Cpu Clock Keeps Changing

Welcome to Bleeping Computer, a free community where people like yourself come together to discuss and learn how to use their computers. Using the site is easy and fun. As a guest, you can browse and view the various discussions in the forums, but can not create a new topic or reply to an existing one unless you are logged in. Other benefits of registering an account are subscribing to topics and forums, creating a blog, and having no ads shown anywhere on the site.
Click here to Register a free account now! or read our Welcome Guide to learn how to use this site.

Important Announcement: We have two terrific contests running on the site that I wanted all our members and guests to know about.

The first contest is the HP Magic Giveaway, which is underway as of November 28th. More information can be found at this topic, which will be updated very soon with further information.

The second contests, is for the chance to win two Seagate FreeAgent external hard drives. More information about this contest can be found here.

These are both amazing contests and I suggest everyone submit an entry for them.

- BleepingComputer Management

BleepingComputer.com > Hardware > Internal Hardware

Cpu Clock Keeps Changing

Options

Gothmog View Member Profile	Jul 10 2006, 02:04 AM Post #1
Forum Regular Group: Members Posts: 172 Joined: 14-November 04 Member No.: 5,088	My computer is almost over the hill, but is it too much to expect it to maintain what it's initial spec was? Let me explain, periodically I check what the actual clock speed on my CPU is as reported by the OS or other 3rd party apps. It is supposed to be 2.8, but sometimes it comes in at 2.1 GHz. I have figured out that for some reason the BIOS set the bus speed to 100 MHz instead of 133(for memory and proc I think). It was easy enough to fix, but now periodically it changes back to the lower setting by itself somehow. can anyone give me a reason why it would revert to the lower value and a way to prevent this? or do I just have to fix it as i notice it? If I flash the Bios with an update could that help the cause? When this happens do you think it sets my performance back a lot? It does seem to slow the performance of the CPU and the memory, why should there even be an option to make the system underperform. thats like telling the government you should pay more taxes. btw the proc is a socket 478 P4 2.8 GHz bought with comp around Jan 2003. can you tell me how this compares to what is on the market today? I know that the clock ratings are relatively close, but there has to be something that really sets my old chip back besides the lack of HT. I don't think there is any value in upgrading since the system is built on a crappy mobo (PC CHips M935 Series, V7.0A) but I'd like to know how it stacks up to others.

HitSquad View Member Profile	Jul 10 2006, 04:46 AM Post #2
You're Bleepin' or you're Weepin' Group: BC Advisor Posts: 1,479 Joined: 12-March 06 From: Momma Member No.: 58,911	Hi Gothmog. Chances are the cmos battery is going south and causing your system to forget it's bios configuration. 2-3 years is an average life for one though I've seen them last up to 5. They're only a couple of bucks and replacement takes just minutes. (take note that you don't put the new one in upside down). I buy them in pairs as it's not impossible to get a dead one right off the shelf. QUOTE why should there even be an option to make the system underperform So that it can be setup for different cpu, memory, timing, etc, configs. They're all that way. QUOTE I don't think there is any value in upgrading since the system is built on a crappy mobo (PC CHips M935 Series, V7.0A) but I'd like to know how it stacks up to others. I agree. I built one of my systems 3 years ago with a P4 2.8 northwood\1gb rdram and still use it today. It's not a high performance gaming rig but still gets the job done for what I use it for. I'll keep it until the cpu or mainboard fails. This post has been edited by HitSquad: Jul 10 2006, 04:51 AM

Gothmog View Member Profile	Jul 10 2006, 04:58 AM Post #3
Forum Regular Group: Members Posts: 172 Joined: 14-November 04 Member No.: 5,088	QUOTE Chances are the cmos battery is going south and causing your system to forget it's bios configuration. 2-3 years is an average life for one though I've seen them last up to 5. I won't discount this possibility, but that is the only setting that gets lost. my user specified settings are all there and the clock is still correct. I was kind of wondering whether it had to do with a weak CPU, but that doesn't really make sense

Mr Alpha View Member Profile	Jul 10 2006, 08:35 AM Post #4
Forum Addict Group: BC Advisor Posts: 1,875 Joined: 25-November 04 From: Finland Member No.: 5,870	Some motherboards auto-underclock the CPU in case the there is a problem with the CPU keeping the computer from starting. -------------------- "Anyone who cannot form a community with others, or who does not need to because he is self-sufficient [...] is either a beast or a god." Aristotle AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ \| ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe \| 2GB Corsair TWINX2048-3500LLPRO \| Gigabyte GeForce 8800GTX \| Creative SoundBlaster Audigy 2 ZS \| ASUS PhysX P1 \| Logitech G15 \| Logitech MX Revolution \| LG Flatron L2000C \| Logitech Z-5500 Digital Stubborn attempts to think clearly

« Next Oldest · Internal Hardware · Next Newest »

1 User(s) are reading this topic (1 Guests and 0 Anonymous Users)

0 Members:

Display Mode: Standard · Switch to: Linear+ · Switch to: Outline

Track this topic · Email this topic · Print this topic · Subscribe to this forum

Lo-Fi Version

Time is now: 4th December 2008 - 04:31 PM

Advertise \| About Us \| Terms of Use \| Privacy Policy \| Contact Us \| Site Map \| Chat \| Tutorials \| Uninstall List
Discussion Forums \| The Computer Glossary \| Resources \| RSS Feeds \| Startups \| The File Database \| Malware Removal Guides