I have a Dell G5 5590 with an i7-9750H and GTX 1650. After reinstalling Windows 11, the CPU started behaving inconsistently in several games. In Elden Ring, for example, the clock speed repeatedly drops from around 2.4 GHz to 0.8 GHz, causing major frame drops. The CPU used to reach around 3 GHz even outside games, but now it stays near 2.2 GHz when idle and often never reaches its 2.6 GHz base speed while gaming.
Assassin's Creed Odyssey also showed consistently low CPU speeds, while Valhalla and Mirage usually run normally. Uncharted 4 sometimes throttles, but restarting the game can temporarily fix it. Elden Ring worked correctly the first time I launched it, then began throttling on later launches. Sometimes performance improves after leaving the character in one area for about 15 minutes, but repasting the CPU did not help.
Temperatures are only around 60–65°C now, compared with roughly 72°C before the problem became worse. Windows, BIOS, and drivers are updated. I have tried reinstalling Windows 11, using the High Performance power plan, disabling C-States and SpeedStep, and using ThrottleStop. I also increased the CPU PL1 limit from 45 W to 60 W, but that did not solve it. In ThrottleStop, PL1 turns red and EDP becomes yellow when I enter the game world, with a red power warning.
The laptop currently has no battery installed, so it runs only from the charger. Could the CPU be damaged, or is this more likely a power-delivery, charger, driver, or Dell control issue? I have been troubleshooting this for about three months and would appreciate ideas on what to check next.
4 Answers
Since the problem began after reinstalling Windows, compare the installed Dell and Intel drivers with the versions listed for the G5 5590. Check Device Manager for missing system devices and verify that the correct NVIDIA driver is installed. It is also worth restoring BIOS defaults, re-enabling SpeedStep and C-States, and testing without ThrottleStop before changing power limits. Disabling those features or forcing clocks can sometimes interfere with the laptop’s normal power controls.
A High Performance plan does not override the laptop’s firmware power limits. Avoid simply raising PL1 further, since the embedded controller or VRMs may be enforcing a lower limit and ThrottleStop cannot bypass that. In HWiNFO, monitor CPU package power, PROCHOT, thermal throttling, power-limit throttling, EDP/current throttling, and GPU power while the problem occurs. If the CPU drops to 0.8 GHz while temperatures remain low and power or EDP is flagged, that points to an adapter, motherboard power-delivery, or firmware issue.
The temperatures you reported are not high enough by themselves to explain the throttling, so replacing thermal paste again is unlikely to help. Try a clean boot and watch Task Manager or HWiNFO for background CPU usage, but the power warnings are more important than the temperature readings. If a known-good charger and a clean Dell driver setup do not change the behavior, the missing battery or the laptop’s charging/power circuitry may need to be repaired.
The red PL1 and power indicators suggest the CPU is being power-throttled rather than overheating. On this Dell, check the charger wattage and whether BIOS correctly identifies the adapter. A missing battery can also make power management less stable, especially if the charger cannot provide enough instantaneous power for both the CPU and GPU. Reinstall Dell’s chipset, Intel Dynamic Platform and Thermal Framework, and power-management drivers from Dell’s support page rather than relying only on Windows Update. Also test with the original properly rated charger if possible.
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