Precision m4800 very slow compared to similar laptop

Bruddah,

I'm having this issue too.  My company has a large account with Dell, and we've got a few dozen M4800's.  All have i7-4800MQ CPU's.  For a while, they were, fine, but I believe our purchase configuration was changing without us being notified (this isn't the first time that would have happened), as suddenly we've had about 12 out of 18 of our laptops have this issue.

We've been able to solve it by installing Intel chipset drivers and software and upgrading the BIOS.  Sometimes it takes two BIOS flashes to get it to take.  Sometimes, reinstalling the entire OS will do the trick.

However, I now have a laptop that refuses to start performing as it should, with all the above except reinstalling the OS.  It has a lot of software on it that takes a long time to install, and we shouldn't be having this issue.  Diagnostics always turn up fine.  Our symptoms are, it being incredibly slow, audio stuttering, and the CPU getting a WEI of 2.8 instead of ~7.7.  Dell ProSupport, which we have purchased many a warranty for, has not found a solution.  I'll keep calling and bugging them, and will post if they find an actual fix.

Hopefully some of the above helps you.  I'm open to hearing a suggestion as well.

I too am experiencing the same issues ( incredibly slow, audio stuttering, and the CPU getting a WEI of 2.8 instead of ~7.7) with the i7-4600M series processor. So far 3 units, all shipped from the same order are showing the same symptoms. I checked the BIOS version and it is the newest (A08). One symptom I am also seeing is the F12 menu (one time boot menu) locks up once in a while and you are unable to select a boot device.

Holy ***.

Sorry, The site was read only yesterday and I couldn't answer.

The power supply was the only problem. The docking station was not a factor as I had improved performance with just the power supply and with the power supply going through the docking station.

Thank you!! I had to buy a new cord while on vacation and it kept saying wrong power, but it does recharge the battery. I was going crazy since I got home with how darn slow my computer was running and Netflix would barely work. It was strange since I bought this M4800 for speed and reliability. Once I read this random post, (thank goodness I found it), I switched back to one of my original cords and immediately the computer started acting normal again. I did not even have to restart it. Can anyone give more info about how the computer switches into slow mode with the wrong power cord?

Update-Even though I have two Dell power cords 19.5 and 9.23 both of them, my computer is still giving me an error message every day that I have the wrong cord and slowing down after so many hours of use. I now have to unplug the cord and work off the battery to get good performance. I have had many problems with Dell over the years, and I stopped buying them, and decided to try again and this is my 3rd replacement from the original buy due to DOA, and other problems with the first 3 computers, (yes you read that right three computers in 6 months that did not work correctly, nightmare).

I was having the same problem with my Dell M4800 not performing well. I came here but couldn't get any solution.

I have found the solution here;

www.dell.com/.../slow-performance-on-the-precision-m4800-with-intel-speedstep-enabled

Anyone having such problem should check it out.