I have a Dell G5 5590 laptop with an Intel i7-9750H, GTX 1650, 16 GB of RAM, and a 130 W charger. After a failed Windows 11 installation, the laptop was reinstalled by someone else. Around the same time, the charger cable was damaged and replaced; since then, the charger's indicator light has been unusually dim.
While gaming, the CPU sometimes drops to around 800 MHz and uses only about 10 W, causing severe frame-rate drops. More recently, the GPU clock speed and power draw have also fallen to very low levels. The temperatures are only around 65°C, so this does not appear to be normal thermal throttling. Stress tests outside games work normally, and the issue is inconsistent: some games run correctly while others trigger the slowdown. Restarting a game sometimes helps, and opening MSI Afterburner has occasionally seemed to restore performance.
The Windows power plan is configured for maximum performance. I initially had an older Windows 11 installation that would not find updates, but I later reinstalled Windows and updated it to version 25H2. The problem still occurs. Dell Command Update installed most drivers, but the BIOS update repeatedly fails. I also noticed that the newer Windows installation appears to be using about 50 GB more storage.
What could cause both the CPU and GPU to drop to minimum clocks and power during gaming? Could the dim charger light, charger cable, BIOS, power-delivery circuitry, or Windows installation be responsible, and what should I check next?
4 Answers
Update the BIOS and Dell chipset, power-management, and graphics drivers, but do not force a BIOS installation if Dell’s updater reports a failure. Download the BIOS directly from Dell for the exact G5 5590 service tag, connect a verified working charger, and try the BIOS’s built-in update option or a USB update. You can also check the BIOS version and adapter recognition there. A failed BIOS update may be caused by the laptop not trusting the charger or by a battery/firmware issue.
The charger and power-delivery system are the first things I would investigate. A 130 W adapter may be detected as faulty, underpowered, or not properly identified after the cable repair. When the laptop detects an adapter or power-input problem, it can heavily limit both the CPU and GPU even when temperatures are normal. The dim indicator is suspicious, so test with a known-good genuine Dell 130 W adapter and inspect the charging port and cable. Check the adapter wattage in the BIOS as well; if it shows unknown or an incorrect wattage, that is a strong clue.
Use monitoring software such as HWiNFO while the slowdown happens and watch the throttle flags, CPU package power, GPU power, adapter status, and battery charge rate. Look specifically for power-limit, adapter, electrical-design-current, or current-limit throttling rather than only temperature throttling. If both chips drop at the same time, that points more toward a shared power or firmware limit than a game-specific CPU problem. Also test on AC power with the battery charging normally and make sure the laptop is not in a quiet, battery-saving, or manufacturer performance mode.
The extra storage usage is probably unrelated to the throttling. A clean Windows installation can leave a previous installation in Windows.old, create recovery files, or use a large pagefile and update cache. Check Storage settings and Disk Cleanup for previous Windows installations, but do not delete recovery partitions or important files blindly. Since the issue survived the Windows update, I would prioritize the charger, charging port, BIOS adapter detection, and motherboard power circuitry.
Dell Command Update installed everything else, but the BIOS update fails every time it reaches the installation stage. I will check whether the BIOS recognizes the adapter correctly and try the update directly from Dell’s support page.