# Precision 3260 Compact: kernel panic with Turbo Boost enabled

October 12, 2026

 

I need help with a kernel panic when I enable Intel Turbo Boost. The computer boots normally with Turbo Boost disabled and threading enabled. I am running the latest BIOS.

 

System: Dell Precision 3260 Compact; Service tag <Your private information was removed from this public post. DELL-Admin>; Intel Core i9-13900 (24 cores, 32 logical CPUs); BIOS 3.28.0 dated July 22, 2026; CPU microcode 0x133; Ubuntu 26.04.1 LTS; kernel 7.0.0-38-generic; Secure Boot enabled; 32 GB SK hynix DDR5-4800; SK hynix PC601 NVMe 256 GB + KIOXIA KBG40ZNS512G NVMe 512 GB; NVIDIA RTX A2000 12GB; NVIDIA driver 595.91.07 open kernel driver signed by Canonical; GPU power limit 70 W; current CPU settings: threading enabled, Turbo Boost disabled, max frequency 2.0 GHz.

 

Troubleshooting done: Was getting thermal errors, so limited to four cores. Reseated heatsink with new thermal paste, installed new CPU fan, removed the A2000 graphics card. Ran Dell's quick and advanced preboot diagnostics (ePSA ED.5.4.16), saved to USB — both passed (result 2000:0000, validation 65965). CPU, extended memory, both SSDs, integrated graphics, network, cables, fan tests passed. Log shows four July 22 thermal failures (error 2000:0711, validation 73571, previous thermal trips/shutdowns) and an Oct 11 BIOS event "Thermal No POST Recovery - Method 1 Executed". CPU thermal probe 34-38C, PCH max 57C, ambient 30-31C. Fan high-speed tests (4000 RPM requested, 40% tolerance) passed at ~2430/2450 RPM. Tested CPU with 16 cores, threading disabled: stress test completed, no crash. Enabled threading + Turbo Boost in BIOS: kernel panic during startup. Disabled only Turbo Boost (threading on): booted normally, all 24 cores/32 threads online. Stress test with threading on, Turbo Boost off: completed, no crash. Reinstalled A2000: booted normally, nvidia-smi detected RTX A2000 12GB, driver loaded. GPU-only (Blender 5.2.2 Cycles CUDA, ~5m11s, peak CPU 54C / GPU 82C) and combined CPU+GPU (~5m25s, peak CPU 75C / GPU 83C) stress tests completed without crash; Turbo Boost disabled throughout. No new hardware/GPU/PCIe errors in logs. No increase in CPU thermal-throttling counters. Panic message was not saved; persistent journal, pstore, /var/crash had no saved panic/dump. Boot args include dell-smm-hwmon.ignore_dmi=1 dell-smm-hwmon.force=1; kernel log warns "dell_smm_hwmon: Forcing legacy SMM calls on a possibly incompatible machine".

 

Request: help determining why the computer panics during startup with Turbo Boost enabled and what repair is needed.