Pentium M 1.4ghz

[mrmann14]

I got a new laptop from ebay, and it's a centrino, pentium M 1.4ghz. According to CPU-Z, it says my proc is running at 6x99mhz. Is this a mobile feature to save battery, or is there something wrong?

 

[n19htmare]

im pretty sure it's a feature on the Pentium M to save battery.....run something thats CPU intensive (super pi) and your speed should shoot up

 

[xSeongminx]

The problem that you are facing is something called SpeedStep, where the cpu speed is lowered when not plugged into an external power source, which is to conserve battery life. Try plugging the an external power source to it (in this case, the adapter), and see if anything changes. If nothing does, right click on desktop, go to properties, then to screen saver, and then click on Advanced. Change the power scheme to office/desk or always on. This will bump the laptop up to it's full potential.

 

[Maximilian]

Originally posted by: xSeongminx
The *clever and useful feature* that you are facing is something called SpeedStep, where the cpu speed is lowered when not plugged into an external power source, which is to conserve battery life. Try plugging the an external power source to it (in this case, the adapter), and see if anything changes. If nothing does, right click on desktop, go to properties, then to screen saver, and then click on Advanced. Change the power scheme to office/desk or always on. This will bump the laptop up to it's full potential.

:thumbsup: Yep, speedstep it is.

 

[xSeongminx]

Originally posted by: xSeongminx
The problem that you are facing is something called SpeedStep, where the cpu speed is lowered when not plugged into an external power source, which is to conserve battery life. Try plugging the an external power source to it (in this case, the adapter), and see if anything changes. If nothing does, right click on desktop, go to properties, then to screen saver, and then click on Advanced. Change the power scheme to office/desk or always on. This will bump the laptop up to it's full potential.

Why the heck do I always make grammatical and punctuation errors past midnight...

 

[mrmann14]

Thanks guys

 

[cmrmrc]

6x99=580???

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: cmrmrc
6x99=580???

Rounding error - it's a Pentium after all.

For Pentium M CPUs, the low power state is at 6x multiplier. With a CPU that runs on a 100MHz FSB this means ~600MHz. With a CPU that runs on a 133MHz FSB this means ~800MHz.

If nothing you do can get the CPU to run at the "proper" full speed, then SpeedStep is disabled in BIOS. I noticed that on my first notebook (Dell Latitude D800) which I bought second hand. System was stuck at a reported 599MHz - perhaps that's why I got such a good deal on it. Enable SpeedStep in BIOS and system performed normally.