CPUs not running at full utilization when expected to

Question

I have a new DELL Latitude 5400 (Intel i5-8259U (base speed 1.6GHz), Windows 10) to replace an older Dell Desktop (Windows 7, I don't have the other details to hand but at least 5 years old). When I run a particular piece of software (Mircosoft R Open 3.5.3, statistics package ( https://mran.microsoft.com/open )), the new laptop does not utilize the CPU 100% as the desktop did. R Open, in fact, uses the Intel MKL library specifically to multi-thread analysis. It is an adaptation of the R statistic package which is single-threaded. However R is quicker on the laptop than R Open. On the desktop, R Open was around twice as fast. I'm thinking, in particular, of some R code I need to run which lasts between 20 and 30 minutes.

My suspicion is that Intel Turbo Boost may be behind this. However, I'm not sure if it is wise to turn it off (there may be heat issues), or if it will degrade performance in other areas. I am unable to try easily because my employer does not allow mortals to control much in the computer. I'd have to come up with an argument for why this needs to be done and then I may find it equally difficult to reverse if it doesn't work.

I'd be grateful for advice or insights and to know, whether Turbo Boost is, in fact, the likely cause.

DELL-Cares · Answer

Hi https://dell.to/3am9Sfz,

Thank you for the service tag details. With regards to Mircosoft R Open 3.5.3, statistics package our scope of support be limited. However,we will check this further to ensure there is no hardware which is causing any issues.

Are you facing any performance issues with the system on any other applications?

If you think turboboost may be causing this issue, you may try to disable that to test the software. Here are the steps on how you can do that.

Restart system, tap F2 wait for the BIOS to load. In BIOS, expand Performance, then click intel turbo boost and uncheck enable turboboost. Save settings and check if that helps. To enable you can follow the same steps, check the box again to enable turbo boost.

DELL-Cares · Answer

Hi. Just to confirm, can you please let us know how long each task takes on the desktop and the Latitude system, along with the specs of the desktop? We can't make a comparison without knowing both. From your original post I assume the Latitude system is slower is that correct?

If you are not seeing any other performance issues then it is unlikley to be any sort of hardware issue but more configuration / use case issue. You can run the diagnostics to check this by following this guide: https://dell.to/2XT7sTd

Thanks,

^MM

mc.mc · Answer

I don't currently have this issue with any other software, although I don't currently have anything else which 'demands' sustained full utilization of all cpu threads.

I'm afraid my organisation does not allow me to control many settings, so I doubt I will be able to alter the BIOS just to see if it works. I'm seeking a reasonably authoritative view, so they are clear why I am requesting this. That said, I will try to change the BIOS setting when I restart.

Are you saying that the behaviour I described does not sound normal for this model? I had been assuming it might be a result of the standard set up.

Thanks.

DELL-Cares · Answer

Noted, as the issue is seen only with the R open application we request contact your IT team to check if they have any suggestions or settings to be updated so that the application works fine. Moreover the rights are managed by your IT team on this system, so it would be best to contact them.

Feel free to reach out to us if you have any other help with the Dell system.

mc.mc · Answer

No - the Latitude is faster than the desktop. My problem is the relative speeds of the two versions of R on each. The multithreaded version (R Open) is slower than the single threaded version on the Latitude. On the desktop, it is the other way around and this is the way I would expect it to be.

I'm afraid I don't have access to the desktop now (the laptop was a replacement) and I do not have a note of the specifications, so I can't tell you much about it. It ran Windows 7, was about 5 years old and the Intel processor had 4 cores.

My organisation does not allow me to install software, so I'm afraid I'm unlikely to be able install the DELL diagnostics software any time soon.

Thanks.

Latitude

CPUs not running at full utilization when expected to

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