Dell P4 Laptop CPU Speed question

[Nick5324]

I have a Dell Inspiron 8500 w/ a Pentium 4-M 2.2GHz. According to Windows System Properties, the processor is 2.2GHz, but only running at 284MHz. I think the processor is supposed to slow itself down when it is not under load, but 284MHz seems pretty extreme. Also, i've tried checking on it while running various programs and preforming different tasks, but it always shows as 284MHz. Is there a problem here or not? I'm sure someone knows of better software to monitor the speed of the proc. Also, if someone could recomend a (free) app to check the temp. of the CPU. Thanks in advance.

 

[SrGuapo]

Have you tried running any CPu intensive apps like prime95 for extended periods? Try running something like that to see if the speed increases. I think the P-Ms do slow down quite a bit when idling...

 

[LTC8K6]

CPU-Z will tell you the speed.

I think that Processor's battery save mode speed is supposed to be 1.2Ghz. Plugging the computer in to the wall is supposed to trigger max speed.

Have you tried fooling around with the settings for power saving in XP?

 

[LTC8K6]

XP Speedswitch

 

[Nick5324]

CPU-Z reports 1196.1, which is the 1.2GHz LTC8K6 refered to. However, i have the laptop plugged in, not running on the battery.

 

[LTC8K6]

Run something intensive, and check the speed while it's running.

 

[tweeve2002]

my Gateway M275 is always downclocked if its pluged in or not. it only runs at its full 1.5 when it needs to be.

 

[Nick5324]

Dell tech came today to deal with this grinding sound i had going on. He replaced the MB (don't know why, the person at Dell wrote it up to be replaced) and replaced one fan and cleaned the GPU fan. System runs much quieter and CPU now runs at full speed. Thanks for the replies.