Many laptop users experience sudden performance drops during gaming, video editing, or even web browsing. If your system slows down dramatically for no clear reason, you may be a victim of CPU throttling.
What is CPU Throttling?
Throttling is when your laptop intentionally slows down the processor to prevent overheating or power overload. While this is designed to protect your system, it often triggers too aggressively. The result is lag, poor performance, and reduced user experience—even when temperatures are normal.
ThrottleStop is a free utility that helps you control and override these limitations.
When Should You Use ThrottleStop?
ThrottleStop is helpful when:
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Your CPU speed drops below its advertised clock
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You experience lag under light to moderate load
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Your laptop fans are running constantly, but performance is low
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You see “BD PROCHOT” or “PL1/PL2 limit” in monitoring software
How ThrottleStop Works
ThrottleStop can:
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Disable BD PROCHOT (a BIOS setting that allows other components to throttle the CPU)
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Adjust Turbo Boost settings
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Modify CPU power limits (PL1, PL2)
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Undervolt the CPU to reduce heat
Download and Setup
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Download from TechPowerUp: [Link to ThrottleStop download]
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Unzip and run
ThrottleStop.exeas Administrator -
You’ll see four boxes: Performance, Game, Internet, and Battery profiles
For initial setup:
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Uncheck BD PROCHOT
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Enable “SpeedStep”
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Enable “Disable Turbo” (only for testing)
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Monitor temperatures using the “TS Bench” tool
Adjusting Power Limits
Go to the FIVR menu:
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Check “Unlock Adjustable Voltage”
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Set CPU Core and Cache Offset Voltage to -100mV (start here)
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Apply and test stability with stress tests (e.g., Cinebench)
Then visit the TPL menu:
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Raise or disable PL1 and PL2 limits
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Set a longer time window for Turbo Boost (Power Limit Time)
Real-Life Example
A user with a Dell XPS 15 (i7-8750H) reported thermal throttling during Zoom calls. After using ThrottleStop:
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Clock speed remained at 3.5GHz
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Temperatures dropped by 8–10°C
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Performance improved significantly during multitasking
Important Notes
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Always monitor temperatures with HWMonitor or CoreTemp
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Undervolting is disabled on some newer Intel CPUs (due to Plundervolt mitigation)
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Changes reset after reboot unless you set ThrottleStop to launch on startup
ThrottleStop gives you back control over your CPU—just make sure to use it responsibly and monitor for signs of instability.