How fast should Windows report my processor speed?

[JCKC]

Please forgive the dumb question.

I have an AMD 3800+ X2 dual-core processor in my new rig. How fast should Windows-XP Pro report the processor speed? Looking at the 'General' tab of my System Properties, it indicates the following:

AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual
Core Processor 3800+
1.00 GHz, 2.00 GB of RAM
Physical Address Extension

Is this correct or should "System Properties" be reporting something different?

Thanks.

 

[The J]

It says that because Cool 'n' Quiet was active at that time. CnQ underclocks the CPU to about 1GHz when it's not being used much so that fans in your computer can slow down and the CPU will still run cool.

 

[w00t]

disable cool n quiet and it will be back at 2ghz at all times.

 

[harobikes333]

so is cool n quiet a bad thing?

why would or would u not have it on?

 

[ixelion]

Well I have heard (although this may have been fixed in newer drivers) that it takes a while for CnQ to realize a load on the processor, which means there may be some lag when starting games.

 

[imported_dakota81]

Originally posted by: harobikes333
so is cool n quiet a bad thing?

why would or would u not have it on?

It's done so that when the computer is turned on, but you are not really doing any data processing or what-not, the cpu underclocks itself to reduce power consumption and heat output.

It's a good thing.

intel has a somewhat similar technology too, but they only reduce clock speed when the cpu starts to overheat.

 

[biostud]

Originally posted by: harobikes333
so is cool n quiet a bad thing?

why would or would u not have it on?

If you overclock it might screw up the overclock. If running at stockspeeds just leave it on.

 

[Googer]

All of you are correct, It is a power and heat saving scheme implemented by AMD. To disable it reboot the computer and enter the System BIOS and find it. Turn Cool and Quiet off, save your settings and exit. The PC Should reboot after that.