Wrong cpu speed under Win XP

[fuhbar]

Hello,

after updating the bios to fix an acpi error, which caused freezes, the cpu speed is reduced by 50%. This is shown under the system properties and it is not a view error!. It is real, Win is running very slowly.

After deleting the cpu from the hardware manager and a reboot the problem is fixed, but after another reboot the problem is back...

If I deactivate the acpi functions in the bios and set the windows installation to a non acpi pc the error is fixed, too. But in this case the pc doesn't power down automatically ("you can now switch off" - screen). This is not wanted...

Searching the MS KB I found nothing. MAybe somebody here has an idea?

F.

 

[fuhbar]

I forgot to mention:
It is a AMD Duron 900Mhz Socket A System based on a Elitegroup mainboard. I use Win XP SP1.

 

[BadBigBen]

You should try to reinstall the ChipSet drivers... if not update the OS aswell...



Ben

If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer...

 

[fuhbar]

Already tried. no effect.

 

[dbMark]

Is it recognizing the CPU incorrectly? I remember I bought GigaByte AMD Athon XP mainboards before and when a couple of them first booted up, they identified the CPU or bus or something incorrectly and the fix was to remove the battery, wait a minute, reinstall the battery and that fixed it. Your problem may be different.

 

[fuhbar]

Yes I think this is different.
In the bios the cpu is recognized correctly. Only under XP there is the problem.

 

[jimp56]

According to the author of this util:

http://www.diefer.de/speedswitchxp/

"On a default Windows XP installation, the power schemes in the power settings of the system panel control the frequencies of the processor"

So, I would re-enable ACPI and play with the power schemes to see if any of them make a difference in the speed.

I doubt that his utility would work on non-mobile cpu systems, so I wouldnt suggest trying it - but thats your call.

I will keep looking for more definitive information - but you may want to contact the mboard maker for support as well.

on an unrelated note, here's an interesting registry tweak regarding L2 cache:

http://www.earthv.com/tips_detail.asp?TipID=11

 

[BadBigBen]

@fuhbar - there is an XP Hotfix for AMD CPUs if I remember correctly...

DriverVer=12/17/2002,5.1.2600.1152
CatalogFile=k7qfe.cat

MSFT = "Microsoft"
AMD = "Advanced Micro Devices"
AmdK7.SvcDesc = "AMD K7 Processor Driver"
AmdK7.DeviceDesc = "AMD K7 Processor"
DiskDesc = "813383"

see here:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?

scid=kb;en-us;815624

or

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?

scid=kb;en-us;813383



Ben

If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer...

 

[jimp56]

see also:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;888282

its all related to the power schemes. Too bad the powercfg.exe doesnt appear to run on XP - you can force the CPU throttling scheme with this util.....(see kb article)

 

[bcastner]

Powercfg.exe runs on the XP, it is just that it will not run without at least one parameter.

Try powercfg.exe /?

 

[fuhbar]

@badbigben
How do the power schemes affect a CPU Speed of a cpu without any powerdown functions like POWERNOW from AMD?

the links mention a reporting wrong cpu speed problems, but I my case the speed is apparently wrong in reality. Maybe I don't get it right. Furthermore they handle more modern cpu as I have. I have a plain old Duron 900Mhz.

 

[BadBigBen]

@fuhbar - I can't answer that one, as I don't have an AMD... but almost anything can be emulated...

but my guess would be, that if the drivers don't function correctly then the OS recognizes the cpu as a 'battery-sucker' and throttles it down...



Ben

If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer...