[serp777]

Hello,

Currently my new laptop is having issues some issues. I've updated to the latest bios and firmware as well as all possible drivers. I have a core i7 -770hq.

The problem is that the computer is quite unstable with speed step and C1E enabled in the bios. Lots of random blue screen crashes such as BAD_POOL_HEADER and BAD_POOL_THREAD and IRQL_LESS_THAN_EQUAL, etc occur. They seem to be random. Reducing voltage offset in the intel extreme utility crashed it almost immediately. However, disabling the C1E power and speed step apparently resolves these issues. I can also reduce voltage offset by 0.1 volts without any problems as long as speed step and C1E mode are disabled, so I think things are working fine. I've wanted to reduce voltages to preserve battery and reduce thermal stress so i'm happy with this result.

It seems like somehow that speed step and or C1E power mode is lowering the voltages too much on the CPU, which leads to random failures. I've also done a memory test and disk test all of which pass with no issues. This problem occurs even when in the windows installer on a separate drive so I know its not OS dependent. Any ideas on why this would occur?
Has anyone else experienced instability with speed step even when not overclocking? Thanks for your help in advance.

 

[gonX]

That sounds like a really esoteric issue. When I was reading the BSOD reasons I was thinking RAM issues, but since you've already ruled that out, it can be anything.

Does it still work if you only enable SpeedStep but disable C1E or the other way around?

 

[serp777]

Thanks for your reply. It looks like speed step is definitely the issue. I turned every feature on, and the crashing came back. I then disabled speed step and the crashing resolved.

 

[gonX]

Good to hear the crashing is resolved, but I am still perplexed that it's unstable to begin with.

 

[NeoReaper]

Maybe it might be worth using a tool like HWInfo64(In Sensors-only mode, also requires excel/some sort of CSV reader to read the log files so you might want to search for another logging tool), start logging and then cause another bsod just to see what types of clocks/voltages that Speedstep is trying to pull off. And since you already ruled out the OS being the issue, It seems like the CPU in the laptop might not be able to handle its own feature built in, DOA maybe... Might be worth getting in contact with the manufacturer.