Weird problem! Help!

In the bios it says:
Frequency 2.41 Ghz
FSB 1064 Mhz
Ratio unlocked. Min 6 Max 9.
Ratio actual value: 9

Then I ran CPU-z and the multiplier started alternating between 6 and 9, making the clock speed alternating between 1600 and 2400 Mhz and then settles at multiplier 6!!!

Same in AI Suite - as soon as I click it it shows a full bar clock speed of 2400 and then it goes to 1600, and stays there. In CPU-z my memory is down to 400 instead of 800.

What on earth is happening?

thats because EIST is enabled in the bios this changes the multi so that when the cpu is not in use. the multi drops to lower power use, once you disable EIST and C1E state this multi change will no longer happen. if you are running vista though it will do it cause the power saving feature in vista will still lower the cpu multi/speed even if disabled in the bios.

Like evil says.

Regarding your ram, theyre double-pumped so 400x2 = 800. dont worry about it

I was lucky and did a lot of reading before I installed my p5b. Saved me a lot of headaches like this. Listen to Evilsizer, disable those and problem should be gone.

Evilsizer said:

thats because EIST is enabled in the bios this changes the multi so that when the cpu is not in use. the multi drops to lower power use, once you disable EIST and C1E state this multi change will no longer happen. if you are running vista though it will do it cause the power saving feature in vista will still lower the cpu multi/speed even if disabled in the bios.

Click to expand...

That means if for example I'm running a game the cpu will clock at 2.4Ghz and when the computer is idling it'd run at 1.6?
So essentially I'd still be getting the performance required?
Thank you.

yes when doing anything that requires the full cpu the multi will change back to 9 for 2.4ghz. when you leave you computer and its at the desktop doing nothing it will drop down to 6 for 1.6ghz.

Another way to disable this feature in Windows is to go into the power control panel and set it to always on. That will force it to run full speed.

if we are talking about windows xp the bios overrides the power function in xp. in vista you need to do this as it some how over takes the bios to still slow the cpu down for power savings.

I guess it'd still be OK to leave it as it is because I like it this way?
(Sorry for my noobness but I'm hoping that the cpu doesn't get stressed out by the multiplier changing constantly...)
I find it cool that the pc 'revs' up automatically when needed like an automotive engine on a hill. Hopefully leaving it low and cool when speed is not needed is better for it?

Here's a couple of screenshots. I took the first one with the pc idle. I took the second picture while running the Sims2 in the background (quite a cpu hungry game). It shows how it runs on one core of the processor.

Thanks for the valuable information Evilsizer and everyone.

Edit: I can't understand why PC Probe II insists that my CPU is 13 degrees... that's ridiculous!

the only time to worry about the cpu is when you see your dual core reaching 70c in coretemp. the switching from high to low was really meant for OEM's like dell. In that way when the cpu wasnt in use at a lower speed the fans in the case wouldnt need to running full bore all the time. lower temps do equal longer life but your cpu is well under what we here would consider hot(65c) for a dual core. as well more then likly that cpu will be replace long before you have to worry about the temp affecting its life span.