full throttle and obviously, the battery charges faster. You can look at battery charching speed using tools like HWINFO64, where you can monitor the %charge/hour. With the new power supply it's ca 30% even with 100% CPU.

So, bottom line:

1) there is a solution: buy a more powerfull power supply

2) shame on HP: you have not been able to understand the issue

3) shame on HP: in case of not enough power, you should slow down the battery charging... not the CPU !!!

One final observation: with the first version of the firmware, I was getting steady low clock, with the actual version, I have couple of seconds low clock each 10 seconds (rule of thumb). But still, horrible user experience. And the threshold is around 80 or 85% of battery level. So with original PSU and depleted battery, the nightmare lasts several hours!

[dave_jj]

Going to order one now, thanks for the post on your solution.  Unfortunate because I have sevreal power supplies (for different rooms or travel).    Will post update for others  experiencing the same problemonce I receive and test.

Thanks again.

[dave_jj]

Ordered one, ended up getting it and it was completely the wrong one, didn't even fit.  Sent it back.  While waiting for that, was using my laptop, and it just went dead.

Went through troubleshooting it and have replaced the battery, wasn't the problem, waiting for a DC in connector.  If that's not it, it's toast.

Buying a new laptop tomorrow, regardless (if it ends up working, great, kids can use it).  

Narrowed it down to:

Lenovo Flex 5 1570
Dell XPS 15 (2017)
HPS Spectre x360 15-inch (2017)
Lenovo Yoga 720 (15 inch)
Samsung Notebook 9 Pro (15 inch)

Went with Flex 5--same specs as Spectre, but an additional 1TB HDD, just the battery that isn't nearly as good, but I found it for $500  cheaper than the Spectre.