Laptop CPU not running at full speed?

[DrPop]

OK, so I just got another laptop for the office - a used Dell XPS M1330, I got it because it's small, light, (for off site presentations) and it was a good deal - $250. :o

It has an Intel Core2 Duo T7500 CPU, which is supposed to run at 2.2GHz on an 11x multiplier, at least according to specs. However, whenever I look at it with CoreTemp, etc, it tells me it's bouncing around anywhere from 1598MHz (8x multi) up to 1698MHz (8.5 multi)...this is with 100% loading on WCG.

Any ideas as to what's causing this? Or is this normal behavior for a laptop?:confused:

[STE\/E]

Probably operating in Power Saving Mode or some sort of reduced Power Mode anyway, look for some sort of Option on the Laptop to set it to Performance Mode. If you do find it & set it to Performance Mode then watch out for it overheating ... Usually Lower Powered Laptops don't have any Options in the BIOS for setting the Speed of the CPU but that's another area you could look in too ...

[Maxwell]

What Ste\/e said about power settings. I'm assuming this in Win7...

Right click on the battery icon on the right and pick Power Options. Whatever plan you have selected, go to "change plan settings",
"change advanced settings", then, "processor power management" and change your "maximum processor state" to 100%. That should fix you.

I had this exact problem when I got the lappy I'm typing on, and again when I reformatted it.

*Should* solve it for you. Hopefully.

[DrPop]

Hmmm...after playing with all the settings I could in the BIOS and with the Windows Advanced Power features you suggested, I am beginning to think it's an over heating problem. I can watch the thing bounce all around now, (instead of just staying slow like it was), but it will never run at its spec of 2.2GHz for more than a few seconds at a time. Hmmm...guess the old saying still applies "get what you pay for"...it was only $250 for the laptop. ;)

I'll see if I can take it apart and maybe replace the stock OEM thermal goop with some Arctic Silver and maybe blow out any dust bunnies if there is any - and I'll report back, hopefully with some progress! :D If anyone else has any suggestions, I'm up for them.

[c303a]

Sounds like you definetly have an infestation of dust bunnies. Just call on the good industrial strength air can and work it over.

[Fire$torm]

Sounds like you definetly have an infestation of dust bunnies. Just call on the good industrial strength air can and work it over.

++1 I had the same thought. To check the core temps try CPUID's HWMonitor (Link (http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html)) or Alfredo Milani Comparetti's SpeedFan (Link (http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php)). Because it is a Dell you have trouble getting either utility, or any similar one, to work.

[DrPop]

Alright...I tore it all down...and yes. Loads of dirt/hair/felt looking stuff (like what you find on a clothes dryer lint screen) on the INSIDE of the exit part of the HSF area. So no wonder the fan was going full blast all the time -- it had to spin as hard as it could, just to get any airflow at all!:p:rolleyes: Then, I redid the HSF with Arctic Silver, and she is running a solid 2.2GHz steady now. Very nice. Scores almost twice as high on the BOINC CPU Benchmark!

Then, I decided to take it a step further since I had the lappy all apart anyway. The CPU this laptop came with is an Intel Core2 Duo T7500 (http://ark.intel.com/products/29761/Intel-Core2-Duo-Processor-T7500-%284M-Cache-2_20-GHz-800-MHz-FSB%29). Kim's laptop (same exact Dell XPS M1330) I had spec.ed out the Intel Core2 Duo T9300 (http://ark.intel.com/products/33917/Intel-Core2-Duo-Processor-T9300-%286M-Cache-2_50-GHz-800-MHz-FSB%29)back when we bought it a few years ago now.
So...take a guess which CPU is in my laptop now? heh...that's right. She doesn't hardly ever crunch on hers, unless the team is in a real neck and neck race - like the SIMAP one, and then she will run BOINC for us. So, I figure I may as well be using the extra horsepower 24/7 for the team in mine, right? Otherwise it's just sitting there worthless while she's doing Web surfing, Email, and word processing for class! :cool:

Just to make it a little more fair (honestly, not like she cares as long is it gets on the Internet, LOL!), I traded her Wireless G card out for the Wireless N card that mine came with, because she actually uses the wireless on campus for her college classes, and I've got mine wired, just sitting there in my treatment room at the office. ;)

[Fire$torm]

Go go DrPop! Don't you just love it when a plan comes together? :D

[Maxwell]

I imagine you doing the Mr. Burns finger tap while muttering "Excellent..."

[DrPop]

haha, yeah, it was a good moment when I realized I could do the swap. :D