3.06 GHz :-/

I got a 3.06 GHz CPU in my laptop... but when I do a benchmark it says I have a 1.60 GHz CPU. I looked it up online and the only thing I can learn is that I really have a 3.06/1.60 GHz CPU. A few things.

One, what does this notation mean?
When I use Windows to tell me how fast it is running at any given moment, it will usually say about 3 GHz or so.
I don't ever remember the BIOS saying this, but it says my CPU is 3.06/1.60 GHz... I rmember it saying just 3.06 GHz when I first bought it. I never flashed the BIOS.

 

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maybe its the laptop version? maybe your bios/motherboard just isnt picking it up right.

but people miss the real point. how fast does it seem its going? if you dont know than you think the 3ghz was really worth the money? i notice the computer industry is a big scam with so many marketing schemes.

a VALID example is they did a benchmark/review on AGP8x vs AGP4x to realize the speed between the two are almost the same making it a cheap marketing scheme in my book.

i know how you feel when you think your not gettin all the juice out of your system. but you gota keep in mind that statistics/benchmarking and all that is just BS. at the end waiting for 0.5 seconds longer for something to load isnt worth 100 dollors you know what i mean?



as for the 3.06/1.60 i dont know what that means. but like i said before if you cant notice the difference between 1.6 or 3.06 then dont like a measely benchmark score ruin your day.

 

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Well the main issue is that it never used to clock just at 1.6... and I still remember the BIOS once saying only 3.06 GHz... not "3.06/1.60"

I know it still runs faster than a 1.6 GHz though... lol

 

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Could it be:
3.06 when cold
1.6 when hot?

Since some laptops tend to lower their CPU usage to deal with heat problems, or even power conservation.

 

Probably just power throttling to conserve the battery. Turn it off, plug it in, wait half an hour, do the benchmark again.

 

Perhaps I just found the solution:

"JUNE 11, 2003 ( IDG NEWS SERVICE ) - Intel Corp. added a third mobile processor line to its roster today with the launch of the Mobile Intel Pentium 4 processor, designed for heavy desktop-replacement notebooks, the company said.
The new chip allows the company to offer notebook manufacturers a processor optimized for a mobile environment that can still deliver desktop-caliber performance, said Shannon Johnson, an Intel spokeswoman. The new chips will launch at clock speeds of 3.06, 2.8, 2.66 and 2.4 GHz, but they can also switch to a 1.6-GHz battery mode that uses less power."

http://www.computerworld.com/mobiletopics/mobile/laptops/story/0,10801,82020,00.html

Now the thing is I am running the laptop on AC most of the time. Any idea how I turn off the energy saving feature? Because like I said it never used to do this. I checked the BIOS and there is nothing there :x

Edit: I read that SpeedStep makes it do that. That setting is in the BIOS, however disabling that I still run at 1.60 GHz. Blarg!

 

The answer is that laptop processors are designed to run on battery mode or desktop mode. All mobile P4's are defaulted to 1.6ghz or 1.2ghz when you have Windows' power managment set to notebook/laptop. So no matter what your processor is rated at, unless you set Windows' power management to Always On, you paid for a 1.6ghz processor.

To get to Window Xp's power management and turn off the energy saving feature:
Start -> Control Panel -> Power Options; then under the tab "Power Schemes" there's a drop down menu with different options. Always On mode will run the processor at it's rated speed (3.06ghz for you), but your battery won't last too long...unless you run it off AC power.

Windows XP Power Schemesfrom Tomshardware.com. Check out the chart on that page. They used a 2.2ghz P4 as an example and they say that all P4's default to 1.2ghz when in power saving mode. But your 3.06ghz processor has a faster FSB than P4's had when that article was written, so Intel upped the default processor speed under power saving mode to 1.6ghz.

 

Actually... I found out what the problem was after some careful research.

All mobile P4s have SpeedStep. This allows the processor to run at a lower frequency when in battery mode or even in AC if so desired. Mine is 3.06/1.60 GHz... that is what the notation means. I turned off SpeedStep which in theory will allow the CPU to runs at 3.06 always. Here is the problem: SpeedStep has glitches. Many Dell Notebooks have messed up SpeedStep ability. So the CPU, no matter what setting you try (and I tried them all like Windows power management, which BTW was always on "Desktop" or "Always on.") the CPU will always clock at the lower one. So, I found a work around. I downloaded a program called SpeedSwitchXP which will make it run at top performance. Now the benchmarks show what I really have

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Some Dell Notebooks have a patch for the SpeedStep problem, but not mine, yet

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ARG! Now with the program running, I keep getting 1.60 GHz again.

I downloaded the Intel Processor Frequency ID Utility program... it says my cpu is 3.06 GHz with 533 Bus speed... and the reported frequency is 1.59 GHz at 533 bus. The thing is I did this test right after my laptop has been shut down for about 5 hours... so it was a very very cold boot. So this eliminates the CPU clocking lower for cooling reasons. SpeedStep is off.

Dell better release a patch soon... Arg.

Added note... sometimes at 1.59 the CPU will decide to run at 3.06 for a few seconds then go back down.

 

Oh and one reason why I am pissed is because I play Counter-Strike... and with the CPU at 1.60 GHz.. my FPS goes all over the place and sometimes goes to 12 FPS.. when I can get my computer up to 3.06... I get 99 FPS all the time.