How do i find the ACTUAL clock speed of my pentium m 1.8 laptop?

[Emericana]

i have a dell pentium m 1.8ghz laptop and so obviously speedstep is enabled (but there is a option to disable it in bios). Now, on this chip, when the power is unplugged the cpu speed is 600mhz and it SHOULD be 1.8ghz when the power is plugged in. I know when it is plugged in not only b/c it is plugged in but also because the screen gets brighter. Now wcpuid and cpu-z both show 600mhz when the the laptop is unplugged, however, it is a totally different story when it is plugged in, rather than showing 1.8ghz like it should when it is plugged in, both programs give varying cpu mhz and fsbs..... everywhere from 700mhz-1.8ghz.... it is usually around 1200mhz. WHAT is wrong with this? why wont it stay at 1.8ghz like it is supposed to with the power plugged in?

[Captain Newbie]

That's Intel SpeedStep working.

Get the latest versions of CPUID, ..., and see if that fixes the problem.

[Emericana]

i have the latest versions. what i am wondering is if intels speedstep is actually working correctly or if it is busted..... the cpu mhz instead of staying the same when the ac adapter is plugged in is fluctuating

[Zuzzz]

That is SpeedStep. It will change as your demand for processor power changes. I have an IBM ThinkPad that has it as well. This is part of the Centrino Technologies designed to prolong battery life. Run a heavy program like folding@home or Prime95. These will demand the processor to be at full speed. Then its as simple as looking at the System Properties. The max speed for that processor should be 1.8gHz. If you are merely setting at the desktop not doing anything this can fall to something like 800mHz or lower depending on the chip. Hope this helps

Z

EDIT:: Plugging in the AC Adapter doesnt change this unless you force the full speed in the Power Management options. This may ALSO require a BIOS setting to change as well.

[Emericana]

k thanks for your help!

[k_r_i_p_l_e_r]

have you tried belarcs ?

[dead_man311]

My Dell Does the Same thing , right now its at 1.59Ghz and some times it will drop to as low as 800Mhz. so its normal

Side Note : Captain Newbie : Nice Avatar of Capt Hawkeye. I see im not the only person that watches M*A*S*H. I got to go out a get season 6 on DVD here soon