Testing the CPU Speed

[Ultralight]

I have a P3 1.2 Ghz and under Windows XP properties it lists it as such. However, the start-up screen only reads the chip at 600 Mhz. The Belarc advisor also only reads it as a 600 Mhz chip. What steps can I take to find the actual speed my CPU is running? Thanks.

 

[AdamK474]

Windows XP properties only reads what the CPU is identified as. The other utilities actually report the CPU clock speed. I bet you have your motherboard set to 66MHz bus speed (9 x 66 = 600MHz). Bump that up to 133MHz and you'll be at 1200MHz (9 x 133 = 1200MHz).

 

[Ultralight]

Adam, thanks TONS for such a quick reply. I am new at a lot of this and your post taught me something new. So, how do I go about setting my bus speed to 133 MHz? My motherboard, by the way, is an ASUS TUSL2-C Socket 370 with an Intel 815EP chipset.

 

[imported_whatever]

i know nothing about your specific mobo, but it is most likely in your bios. enter it, and somewhere in there, there will be a setting for front side bus or fsb. however, it is possible that your motherboard is old enough that it is entirely jumper-based, in which case you will need to look in the manual to see what jumper controls fsb.

 

[Ultralight]

Actually it is jumper free. The board is an ASUS TUSL2-C (Tualatin) Socket 370 with an Intel 815EP Chipset. Thanks for the reply. Once I enter the Bios and find the FSB setting, how hard will it be to change it. Is this a simple click and say "yes" kind of issue? Sorry if this is a dweeb question, but I'm trying to learn as I go.

 

[TheStu]

IF your ram is SDRAM 133 then yes it should be set and go... however if you are only runnning 100 SDRAM then you may have a problem ocing it 33 MHz....

 

[rogue1979]

find it in the bios, probably under advanced chipset or cpu frequenc, something like that. Read the bottom of the bios screen when you get in there, it will tell you the keyboard functions. Use F10 and choose yes to save.

 

[Ultralight]

Okay found it in the Bios and I was able to set my CPU to 1200 MHz. Now both the initial screen and Belarc Advisor read it at 1200 MHz. Also, the Belarc reads my FSB at 133MHz which brings me to my next question. The Bios reads the Bus speed at 66/100/33. Should I set this to 133/133/33? Why or why not? By the way, the RAM is 133. Thanks.

 

[Budman]

Download and then run cpu-z,this will tell you the speed of your cpu among other things too.

http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php

 

[Ultralight]

Perfect, Budman. My CPU and FSB are where they need to be. This is definitly a nice tool to have.