My main laptop runs Ubuntu 22.04.1 on an Intel Core -7-11370H CPU @ 3.300GHz. I usually use it to code and play games, but whenever I run the laptop, it just randomly fluctuates from 4.0 GHz to 800 MHz. The fans also tune up all the way. At first this seems like a thermal throttling issue, but after look at my CPU temps, they are way below 70C.
From sudo lshw:
hecker-laptop
description: Notebook
product: ASUS TUF Dash F15 FX516PM_FX516PM
vendor: ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC.
version: 1.0
serial: M3NRKD005820116
width: 64 bits
capabilities: smbios-3.3.0 dmi-3.3.0 smp vsyscall32
configuration: boot=normal chassis=notebook family=ASUS TUF Dash F15 uuid=b2def123-5f2b-aa43-aca7-8c77bc153653
*-core
description: Motherboard
product: FX516PM
vendor: ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC.
physical id: 0
version: 1.0
serial: P413MC01W4
slot: MIDDLE
*-firmware
description: BIOS
vendor: American Megatrends International, LLC.
physical id: 0
version: FX516PM.322
date: 08/27/2021
size: 64KiB
capacity: 16MiB
capabilities: pci upgrade shadowing cdboot bootselect socketedrom edd acpi smartbattery biosbootspecification uefi
*-memory
description: System Memory
physical id: 12
slot: System board or motherboard
size: 16GiB
*-bank:0
description: SODIMM DDR4 Synchronous 3200 MHz (0.3 ns)
product: M471A1G44AB0-CWE
vendor: Samsung
physical id: 0
serial: 00000000
slot: Controller0-ChannelA
size: 8GiB
width: 64 bits
clock: 3200MHz (0.3ns)
*-bank:1
description: SODIMM DDR4 Synchronous 3200 MHz (0.3 ns)
product: M471A1G44AB0-CWE
vendor: Samsung
physical id: 1
serial: 015BAD6E
slot: Controller1-ChannelA-DIMM0
size: 8GiB
width: 64 bits
clock: 3200MHz (0.3ns)
*-cache:0
description: L1 cache
physical id: 26
slot: L1 Cache
size: 192KiB
capacity: 192KiB
capabilities: synchronous internal write-back data
configuration: level=1
*-cache:1
description: L1 cache
physical id: 27
slot: L1 Cache
size: 128KiB
capacity: 128KiB
capabilities: synchronous internal write-back instruction
configuration: level=1
*-cache:2
description: L2 cache
physical id: 28
slot: L2 Cache
size: 5MiB
capacity: 5MiB
capabilities: synchronous internal write-back unified
configuration: level=2
*-cache:3
description: L3 cache
physical id: 29
slot: L3 Cache
size: 12MiB
capacity: 12MiB
capabilities: synchronous internal write-back unified
configuration: level=3
*-cpu
description: CPU
product: 11th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-11370H @ 3.30GHz
vendor: Intel Corp.
physical id: 2a
bus info: cpu@0
version: 6.140.1
serial: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
slot: U3E1
size: 4062MHz
capacity: 4800MHz
width: 64 bits
clock: 100MHz
capabilities: lm fpu fpu_exception wp vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx pdpe1gb rdtscp x86-64 constant_tsc art arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good nopl xtopology nonstop_tsc cpuid aperfmperf tsc_known_freq pni pclmulqdq dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx est tm2 ssse3 sdbg fma cx16 xtpr pdcm pcid sse4_1 sse4_2 x2apic movbe popcnt tsc_deadline_timer aes xsave avx f16c rdrand lahf_lm abm 3dnowprefetch cpuid_fault epb cat_l2 invpcid_single cdp_l2 ssbd ibrs ibpb stibp ibrs_enhanced tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority ept vpid ept_ad fsgsbase tsc_adjust bmi1 avx2 smep bmi2 erms invpcid rdt_a avx512f avx512dq rdseed adx smap avx512ifma clflushopt clwb intel_pt avx512cd sha_ni avx512bw avx512vl xsaveopt xsavec xgetbv1 xsaves split_lock_detect dtherm ida arat pln pts hwp hwp_notify hwp_act_window hwp_epp hwp_pkg_req avx512vbmi umip pku ospke avx512_vbmi2 gfni vaes vpclmulqdq avx512_vnni avx512_bitalg avx512_vpopcntdq rdpid movdiri movdir64b fsrm avx512_vp2intersect md_clear ibt flush_l1d arch_capabilities cpufreq
configuration: cores=4 enabledcores=4 microcode=166 threads=8
When it is not under full load, it seems to be overusing one CPU core and not utilizing the others: 
And under maximum load:
cpufreq-info output:
driver: intel_pstate
CPUs which run at the same hardware frequency: 0
CPUs which need to have their frequency coordinated by software: 0
maximum transition latency: 4294.55 ms.
hardware limits: 400 MHz - 4.80 GHz
available cpufreq governors: performance, powersave
current policy: frequency should be within 400 MHz and 4.80 GHz.
The governor "powersave" may decide which speed to use
within this range.
current CPU frequency is 400 MHz.
I also checked if the system-governer was set to performance, which is was:
performance
performance
performance
performance
performance
performance
performance
performance
Cannot also be a thermal throttle because the data the sensors shows me makes it clear that the temps are super-low (output of sudo sensors):
Adapter: ISA adapter
Package id 0: +54.0°C (high = +100.0°C, crit = +100.0°C)
Core 0: +51.0°C (high = +100.0°C, crit = +100.0°C)
Core 1: +51.0°C (high = +100.0°C, crit = +100.0°C)
Core 2: +49.0°C (high = +100.0°C, crit = +100.0°C)
Core 3: +51.0°C (high = +100.0°C, crit = +100.0°C)
Suggested by Doug:
turbostat version 2022.04.16 - Len Brown <[email protected]>
CPUID(0): GenuineIntel 0x1b CPUID levels
CPUID(1): family:model:stepping 0x6:8c:1 (6:140:1) microcode 0xa6
CPUID(0x80000000): max_extended_levels: 0x80000008
CPUID(1): SSE3 MONITOR - EIST TM2 TSC MSR ACPI-TM HT TM
CPUID(6): APERF, TURBO, DTS, PTM, HWP, HWPnotify, HWPwindow, HWPepp, HWPpkg, EPB
cpu0: MSR_IA32_MISC_ENABLE: 0x00850089 (TCC EIST MWAIT PREFETCH TURBO)
CPUID(7): No-SGX
CPUID(0x15): eax_crystal: 2 ebx_tsc: 172 ecx_crystal_hz: 38400000
TSC: 3302 MHz (38400000 Hz * 172 / 2 / 1000000)
CPUID(0x16): base_mhz: 3300 max_mhz: 4800 bus_mhz: 100
cpu0: MSR_MISC_PWR_MGMT: 0x00401cc0 (ENable-EIST_Coordination DISable-EPB DISable-OOB)
RAPL: 7490 sec. Joule Counter Range, at 35 Watts
cpu0: MSR_PLATFORM_INFO: 0x4043bf0812100
4 * 100.0 = 400.0 MHz max efficiency frequency
33 * 100.0 = 3300.0 MHz base frequency
cpu0: MSR_IA32_POWER_CTL: 0x0024005b (C1E auto-promotion: ENabled)
cpu0: MSR_TURBO_RATIO_LIMIT: 0x2b2b2b2b2b2b3030
43 * 100.0 = 4300.0 MHz max turbo 8 active cores
43 * 100.0 = 4300.0 MHz max turbo 7 active cores
43 * 100.0 = 4300.0 MHz max turbo 6 active cores
43 * 100.0 = 4300.0 MHz max turbo 5 active cores
43 * 100.0 = 4300.0 MHz max turbo 4 active cores
43 * 100.0 = 4300.0 MHz max turbo 3 active cores
48 * 100.0 = 4800.0 MHz max turbo 2 active cores
48 * 100.0 = 4800.0 MHz max turbo 1 active cores
cpu0: MSR_CONFIG_TDP_NOMINAL: 0x00000021 (base_ratio=33)
cpu0: MSR_CONFIG_TDP_LEVEL_1: 0x001e00e0 (PKG_MIN_PWR_LVL1=0 PKG_MAX_PWR_LVL1=0 LVL1_RATIO=30 PKG_TDP_LVL1=224)
cpu0: MSR_CONFIG_TDP_LEVEL_2: 0x00000000 ()
cpu0: MSR_CONFIG_TDP_CONTROL: 0x00000000 ( lock=0)
cpu0: MSR_TURBO_ACTIVATION_RATIO: 0x00000020 (MAX_NON_TURBO_RATIO=32 lock=0)
cpu0: MSR_PKG_CST_CONFIG_CONTROL: 0x74008008 (UNdemote-C1, demote-C1, locked, pkg-cstate-limit=8 (unlimited))
/dev/cpu_dma_latency: 750000 usec (constrained)
current_driver: intel_idle
current_governor: menu
current_governor_ro: menu
cpu0: POLL: CPUIDLE CORE POLL IDLE
cpu0: C1ACPI: ACPI FFH MWAIT 0x0
cpu0: C2ACPI: ACPI FFH MWAIT 0x31
cpu0: C3ACPI: ACPI FFH MWAIT 0x60
cpu0: cpufreq driver: intel_pstate
cpu0: cpufreq governor: performance
cpufreq intel_pstate no_turbo: 0
cpu0: MSR_MISC_FEATURE_CONTROL: 0x00000000 (L2-Prefetch L2-Prefetch-pair L1-Prefetch L1-IP-Prefetch)
cpu0: MSR_PM_ENABLE: 0x00000001 (HWP)
cpu0: MSR_HWP_CAPABILITIES: 0x010e2130 (high 48 guar 33 eff 14 low 1)
cpu0: MSR_HWP_REQUEST: 0x00003030 (min 48 max 48 des 0 epp 0x0 window 0x0 pkg 0x0)
cpu0: MSR_HWP_REQUEST_PKG: 0x8000ff01 (min 1 max 255 des 0 epp 0x80 window 0x0)
cpu0: MSR_HWP_INTERRUPT: 0x00000001 (EN_Guaranteed_Perf_Change, Dis_Excursion_Min)
cpu0: MSR_HWP_STATUS: 0x00000004 (No-Guaranteed_Perf_Change, No-Excursion_Min)
cpu0: EPB: 6 (balanced)
cpu0: MSR_RAPL_POWER_UNIT: 0x000a0e03 (0.125000 Watts, 0.000061 Joules, 0.000977 sec.)
cpu0: MSR_PKG_POWER_INFO: 0x00000118 (35 W TDP, RAPL 0 - 0 W, 0.000000 sec.)
cpu0: MSR_PKG_POWER_LIMIT: 0x42820000df8200 (UNlocked)
cpu0: PKG Limit #1: ENabled (64.000 Watts, 56.000000 sec, clamp ENabled)
cpu0: PKG Limit #2: ENabled (64.000 Watts, 0.002441* sec, clamp DISabled)
cpu0: MSR_VR_CURRENT_CONFIG: 0x000003c8
cpu0: PKG Limit #4: 121.000000 Watts (UNlocked)
cpu0: MSR_DRAM_POWER_LIMIT: 0x00000000 (UNlocked)
cpu0: DRAM Limit: DISabled (0.000 Watts, 0.000977 sec, clamp DISabled)
cpu0: MSR_PP0_POLICY: 0
cpu0: MSR_PP0_POWER_LIMIT: 0x00000000 (UNlocked)
cpu0: Cores Limit: DISabled (0.000 Watts, 0.000977 sec, clamp DISabled)
cpu0: MSR_PP1_POLICY: 0
cpu0: MSR_PP1_POWER_LIMIT: 0x00000000 (UNlocked)
cpu0: GFX Limit: DISabled (0.000 Watts, 0.000977 sec, clamp DISabled)
cpu0: MSR_IA32_TEMPERATURE_TARGET: 0x04640000 (96 C) (100 default - 4 offset)
cpu0: MSR_IA32_PACKAGE_THERM_STATUS: 0x88190800 (75 C)
cpu0: MSR_IA32_PACKAGE_THERM_INTERRUPT: 0x00000003 (100 C, 100 C)
cpu0: MSR_PKGC3_IRTL: 0x00000000 (NOTvalid, 0 ns)
cpu0: MSR_PKGC6_IRTL: 0x00000000 (NOTvalid, 0 ns)
cpu0: MSR_PKGC7_IRTL: 0x00000000 (NOTvalid, 0 ns)
cpu0: MSR_PKGC8_IRTL: 0x00000000 (NOTvalid, 0 ns)
cpu0: MSR_PKGC9_IRTL: 0x00000000 (NOTvalid, 0 ns)
cpu0: MSR_PKGC10_IRTL: 0x00000000 (NOTvalid, 0 ns)
Busy% Bzy_MHz IRQ PkgTmp PkgWatt CorWatt GFXWatt RAMWatt
89.29 1056 69723 59 12.51 8.23 0.00 0.00
95.24 2387 149284 60 20.30 15.98 0.00 0.00
99.33 711 269919 70 9.05 4.09 0.00 0.00
99.27 2416 60068 61 22.35 17.13 0.00 0.00
95.10 3197 131078 60 26.22 21.99 0.00 0.00
95.10 1571 51773 79 15.40 11.67 0.00 0.00
85.31 1601 44297 62 16.29 12.25 0.00 0.00
86.33 1263 43754 78 14.23 10.17 0.00 0.00
83.16 1578 50564 60 16.47 12.27 0.00 0.00
96.85 400 44528 60 6.71 2.85 0.00 0.00
97.99 2818 163068 62 24.51 19.72 0.00 0.00
99.57 1607 188449 76 15.76 11.56 0.00 0.00
99.25 2398 252989 75 21.55 16.53 0.00 0.00
99.24 2354 54631 60 22.16 17.19 0.00 0.00
99.65 400 42533 59 7.41 2.85 0.00 0.00
91.83 2581 63192 60 22.70 17.96 0.00 0.00
92.22 2363 59587 78 22.72 18.15 0.00 0.00
86.30 957 46282 62 10.26 6.17 0.00 0.00
91.32 400 44582 60 6.88 2.84 0.00 0.00
97.31 2219 69392 78 21.93 16.74 0.00 0.00
90.98 911 45906 63 10.60 6.12 0.00 0.00
96.21 686 41132 77 8.57 4.74 0.00 0.00
90.98 2440 51281 60 22.40 18.11 0.00 0.00
97.57 738 54602 74 8.73 4.82 0.00 0.00
90.28 2470 54670 62 22.52 18.26 0.00 0.00
97.99 400 43327 62 7.04 2.85 0.00 0.00
97.23 899 43498 75 10.08 6.16 0.00 0.00
82.62 2335 53024 62 22.41 17.68 0.00 0.00
97.51 400 45329 60 7.22 2.85 0.00 0.00
After running sudo rdmsr --hexadecimal 0x64F:
15000400
After running grep . /sys/class/powercap/intel-rapl/intel-rapl:0/*:
/sys/class/powercap/intel-rapl/intel-rapl:0/constraint_0_max_power_uw:35000000
/sys/class/powercap/intel-rapl/intel-rapl:0/constraint_0_name:long_term
/sys/class/powercap/intel-rapl/intel-rapl:0/constraint_0_power_limit_uw:64000000
/sys/class/powercap/intel-rapl/intel-rapl:0/constraint_0_time_window_us:55967744
/sys/class/powercap/intel-rapl/intel-rapl:0/constraint_1_max_power_uw:0
/sys/class/powercap/intel-rapl/intel-rapl:0/constraint_1_name:short_term
/sys/class/powercap/intel-rapl/intel-rapl:0/constraint_1_power_limit_uw:64000000
/sys/class/powercap/intel-rapl/intel-rapl:0/constraint_1_time_window_us:2440
/sys/class/powercap/intel-rapl/intel-rapl:0/constraint_2_max_power_uw:0
/sys/class/powercap/intel-rapl/intel-rapl:0/constraint_2_name:peak_power
/sys/class/powercap/intel-rapl/intel-rapl:0/constraint_2_power_limit_uw:121000000
/sys/class/powercap/intel-rapl/intel-rapl:0/constraint_2_time_window_us:0
grep: /sys/class/powercap/intel-rapl/intel-rapl:0/device: Is a directory
/sys/class/powercap/intel-rapl/intel-rapl:0/enabled:1
grep: /sys/class/powercap/intel-rapl/intel-rapl:0/energy_uj: Permission denied
grep: /sys/class/powercap/intel-rapl/intel-rapl:0/intel-rapl:0:0: Is a directory
grep: /sys/class/powercap/intel-rapl/intel-rapl:0/intel-rapl:0:1: Is a directory
/sys/class/powercap/intel-rapl/intel-rapl:0/max_energy_range_uj:262143328850
/sys/class/powercap/intel-rapl/intel-rapl:0/name:package-0
grep: /sys/class/powercap/intel-rapl/intel-rapl:0/power: Is a directory
grep: /sys/class/powercap/intel-rapl/intel-rapl:0/subsystem: Is a directory
sudo turbostat --Summary --show Busy%,Bzy_MHz,IRQ,PkgWatt,PkgTmp,RAMWatt,GFXWatt,CorWatt --interval 5. The spew of stuff at startup should tell us if there has been thermal throttling. Edit your question adding the output under some various load conditions. You might also have some daemon running doing the throttling, say thermald or tlp.sudo rdmsr --hexadecimal 0x64Fpost it to your question and I'll decode it. See also here