Incorrect Processer Speed

[Brillig]

Hi there,

My R31 has a 1.13 PIII, but on almost all of the thest I have run on it, it is marked as a 733. I ran the Intel checker, and it is the only test that claims it runs at 1.13. The average temp on the laptop is about 42c. It has 256M ram. I have updated the BIOS, everything IBM has to offer and XP sp2. Any ideas as to why I still get an incorrect frequency?

Thanks.

[jdhurst]

Get Mobile Meter (google for it) and start it up and leave it on the screen. Then run processes and whatch Mobile Meter. It should show the CPU jumping to full speed at application launch and other times. The rest of the time, it will run slower, which is normal. My 1.8Hgz CPU runs at 600MHz most of the time. ... JD Hurst

[Thane_Bitter]

Hi Brillig,

Actual your computer sounds perfectly normal to me. The CPU has a technology incorporated into it called "speed step" which lowers the CPU speed under certain conditions which in turn reduces the amount of power required and thus leads to a longer run time on batteries (so Intel claims).
There is a tool available which shows the CPU freq, CPU, System and HDD temperatures, you can get it here:
http://www.geocities.co.jp/SiliconValley-Oakland/8259/
Since your running XP here is a little procedure you can do to verify the speed step stuff is running correctly.
On the windows desktop right click "my computer" and select "properties" - you will get a pop up box labelled "System Properties". On the General Tab (which just so happens to be the one you are already looking at will list the CPU type and Speed information; in your case it should read:
Intel(R) Pentium III(R)
Mobile CPU 1133 MHz
The next line on the window will tell you the current CPU freq and how much Ram you have; chances are its telling you that your speed is 733.
Close that box and open up the windows Calculator and set if for scientific mode. Enter a bunch of nines, i.e. (999999999999999) and press the "n!" button. Open up the System properties box (using the instructions above) and look at the text under where it says mobile CPU - it should now read 1.13 GHz, if that’s the case your system is fine.
You can manual force the CPU to always run at its faster speed by using the "High System Performance" option of the "Battery Maximizer Wizard" program. Once you’re done - don’t waste your time on waiting for that calculation to finish - just kill the application.
So if your wondering what the point of that little exercise, it was to show that if you need to do anything that is CPU intensive, the CPU (via speed step) will boost up to maximum to quickly process the stuff, and then drop to a lower level and save energy if your computer is basically idling.

Let me know what you find out.

Thane

[Brillig]

Thane, that's Brilliant! I haven't thought about checking it while it's pulling a load. I got it in my head that somehow speed step was manually adjustable. I should think a little more . . .

Thanks again!

[Thane_Bitter]

Hey - don't worry about it - and do try Mobile Meter; it's a brilliant little program.