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XPS 8950, new BIOS still throttling to 0.38ghz
I thought Dell fixed this?! This was an issue when I first got this desktop and every time you upgrade something it does this. Had to send one computer back but it was a regular Dell/Windows 11 issue in general as the same happens with a brand new one. Support was ridiculously useless and no one did anything about it outside running basic diagnostic tests that didn’t say anything about anything. Restarted computer today, back to good ol’ 0.38ghz. The weirdest issue is google only says this happens to laptops. Well, that’s very not true. The only issue is to keep installing old and then new bios. Each one wipes out the last to not make it go into 0.38ghz again. So this ain’t fixed yet?! Wow, just wow. Everyone says it’s a laptop issue for someone reason. This computer is slow at 0.38ghz. Good ok pentium 2 days. Latest updates and bios installed, except now going back down one since the new bios isn’t ready for x4 PCIe cards and throttles for exactly no reason.
Vic384
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January 27th, 2023 04:00
@hardtymz It would help if you post more information about your XPS 8950. What CPU, video card, type of CPU cooler, the wattage of PSU, version of the BIOS, etc.
Chino de Oro
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January 27th, 2023 08:00
Yup, that's how it goes most of the times. User tried to fix a brand new out of the box machines. If machine was broken, return it. Why would someone want to keep and repair it themself.
Maybe I don't know how to do a search, but BIOS updates causing or fixing CPU throttle seems to be an isolate claim. I don't think other 8950 owners keep mum over their sluggish, throttling CPUs and updating BIOS over BIOS in hope of finding one that fix their issue.
If this issue already happened more than once, just think of what it has in common. Talking about ridiculous. Just wow.
kras1
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January 27th, 2023 09:00
Which BIOS are you referring to? In your other thread you said you updated to 1.10. I show that as the most recent. I am running 1.10 with no issues. I would contact Dell and have the system replaced. You could also try to do a clean install of Win 11 and DO NOT install any of the Dell applications (support assist and so on.) or throttle stop. Then start adding your programs 1 by 1 to see if it is a program that you installed that is giving you problems.
kras1
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January 27th, 2023 12:00
If you have had this problem on multiple 8950's then it is more than likely something that you are installing or a setting that you are changing. If Dell had a bad BIOS release, there would be all sorts of posts about Dell breaking peoples computers.(XPS 8930 BIOS). Remove all user installed hardware that did not come already installed by Dell. Do a clean install of Win 11. (Do not use the factory restore option.) Google how to do a clean install if you are unsure. Do not install any of the Dell bloat ware like support assist. Install your applications 1 at a time and test after each app is installed. Finally start adding hardware back 1 component at a time, testing after each component is installed.
David S D
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7 Posts
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November 8th, 2023 21:40
I had this problem for several months. Downgrading to 1.10.0 temporarily fixed it many times, but it always reappeared after a complete shutdown/loss of power. Dell replaced CPU, motherboard, main ssd - none of these fixed it. BUT finally replaced the power supply and haven't had an issue since.
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mike hock
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November 13th, 2023 00:39
I had this same problem. I bought my computer back in March(2023) and it worked great. Noticed recently apps and internet were slow. I tried running one of my old games(World of Warcraft) and it took over two minutes just to load the main screen. Download NZXT-CAM to help monitor stuff and noticed the CPU never went past 400 MHz. I phoned Dell support, they were no help as hardware all checks out. I found this conversation and I downgraded my bios from 1.15 to 1.10 and sudden CPU starts working. I was able to upgrade all to way back to 1.15 and everything seems to be still fine. Very strange.
Furgus
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November 16th, 2023 09:46
Wow, I just done the same thing here. After a LOT of trouble shooting I found this BIOS throttling issue, I just did the windows exe version of the BIOS update from 1.15 back to 1.10 and its immediately fixed. Thanks community!
Download here: https://dl.dell.com/FOLDER09334388M/1/XPS_8950_1.10.0_x64.exe
EDIT: I also noticed that the network card is now back up to 1Gbps , this was also being throttled to under 100mbps
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RyanDJones
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February 5th, 2024 01:00
Downgrading to 1.10 then back up to 1.16 seems to have worked for me. Time will tell if it borks again. Never going to get a pre-built again.
RoHe
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February 5th, 2024 20:27
@RyanDJones How are you doing these BIOS updates, allowing SupportAssist/Dell Update to do them, or manually inside Windows, or entirely outside Windows via the F12 menu Flash Update option?
It's always safer and more reliable to update BIOS entirely outside Windows, via F12 with the BIOS .exe update file on a (non-bootable) USB stick (2GB - 8GB, FAT32 formatted).
SteveA268
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March 4th, 2024 18:38
This is because of a faulty power supply. I know this because I had a perfectly fine XPS 8950, I tried to change a noisy fan on the power supply and the fan didn't work leading to the 0.4GHZ throttling.
You can downgrade the BIOS and it'll restore CPU speed, but eventually you'll update the BIOS and things will go back to 0.4GHZ.
So again, swap out the power supply and/or check that all of its fans are spinning.
SteveA268
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March 7th, 2024 19:39
I just replaced my power supply and now I am back to full speed-- no BIOS change needed.
Again, you likely have a faulty component. Try replacing the PSU.