Is my Speedstep not working correctly?

Question

I just got off the phone with customer support and I'm still wondering what the problem is.

I had been checking my memory timings with cpuz, SiSoft etc, and I noticed that my 3.0 Ghz cpu(s) on my XPS Gen 5 were sitting at 2.8 Ghz. It would spike up to 3.0 here and there as cpu need increased.I loaded up throttlewatch to make sure it was'nt thermal throttling, which checks out ok. My ambient is pretty low ( AC in the basement).

I checked BIOS to ensure speedstep was disabled, which is was. That should stop it if I am correct?

Anyways my phone support ended with something like " yeah your cpu is stepping down, yes, you have speedstep disabled which should stop that ( pause) I'm not sure what can be done about that.have a good one"

Before I got on the phone I had rebooted a few times, re-flashed the BIOS ( A02) and double checked the setting. Is there a BIOS error perhaps?

I'd like this turned off, im not into powersaving and all that, and I'm normally crunching SETI or something along those lines so the cycles wont go to waste =D

Niche25 · Answer

Make sure SpeedStep in turned off in your BIOS, then in control panel click on the POWER OPTIONS icon. Make sure your power schemes is not on Minimal Power Management, set it either to ALWAYS ON or Home/Office Desk.

To turn on:

Standard integration procedures should be followed for installing all the various system hardware components. Once all the hardware components have been installed correctly (or if the system is already functional) take the following recommended steps:

1.Download and run the latest BIOS update for you motherboard. Check with your motherboard manufacture to ensure their latest BIOS contains support for Enhanced Intel SpeedStep technology2.Ensure Enhanced Intel SpeedStep technology is enabled in your BIOS. For Intel desktop boards the Intel SpeedStep technology option is under the, “Power,” tab and labeled, “EIST.” Ensure it is set to, “Enabled.”3.Ensure your OS has support for Enhanced Intel SpeedStep technology. For Windows* XP SP2 operating systems install Windows XP SP2* if you haven’t already done so.4.Finally Enhanced Intel SpeedStep technology must be turned on in the OS. Currently, for Windows* XP SP2 operating systems Enhanced Intel SpeedStep technology by default is off. To turn it on do the following:

Under Control Panel – open Power Options
Under the Power Schemes pull down menu
To turn Enhanced Intel SpeedStep technology ON select, “Minimal Power Management,” power scheme.
To turn Enhanced Intel SpeedStep technology OFF select, “Always On,” power scheme.

To verify that Enhanced Intel SpeedStep technology is enabled do the following:

1.Close all applications and ensure that Windows OS is in idle mode. (Pres Ctrl + Alt + Delete and select the Performance tab. Verify that CPU usage is 0%.2.Right click My Computer and select, “Properties.”3.Under the General tab examine the installed processor and speed. If Enhanced Intel SpeedStep technology is enabled, two processor speeds will be listed. The first speed listed is the specified speed of the processor. The second speed is the current operating speed. The second speed will be less then the 1st speed. (See fig. 1) This indicates that Enhanced Intel SpeedStep technology has effectively lowered the processor voltage and core frequency, which can (depending on system usage and design) result in decreased average power consumption and decreased average heat production. If Enhanced Intel SpeedStep technology is off then both processor speeds will be equal. (See fig. 2) If the processor is not in idle mode, Enhanced Intel SpeedStep technology can be enabled and both processors speeds can bee equal. If this happens try steps 1-3 again

Figure 1 (EIST ON): Figure 2 (EIST OFF):

Message Edited by Niche25 on 08-25-2005 02:35 PM

cjc_75 · Answer

Awsome port, thank you!

I totally forgot about the power scehmes! I clicked it to always on and rebooted...its still clocking down. Just looking at it now with a small load on (5% or so) Im sitting at 2800Mhz.

Not sure what to do from here 8(

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Is my Speedstep not working correctly?

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