Mean package power under load by minute, collapsing from 32 W to 7.4 W on a Dell Latitude 5520, alongside the headline measurements: 389 MHz, 56 °C, 8.4 W.

Dell Latitude Laptop Throttling

A Dell Latitude 5520 kept collapsing to 389 MHz under full load while the die sat at 56 °C. The worn battery had an alibi, the thermal paste was never the problem, and the clue that broke the case was a correlation running backwards. A field investigation into sustained power-limit throttling on Tiger Lake mobile — and the reboot that finally cleared it.

Continue reading