How To Disable Dell CPU Power Throttling For Unknown Power Adapters
Dell does a rather annoying thing with its laptops. If you do not use a power adapter that is Dell branded, it may not work with your laptop, or your CPU’s power may be throttled. This is a problem especially if you can’t get your hands on a Dell approved adapter. It almost makes for a case to not use laptops manufactured by Dell but if you already own one and are using an un-original adaptor, you need a way to disable Dell CPU power throttling.
SPOILER ALERT: Scroll down and watch the video tutorial at the end of this article.
You can do this with an app called ThrottleStop however, you must be very careful. Make sure you know the exact power requirements of your system, and your CPU before you use the app. If you supply too much power to your system, you will very likely burn something beyond repair.
Disable Dell CPU Power Throttling
Download ThrottleStop, and run the app. Disable the BD PROCHOT option and do not change anything else. Click the Turn On option, and the CPU power throttling ought to be disabled.
Power Throttling
Dell does this to ensure that counterfeit adapters that users might end up using do not damage their hardware. If it worked half as hard to ensure authentic adapters were more easily available, no one would have to bother with apps like this and users wouldn’t be forced to use counterfeit adapters.
To be clear, this feature isn’t useless. You can end up buying adapters that supply too much power to your laptop. This is anecdotal but I did end up having to use a counterfeit adapter with an old Dell laptop when I couldn’t find an original one and predictably, it burned the power supply unit. The entire laptop wasn’t decommissioned. The damage was fixed within a few minutes at a repair shop but I disconnected it from the power supply immediately after the burn out so the damage was minimal.
The point of all this is that before you decide to disable the power throttling, make sure that the adapter isn’t supplying too much power to your laptop. Check your original adapter and it will tell you how much power it can supply. Take your charger to a repair shop and have them check how much power it is out-putting to be certain it isn’t supplying too much power.
You should also make sure that you take all precautions possible to ensure a steady power supply to your system.
It makes no sense to say that a power supply “supplies too much power” to a device. As long as the voltage is correct, the amount of power delivered to the device is determined by THE DEVICE, not the power supply. If the power supply can’t make ENOUGH power, that might be an issue. But if it’s capable of making more power than the device is designed to consume, then it will just be underutilized. A device that sucks enough power out of a power supply to damage itself is a pathetically bad design. A power supply that allows so much power to be drawn from it that it damages the supply is a pathetically bad design. The worst case scenario should be the case where the power supply produces too little power and the computer simply wouldn’t operate.