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PC only running at 1/2 speed

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markt2911

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Posted December 23, 2011 at 11:23PM

I bought a second hand PC which was reported to have a 2.8GHz processor.

As it also had a 256MB Video card, I bought games that would run on that spec.

Trying to run the games wasn't very successful as they ran extremely slowly.

I've done some investigation and the Device Manager in Windows shows it as a 2.8GH Pentium 4 processor but, when I start up, the BIOS reports it as a 1.4GB processor. In addition, a tool I downloaded confirmed that it was running as 1.4GB.

I am confused as to how the PC can report 2 different speeds and if I can enable the faster speed somehow.

Any help would be appreciated!

Markt2911

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BRYNIT

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Posted December 24, 2011 at 1:12AM

It could be a twin core each running at 1.4GB down load SIW home edition (free) it will tell you what CPU is on your computer Click here its about half way down. When you install it remember to decline the other programs on offer.

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onthelimit1

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Posted December 24, 2011 at 9:12AM

Have a look and see how much RAM is fitted - it may need more.

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KRONOS the First

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Posted December 24, 2011 at 10:09AM

It would be helpful if you could list your make/model type etc of your components. IE: Motherboard, CPU and RAM and perhaps BIOS and maybe age of PC.

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chub_tor

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Posted December 24, 2011 at 12:28PM

I'm pretty sure that all Pentium 4s are single core. It sounds as if it is being under-clocked. I would go into the BIOS and re-set it to its basic settings and see if that reverts it to full speed.

As Chronus says it would help if we knew which motherboard you have.

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markt2911

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Posted December 27, 2011 at 9:16PM

Thanks for your responses. I have installed SIW and the results are:

Memory: 1 GB, (2* 512MB). Max Capacity 2048 MBytes Type: DDR (PC2700) Speed: 166 MHz Supported Frequencies: 133.3 MHz, 166.7 MHz Motherboard: Micro-star International, Model MS-6701 CPU: Type: Intel Pentium 4 2.80 GHz Max CPU Speed: 3000MHz Physical Processors: 1 Cores per Processor: 1 Logical Processors: 2 (Hyper-threading enabled) Original Clock: 2800 MHz Original System Clock: 200 MHz Original Multiplier: 14.0 CPU Clock: 1400 MHz System Clock: 100.2 MHz Number of cores: 1 Speed: 1403.1 MHz Multiplier: 14.0

Video Card: GeForce FX 5700LE 256MB

I haven't tried reinstating the default settings in the BIOS yet. Can I get back to the current settings if I do?

If it has been underclocked, what would be the reason for that?

Cheers,

Mark

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KRONOS the First

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Posted December 28, 2011 at 9:52AM

If you change the BIOS settings to default the only way to get back to your current settings will be if you take a note of what they are prior to going default.

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chub_tor

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Posted December 28, 2011 at 8:56PM

You can see from the results that you have that the clock speed is half of the original while the multiplier has stayed the same. That is why you are running at half speed.

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lotvic

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Posted December 29, 2011 at 1:09PM

could this have anything to do with it http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Activating-the-Hyper-Threading/20

"The Hyper-Threading technology makes the operating system "believe" there are two processors installed in the machine, that is, "believe" that your machine is a Dual-Pentium 4. That is possible because there are parts of the processor that are usually idle and what Intel has done was "to free" such parts for use as if they were a new processor."

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Les28

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Posted December 29, 2011 at 3:30PM

I've been wondering about the hyperthreading myself, my P4 3 Ghz Prescott has hyperthreading enabled by default (according to the board manual for Asus P5GD1), in the bios advanced menu / cpu configuration options. Reading this post I was wondering if hyperthreading for the cpu was enabled in the bios but for some mismatched reason not supported by the rest of the pc, so only one half of the cpu is capable of being used?

I'd have a look in the bios at Advanced BIOS Features menu for cpu hyperthreading being enabled (by default) and disable it. Perhaps Mark could let us know what bios is onboard using SIW, I think it's a Phoenix bios like this?

enter link description here

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lotvic

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Posted December 29, 2011 at 5:33PM

According to article on the link I posted, hyperthreading only works on XP and Linux (don't know about W7). Article shows you how to check if op sys is using it.

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