CPU speed problem

[dg]

I think I have a serious hardware problem, and would like your help.

My Thinkpad has been running really slowly (e.g. hourglass or torch showing for several seconds when in Explorer). I noticed that my 1.4GHz Centrino processor was often much slower than this (585MHz seems the most common speed) by going to Control Panel - System. I have checked that the BIOS is set to "max performance on AC", and the machine is plugged in. Is there something obvious I may have missed?

To rule out a possible driver conflict, I have used Rescue n Recovery to get back to factory settings, and the problem is still there, even with no applications running. I checked for viruses and spyware before connecting to the internet - the machine has always been clean. IBM Support asked me to run diagnostics, which I have done, and everything "passed".

So what I would like to know is what speeds do your Thinkpad processors show they are running at. Also, has anyone out there ever come across a similar problem?

Thanks

[beerak]

Does your Thinkpad register AC is plugin ? Try to set max performance while not plugin to AC and remove AC to see if there will be any difference.

[dg]

Does your Thinkpad register AC is plugin ? Try to set max performance while not plugin to AC and remove AC to see if there will be any difference.

My Thinkpad is registering that AC is plugged in. The AC icon underneath the screen is lit, and the screen dims when I unplug.

Beerak, what CPU speed does your Thinkpad show in Control Panel-System?

I was hoping that several people would try it and tell me what speed their system shows. Come, on folks, please.

[Greg Gebhardt]

What speed does your CPU show it is running. Also what do you have running in the background?

[Puttagee]

I assume you are talking about the General tab under system properties, this just shows what's installed not current speed.

[dg]

I assume you are talking about the General tab under system properties, this just shows what's installed not current speed.

Yes, I am talking about the General tab. Mine shows both the speed of the installed processor and the current speed.
In the bottom right hand corner of the tab it currently reads:

IBM Corporation
Intel(R) Pentium(R) M
processor 1400MHz
585MHz, 256 MB of RAM

The "585MHz" is the figure that is variable on mine. I have seen it once or twice reading 1400MHz, but usually it is lower. Is it different for you?

Responses from any other readers are also welcome.

[GomJabbar]

What do you have your power management settings at: Maximum or Adaptive? Take a look at this link.

[beerak]

Mine shows 1.2 in the general system tab no matter on the settings, but it is a design speed of the cpu not current.

[keku]

well it will only goto 1400 Mhz when you are running CPU intensive process.

Explorer showing hourglass is not CPU intensive process, it uses more Hd than CPU.

Mice showz 585 Mhz and 798Mhz most of the time. very rarely it reaches 2GHz. (I noticed once when I started RAD)

you can search google for some utility to display current CPU clock that will tell you what's the speed CPU is operating on.

[Puttagee]

Yes, I am talking about the General tab. Mine shows both the speed of the installed processor and the current speed.
In the bottom right hand corner of the tab it currently reads:

IBM Corporation
Intel(R) Pentium(R) M
processor 1400MHz
585MHz, 256 MB of RAM

The "585MHz" is the figure that is variable on mine. I have seen it once or twice reading 1400MHz, but usually it is lower. Is it different for you?

Responses from any other readers are also welcome.

I'm not sure what this figure represents but it's not the current speed, I use Centrino Hardware Control to check my current speed and it's much higher than what is stated on this screen.

[GomJabbar]

I assume you are talking about the General tab under system properties, this just shows what's installed not current speed.

Yes, I am talking about the General tab. Mine shows both the speed of the installed processor and the current speed.
In the bottom right hand corner of the tab it currently reads:

IBM Corporation
Intel(R) Pentium(R) M
processor 1400MHz
585MHz, 256 MB of RAM

The "585MHz" is the figure that is variable on mine. I have seen it once or twice reading 1400MHz, but usually it is lower. Is it different for you?

On my T42 that I checked just now, it shows 1.60 GHz on the General Tab.

However, if I go to: Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > System Information, it shows: x86 Family 6 Model 13 Stepping 6 GenuineIntel ~1598 Mhz.

I am not sure, but I think the speed listed under System Information is the actual clock speed of the processor. My processor is an Intel 1.6 GHz.

[Henry]

I'm pretty sure your cpu isn't to blame. It's more likely not enough ram or too slow of a hard drive.
EDIT: OK, I'm almost positive it's the ram. You only have 256 MB right? That's definitely not enough, and will cause virtual memory on the hard drive to be used, which is slow. You need at least 512 MB even for basic applications.

[dg]

Thanks for all your responses. I may now be getting somewhere, although there seem to be new oddities.

I went to Control Panel-Power Options, and found the power scheme was set to Thinkpad default, from a choice of at least 10 schemes. I selected Home/office desk, went to Control panel-system, and the CPU speed now shows 1.4GHz. However, when I returned to Power options, all the schemes apart from 4 had vanished, and I hadn’t deleted them. The machine seems to be working faster now, touch wood. In System Info it shows ~1395 MHz, whether on battery or AC.

In the BIOS, the power is set to “max performance” on AC and “max battery life” on battery. Is this what is meant by “adaptive”? I don’t see a way to check it from within Windows.

To give some background, the current machine replaced one of identical spec which got stolen nearly immediately after I bought it. The first one was very noticeably faster than my 5 yr old 500MHz Pentium 3, but this one isn’t, and has suffered several crashes.

I agree that 256 MB RAM isn’t enough for XP, but I want to make sure that everything is OK before I change anything. It makes one wonder why they ever ship them like this. When I phoned IBM Support, they immediately asked if I had changed anything, for example added extra memory, in the sort of tone which implied that, if I had, that was going to be the suspected cause as far as they were concerned.

So why have my Power schemes vanished, and does it matter? If I try to create a new one and save it under a new name, it appears to let me, but when I go back in to Power Options, the new scheme has vanished, and the scheme in use is Super Power Saver.

Is all this normal for a Thinkpad?

[GomJabbar]

I went to Control Panel-Power Options, and found the power scheme was set to Thinkpad default, from a choice of at least 10 schemes. I selected Home/office desk, went to Control panel-system, and the CPU speed now shows 1.4GHz. However, when I returned to Power options, all the schemes apart from 4 had vanished, and I hadn’t deleted them.

So why have my Power schemes vanished, and does it matter? If I try to create a new one and save it under a new name, it appears to let me, but when I go back in to Power Options, the new scheme has vanished, and the scheme in use is Super Power Saver.

Is all this normal for a Thinkpad?

This is not normal. Unless you purposely uninstalled the Battery Maximizer and Power Management features software, or other software related to power management, then something must have gotten corrupted. The following software is installed and related to power management. If you want to restore the IBM software, I would uninstall the software below, then run ThinkVantage Software Installer to reinstall everything.

If you do the above, you will have a battery and an AC plug icon on the task tray at the bottom of the screen. Double click on either icon to set up a power management scheme. There are more settings here and it's easier to see what each setting actually does, then what Microsoft supplies in the Control Panel - Power Options.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(1) IBM ThinkPad January 25, 2005
Power Management Driver for Windows 98 SE/Me/2000/XP (ACPI)

Version 1.30(Certified)
--------------------
(2) IBM ThinkPad April 21, 2005
Battery MaxiMiser and Power Management Features package

Version A-1.38
--------------------
(3) ThinkPad Configuration package for Windows 95/98/98 SE/Me/2000/XP
June 13, 2005
Version A-1.40b
--------------------
(4) ThinkPad June 13, 2005
Presentation Director for Windows 2000/XP

Version 2.34
--------------------
(5) ThinkPad June 13, 2005
EasyEject Utility for Windows 2000/XP

Version 2.11