[brettt777]

I have an Inspiron 8500 laptop and I was looking in the bios recently. I saw where it said I have a 2.2ghz P4 CPU but the current CPU speed is 1.2ghz. What is the deal there? Is my CPU underclocked and if so, how do I change it? I didn't see where I could change any CPU or bus speeds.

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Try running CPU-Z to check your CPU speed. The processor in your notebook has a Pentium 4M processor in it if I've researched correctly, which will adjust CPU speed depending on the applications you are running to conserve power. The notebook will probably only run at 2.4GHz when it needs to.

[mpascal]

Try running CPU-Z to check your CPU speed. The processor in your notebook has a Pentium 4M processor in it if I've researched correctly, which will adjust CPU speed depending on the applications you are running to conserve power. The notebook will probably only run at 2.4GHz when it needs to.

[Broni]

which will adjust CPU speed depending on the applications you are running to conserve power. The notebook will probably only run at 2.4GHz when it needs to

That's something new to me...

but the current CPU speed is 1.2ghz

Shown where?
Maybe BIOS multiplier is set incorrectly.
Can you provide a screenshot from CPU-Z: http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php

[mpascal]

which will adjust CPU speed depending on the applications you are running to conserve power. The notebook will probably only run at 2.4GHz when it needs to

That's something new to me...

Intel Speedstep



-mp

[Broni]

Good reading. Learning something new every day. Thank you
Searching more, I can see, that AMD has similar option, called "Cool'n'Quiet".
More info: http://www.vista4beg...ower-management

[mpascal]

Me too, came across it on another forum while looking at someone with a similar problem It does make sense to start from the source if you want to save power though.

-mp

[brettt777]

which will adjust CPU speed depending on the applications you are running to conserve power. The notebook will probably only run at 2.4GHz when it needs to

That's something new to me...

but the current CPU speed is 1.2ghz

Shown where?
Maybe BIOS multiplier is set incorrectly.
Can you provide a screenshot from CPU-Z: http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php

Not sure how I can do a screen shot of it...but it says the following:

Intel Pentium 4 Northwood socket 478mPGA
Mobile Intel® Pentium® 4 - M CPU 2.20Ghz
Core Speed 1196.1 Mhz
Multiplier x 12.0
Bus Speed 99.7 Mhz
Rated FSB 398.7 Mhz

This means I am running at 1.2 Ghz......?
How can I tell if it has this Intel Speedstep?

[brettt777]

which will adjust CPU speed depending on the applications you are running to conserve power. The notebook will probably only run at 2.4GHz when it needs to

That's something new to me...

but the current CPU speed is 1.2ghz

Shown where?
Maybe BIOS multiplier is set incorrectly.
Can you provide a screenshot from CPU-Z: http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php

Not sure how I can do a screen shot of it...but it says the following:

Intel Pentium 4 Northwood socket 478mPGA
Mobile Intel® Pentium® 4 - M CPU 2.20Ghz
Core Speed 1196.1 Mhz
Multiplier x 12.0
Bus Speed 99.7 Mhz
Rated FSB 398.7 Mhz

This means I am running at 1.2 Ghz......?
How can I tell if it has this Intel Speedstep?

[mpascal]

You have a Pentium 4 M processor onboard, which probably means your computer has Speedstep technology. When you ran CPU-Z, your Bus Speed was set to 97.7MHz, and your multiplier was set yo 12, so you were running at a 12 x 99.7 = 1196.4 MHz clock speed.

Try running a CPU heavy application, and see if your values change.

[Broni]

The lowest speed of Pentium 4-M: http://processorfind...spx?ProcFam=826 is listed at 1.4GHz, and yes, it supports Intel Speedstep.