Sudden Slowdown

C

chips

Member
Hi all,

[spec at the bottom]

So, my Ionico has been running marvellously for the last 18 months or so (Windows 10 for the first year, Windows 11 for the last six months). T'other day, I booted up as normal and everything was running really slowly - i.e. even rendering a drop down menu in a desktop application was taking a good 5 seconds. Sounded a bit like thermal slowdown so I popped up a temperature monitor and everything was a cool 41 degrees. Games which would normally run at 60+ FPS were now running at around 8. No fans spinning up - as if it was running at baseline and not ramping up when needed.

[Note which might be useful] at some point in the last year, control centre stopped opening. Support were unable to resolve this.

I did a BIOS reset (i.e. just to factory) and that seemed to clear things, but then an hour or two later it ground to a halt again. Possibly software rot, I thought, and did a clean reinstall of Windows 10. All seemed to be fine (although things were VERY slow (even on the desktop) until I installed the Nvidia driver. This morning, back to crawling again.

I'm restoring my system (Windows 11, as was) from a system image as it's clearly not a software issue. In the meantime, does anyone have any suggestions?

Cheers

John

Chassis & Display
Ionico Series: 15.6" Matte QHD 165Hz sRGB 100% LED Widescreen (2560x1440)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen™ 9 Eight Core Processor 5900HX (3.3GHz, 4.6GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM)
32GB PCS PRO SODIMM DDR4 2666MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX 3070 - 8.0GB GDDR6 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2200 MB/R, 1500 MB/W)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated Micro-SD Memory Card Reader
AC Adaptor
1 x 230W AC Adaptor
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Battery
Ionico Series Integrated 62WH Lithium Ion Battery
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Wireless Network Card
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 (2.4 Gbps) + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
1 x USB 3.2 PORT (Type C) + 3 x USB 3.2 PORTS
Keyboard Language
IONICO SERIES RGB BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD
Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
NO RECOVERY MEDIA REQUIRED
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge
Keyboard & Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 1MP HD WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 3 to 5 working days
Welcome Book
PCSpecialist Welcome Book - United Kingdom & Republic of Ireland
Price: £0.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/ionico-ii-15/4xpR0yRcdR/
 
SpyderTracks

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
Did you get the updated windows 11 control center when you upgraded to windows 11? The windows 10 version isn’t compatible and PL limits the GPU in the BIOS.

Also, those specs seem to be from a quote, could you paste your full specs from the order page of your account?
 
C

chips

Member
SpyderTracks said:
Did you get the updated windows 11 control center when you upgraded to windows 11? The windows 10 version isn’t compatible and PL limits the GPU in the BIOS.

Also, those specs seem to be from a quote, could you paste your full specs from the order page of your account?
Click to expand...
My downloads area doesn't show any software at all for Windows 11. As I mentioned, Control Centre stopped working (pre-Windows 11). When I was on chat with support, they provided a new version - 3.14.2 - but this doesn't solve that particular problem. It still doesn't work.

Those are the full specs from the order page, generated from the "post spec to the forums" link. However, it doesn't seem to include a thermal paste upgrade I did. Spec from the order page is:

Chassis & DisplayIonico Series: 15.6" Matte QHD 165Hz sRGB 100% LED Widescreen (2560x1440)Processor (CPU)AMD Ryzen™ 9 Eight Core Processor 5900HX (3.3GHz, 4.6GHz Turbo)Memory (RAM)32GB PCSpecialist PRO SODIMM DDR4 2666MHz (2 x 16GB)Graphics CardNVIDIA® GeForce® RTX 3070 - 8.0GB GDDR6 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.11st M.2 SSD Drive1TB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2200 MB/R, 1500 MB/W)Memory Card ReaderIntegrated Micro-SD Memory Card ReaderAC Adaptor1 x 230W AC AdaptorPower Cable1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)BatteryIonico Series Integrated 62WH Lithium Ion BatteryThermal PasteSTANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
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Change to: ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND

Sound Card2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone JackBluetooth & WirelessGIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 (2.4 Gbps) + BT 5.0USB/Thunderbolt Options1 x USB 3.2 PORT (Type C) + 3 x USB 3.2 PORTSKeyboard LanguageIONICO SERIES RGB BACKLIT UK KEYBOARDOperating SystemNO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIREDOperating System LanguageUnited Kingdom - English LanguageWindows Recovery MediaNO RECOVERY MEDIA REQUIREDOffice SoftwareFREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)Anti-VirusNO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWAREBrowserMicrosoft® EdgeCarry CaseNONE
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Change to: Dicota Black 15.6" Neoprene Notebook Sleeve

Laptop Cooling StandsNONE
down_right_arrow.gif
Change to: CoolerMaster NotePal L2 Laptop Cooler, up to 17.3 inch

Notebook MouseINTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSEWebcamINTEGRATED 1MP HD WEBCAMWarranty3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)DeliverySTANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)Build TimeStandard Build - Approximately 1 to 3 working daysWelcome BookPCSpecialist Welcome Book - United Kingdom & Republic of Ireland
 
C

chips

Member
Reading through various other threads, it appears that I may need a BIOS reflash. Model is a TongFang GM5IDY. I'll see what support come up with.
 
SpyderTracks

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
chips said:
Reading through various other threads, it appears that I may need a BIOS reflash. Model is a TongFang GM5IDY. I'll see what support come up with.
Click to expand...
Yes, if you had the windows 10 control center installed on windows 11, it will have modified the PL values to baseline in the BIOS.

The only way to restore it is with a BIOS reflash
 
C

chips

Member
An update (now that my restore has completed) - activity monitor is indeed showing the CPU clocked at 0.4 GHz. Booting off a Linux live USB confirms this - it's not anything in Windows that's setting it there (although it does boot quickly then just as quickly slow down) but the BIOS. Now I just need to wait for support to reply.

J
 
SpyderTracks

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
chips said:
An update (now that my restore has completed) - activity monitor is indeed showing the CPU clocked at 0.4 GHz. Booting off a Linux live USB confirms this - it's not anything in Windows that's setting it there (although it does boot quickly then just as quickly slow down) but the BIOS. Now I just need to wait for support to reply.

J
Click to expand...
It's the incompatible control center that overwrites the PL values in the BIOS.

I'm very surprised PCS support didn't pick up on this, it's been a known issue for some time now for anyone upgrading from Windows 10.
 
C

chips

Member
Well, I'm just at first line at the moment and have received the "Did you install all the drivers" email. It's a busy time of year, so I'm prepared to cut some slack :)

J
 
SpyderTracks

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
chips said:
Well, I'm just at first line at the moment and have received the "Did you install all the drivers" email. It's a busy time of year, so I'm prepared to cut some slack :)

J
Click to expand...
I would call rather than doing it by email or web chat personally, then they can do a remote session to see the issue firsthand.

But they're aware of this issue, so they should know straight away what the problem is when you tell them the symptoms with the CPU frequency cap.
 
C

chips

Member
Well, here we are, several days later and my request for a copy of the current bios image has come back with “but there isn’t an update available”. I had originally thought I didn’t have time to sit on the phone, but I think tomorrow I’ll do just that as email support is abysmal.
 
JakAttack

JakAttack

Resident Metalhead
Staff member
Moderator
Hello Chips, can you DM me your order number if possible? I'd like to get you an OEM Fix tool sent out (slightly different to a BIOS update) and review your email communications, as I want to ensure the best support possible has been offered.
 
C

chips

Member
Sigh. 11 days and still no working laptop, despite the fix being something which any other vendor would have available as a download on their website. Won’t be buying from here again, that’s for sure.
 
SpyderTracks

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
chips said:
Sigh. 11 days and still no working laptop, despite the fix being something which any other vendor would have available as a download on their website. Won’t be buying from here again, that’s for sure.
Click to expand...
Have you phoned them?
 
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