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March 5th, 2026 15:56
Dell Inspiron 15 3520 latest BIOS update made the laptop hotter and slower cpu clocks
Hey all. After pausing the Windows Update for 5 weeks, it unpaused itself and updated (unfortunately). It came with a BIOS update 1.39.0 that basically made the laptop hotter and slow. I use Throttlestop and HWiNFO before and after the update but I don't have the logs but before the update on battery and on charger it never reached 85ºC while only using Chrome and the CPU Clocks never got to the hundreds.
After the update on battery the laptop runs so slow that it doesn't even make sense to use it without a charger which is unbelievable, it's not reaching even the base clock which is 1.7 Ghz. And it runs hotter, it's reaching 65º C while I'm typing this with nothing running on the background. If it's on a charger then the laptop temperature it's reaching 85ºC but for no reason since it's not even reaching the max clock which is 4.7 Ghz, it's gettting to 3.5 Ghz max.
Also it's power limit throttling all the time now. As I'm typing this it's power limit throttling with 6.8 W when the limit it's supposed to reach is 30 W.
Now for the solutions I already did everything, I used every ThrottleStop option, I changed every power plan option for performance, I changed the basic windows power plans, I changed the MyDell configs, I defaulted the BIOS settings and absolutely nothing changes.
Now on the Driver Download page it's says you can't downgrade to before 1.38.0 but where is the 1.38.0 BIOS update? I can't find it anywhere on the internet. Is there going to be a new BIOS update to fix this? I can't even bug report or something on DELL page, maybe if I post this on reddit maybe someone will see.
I used the laptop on battery normally a day before the update. This is not supposed to happen.
ejn63
10 Elder
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30.8K Posts
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March 5th, 2026 16:43
Before you start undoing firmware updates, is the interior of the system clean, and has the thermal compound between the heat sinks and heat slog(s) been replaced? This system is about four years old and may simply need internal maintenance.
There is no 1.38 firmware listed -- go to
https://www.dell.com/support/product-details/en-us/product/inspiron-15-3520-laptop/drivers
Choose one of the versions and then click "older versions" for the ones that are available.
Wesmey
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March 5th, 2026 16:48
@ejn63
Yeah I cleaned and replaced the thermal paste in february. Also it's not 4 years it's 2 years old.
I mean for the BIOS it says on the website I can't downgrade for versions earlier than 1.38.0 that why I was wondering if there is a download for that version.
- Once the BIOS is upgraded, you cannot downgrade the BIOS to versions earlier than 1.38.0. BIOS downgrades are restricted when there are security updates and important fixes with earlier versions that impact the functionality of the system.
(edited)
Chino de Oro
9 Legend
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8.3K Posts
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March 6th, 2026 01:17
It's a bit too late now, but if you don't want BIOS firmware update to run automatically by Windows Updates, you don't pause update, you should disables BIOS updates through UEFI capsule update packages in BIOS settings.
Wesmey
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March 6th, 2026 17:23
@Chino de Oro
Thats good to know thanks. Hopefully there is going to be a new BIOS update soon.
Also something happened today, I turned on the laptop and the windows update uninstalled itself??? I don't have the green bar battery and the new start menu anymore for some reason. I got messed up by this update don't even have the new stuff anymore lol.
(edited)