XPS 13 9360, i7 8th gen max processor speed

Question

When I run my laptop in high performance mode the cpu tops out at 3.7 ghz. Website states up to 4ghz so i'm wondering of there's a bios setting i need to adjust or maybe adjust the settings for the power management profile in windows? I want as much performance as possible out of the cpu as advertised.

ejn63 · Accepted Answer

The 4GHz setting is maximum turbo burst mode - pretty much like running an engine at redline. You won't see it very often - and the duration of the boost means it likely would never have a chance to show up in performance monitor.

Note that the system is not designed to run in maximum speed mode at all times - if you force it to run that way, you will appreciably shorten the lifespan of the system.

jphughan · Accepted Answer

That might only be achievable when a single core is active, which is going to be a rare occasion. It might also only occur below a certain temp that might be rare on the XPS 13 because its limited size means a somewhat limited cooling system. Ultrabooks like the XPS 13 and even more so the XPS 15 throttle under load because their cooling systems can’t handle prolonged max load, so they may not be able to handle max Turbo Boost ever. As long as your Windows power options don’t have the max processor state set below 100% or force passive cooling, then you’ll be getting the most performance available from your system under any given circumstance. That may or may not however be the most performance available from that system’s hardware in any possible case.

ejn63 · Accepted Answer

i7-8550U specs:

https://ark.intel.com/products/122589/Intel-Core-i7-8550U-Processor-8M-Cache-up-to-4_00-GHz

Base frequence is 1.8 GHz; turbo boost to 4.0 -- it's exactly what you received.

There's no way any CPU could run flat out at 4.0 GHz in a system this size - there is no way to design cooling to handle the heat rejection load.

The ONLY way to get a true 4.0 GHz CPU in a notebook is in a 17" or larger gaming chassis - Clevo builds most of these, and they're sold by the boutique builders -- AVA, Falcon Northwest, Sager, Eurocom, etc. They use desktop i7 CPUs and have massive heatsinks and multiple fans inside. However, if you're looking for 4 GHz desktop level performance, this is the only way to get it - you'l be carrying around 10-12 pounds of notebook (and getting at best two hours out of a battery -- less, if you run the system flat out).

Bruce5m · Answer

I just bought a New XPS 13 8th Generation Intel Core i7-8550U up to 4.0 GHz with 16 GB Ram and 512 GB SSD with Windows 10 and Touch Screen

It's slow and takes forever to download emails. I thought it might be the Internet Security program that came with the laptop, so I called the support line for the Internet Security company. When they checked my system, they noted that my internet connection is very fast (fibre) but my System shows as 1.80 GHz to 2.0 GHz in Control Panel.

I was surprised because the Control Panel doesn't reflect what I thought I had bought.

Is there something that I missed when Dell advertises it's laptop speeds at "up to 4.0 GHz"? Why don't they post the actual speed of the processor?

ejn63 · Answer

It's not possible to post the actual speed, because it will vary by system load. It's not going to run at 4.0 GHz when checking email - or browsing -- because the speed isn't needed.

The faster the system runs, the more heat is generated and the faster the battery will be depleted -- you won't see the system run at top speed other than on AC power and only for brief periods of time. The cooling system cannot keep up with sustained high speed operation.

If the system came with McAfee Live Safe, that can easily explain the slowdown - get rid of that and use Windows Defender. McAfee is almost as good at sapping system resources as the malware it's supposed to protect against.

Bruce5m · Answer

Thanks I will try it without McAfee.

But when you look at the System specification in Control Panel / System, it describes the processor and the processor speed. This is a performance specification rather than an instantaneous reading.

My question is why is that speed so different from what is in the description of the processor in the product description on the Dell site? Specifically, the computer tells you it’s a 1.80 GHz to 2.0 GHz processor, but it’s advertized as an “up to 4.0 GHz” processor. Either they sent me the wrong processor, or the product description is misleading/incorrect. If it’s the latter, they should advertise it as “1.80 GHz to 2.0 GHz, but capable of up to 4.0 GHz in certain conditions”, and I probably would have selected a different computer.

Bruce5m · Answer

Thanks for the info.  It would be better if Dell advertised the baseline specs instead of focusing on the top speed, which appears to apply only in limited situations.

XPS

XPS 13 9360, i7 8th gen max processor speed

Was this post helpful?