Thinkpads Forum

ok folks, thinking cap time:-)

twbook.pdf says 2645-9fu has an Intel Pentium III 650mHz, and the BIOS agrees--SpeedStep: but various speedmeters say its 500mHz, and moreover, the intel "Processor Frequency ID Utility" reports 500mHz not only as the operating frequency, also as the "Expected Frequency," defined as "the highest speed at which the tested processor was manufactured to operate."

In windows 2000 I've set the power schemes to "always on," or "minimal power management," and removed the battery to boot on wall power. And it's not OS dependent: knoppix (linux) kernel 2.6.15 also reports 500mHz.

could the BIOS be wrong? It is version ITET55WW, dated 11/30/99. (This is still the eBay seller's machine; I've not changed the BIOS.)

discussion here and elsewhere has centered upon getting the faster processors actually to run at their rated speeds. But my question--given the Intel result--is whether this machine actually *has* a 500mHz processor, and the BIOS is incorrect. You who haved swapped processors, does the BIOS get the new info, or does it persist with the old? Could some evil genius have swapped in a lesser cpu, and fooled the BIOS?

comments appreciated
thanks
tom


tom

It is the result of the Speed Step. There have been several threads on this in the past. I believe that if you boot the system without a battery installed, some of these programs might register the full amount.

Regardless though, with the way Speed Step works, is that when the full amount is needed, it will be there. It will step up from 500MHz to 650MHz once the system requires the extra power.

but if it says 650mhz in the bios, then it is? mine even shows 500mhz when i'm running knoppix.

CPU-Z also shows 500mhz and bios won't let me access the CPU icon. this whole speedstep thing is a bit confusing.

alfio

tom lightbody wrote:twbook.pdf says 2645-9fu has an Intel Pentium III 650mHz, and the BIOS agrees[...]could the BIOS be wrong?[...]Could some evil genius have swapped in a lesser cpu, and fooled the BIOS?

No. The BIOS is correct. It reads the CPU data from the CPU chip, not from some setting elsewhere in the BIOS or computer.

So, if you have a PIII 650MHz and it is only reporting as a PIII 500MHz, then what is up? I don't know. I was going to suggest that maybe you don't have an original IBM battery, but I see you've tested without a battery installed. I guess it is possible that without a battery installed, SpeedStep does not function correctly, so have you tried it with an original IBM battery, or are you using generic/non-OEM batteries?

The Intel Processor Frequency ID Utility usually does the trick in identifying the processor correctly. I suppose it IS possible that some evil genius inserted a PIII 650 into a non-SpeedStep motherboard and then sold it as a PIII 650MHz machine. That would display the symptoms you describe. But your motherboard should be reported in your BIOS. Can you confirm/double-check that your Machine model/type number reported by the BIOS is the same as what you have told us (i.e., don't just look on the bottom of the machine, but check inside the BIOS)

My next guess would be that it is a software issue. I have no idea if Knoppix is capable of reporting a PIII 650MHz correctly, but it is certainly possible that both it AND win 2000 are having difficulties. Do you have the Intel SpeedStep utility loaded under Windows 2000?

Phil.

tom lightbody wrote: twbook.pdf says 2645-9fu has an Intel Pentium III 650mHz

Your computer does come from the factory with a PIII 650mhz, don't worry. Same thing happens with my 600X it's say that it has a 650 cpu when i personally installed a 800 cpu in it.

i installed one of those widgets that tracks CPU activity and it never registers anything above 500mhz. what's the point of having a 650mhz processor when it won't work faster than 500mhz? i'm still confused about this (my machine is a 2645-5FU)

alfio

quick update:

i used SpeedswitchXP version 1.52 (see here) and finally established that the cpu in my system is capabe of mhz. in fact, a few times while i was 'watching' it with the utility on high performance, it clmbed to 750+mhz.

alfio