jimtxas

Unfortunately I haven't had the smoking gun FIX yet but have found the cause...

It's due to the processor getting too hot and hitting a threshold where the laptop downclocks the processor which is even worsened if you use multiple monitors on the dock because the GPU overheats making the entire system hotter...

The problem eased up a bit when the A19 bios but still occurs. I've found if i shut it down and let it cool off a while it behaves a little better.

I also went ahead a took out the fan and heat sink which had quite a bit of dust which also helped quite a bit, but it still occurs. I use a program called speed fan and another called Rightmark CPU which shows the problem well. you can watch as the temp rises, the clock speed drops as the temperature rises and CPU utilization hits 100%

I opened a ticket with Dell and they actually just showed up to replace the fan, heat sink, and motherboard... we'll see if that has any lasting effect.

Good Luck-

J