Dear Everyone,

I know that this Question of mine might bug many. I have read a lot of the posts on Speedstep and know about the general problems quite well. I have a i8200 with P4-M 2.0 GHz with 640 MB RAM. 60 GB 5400 rpm HDD with BIOS A06 installed. I recently installed the SP1 on the pre-installed XP. Just for additional info I have got the UltraSharp 15" with ATI 9000 GPU (6194 drivers).

Speedstep in XP SP1 slows my computer to 1.19 GHz. I love the way it does that saving energy and producing less heat. But the problem is that this down throttling is not dynamic. Its stuck at 1.19 GHz as shown by the Intel Processor Frequency Utility. Its confirmed when I play a DVD and try to open too many IE windows. When its running at 2.0 GHz (usually just after a fresh boot) this slowdown is absent.

Interestingly, I have noted that after a fresh boot SPEEDSTEP throttling is indeed dynamic, meaning that I have observed that the speed varies from 1.19 GHz to 1.54 to 1.67 to 1.99 GHz. This I did that opening several programs at a time and watching the CPU usage soar till 100%. The Intel Frequency Utility helped me with this.

Unfortuantely, this dynamic throttling vanishes after a few minutes of usage. I guess after around 30 minutes. And no I am not running batteries at all!! The system is always AC powered.

Another thing that I have noticed while the throttling is dynamic (within the freshboot 30 mins) is that when I choose ALWAYS ON, it does not go upto 1.99 GHz as it must. It stays at 1.19. If I choose Home/Office Desk, it shoots to 1.99GHz. Similarly, when I choose MAXIMUM BATTERY, it stays in 1.99GHz. MINIMUM POWER MANAGEMENT takes it back down to 1.2 GHz. I assert again that this throttling is only effective in the short period of no more than an hour.

I had also noticed a couple of days ago that the system was stuck at 1.2 GHz as its maximum and 717 MHz as its lower thresholds. Why such erratic behavior, I have no idea. I have emailed DELL about this.

I hope that anyone will be able to help me out. This is just about 10 days old system. I hope I don't have to return it cuz other than the dynamic throttling attached to Speedstep, I love my system and others who have it, too.

Thanks a lot !!

Fazal

I have noticed this behavior:

Power Scheme                      = Actually Is....

Home/Office Desk                     = Always On

Portable/Laptop                       = Home/Office Desk

Always On                                = Maximum Battery

Maximum Battery                      = Minimal Power Management

Presentation                             = only God knows wat ??

Minimal Power Management    = Maximum Battery