T9500 Runs at only 2.16Ghz (13x167) on Intel PM965 ??!

[ring]

So I have just upgraded my CPU from T7300 to T9500 on my Dell inspiron 1520, BIOS shows max freq=2.6Ghz, but CPU-Z, Everest and Intel CPU ID Utility all show that the CPU frequency is at only 2.16Ghz. I checked Everest and it shows that the FSB is running at 666Mhz where it is supposed to be running 800Mhz??? I think that's the cause of not getting the full 2.6Ghz (13x167 ~=2166 Ghz). There doesn't seem to have anything in BIOS that I can change to correct this. Any idea ?

 

[compulsivebuilder]

Is this under load, or idling?

It could be SpeedStep at work, slowing the CPU when it's not under load so it uses less power.

Trying loading up the CPU (running Prime95, for example), and checking the speed again.

 

[DaveUK]

Dell laptops often have quite aggressive throttling in place based on heat/power contraints - this is nothing to do with Speedstep (not to say that the prior poster is wrong in this case).

For example, my laptop charger is 90W but there is something wrong with the reporting so sometimes I get an error message saying I don't have a genuine dell charger at the correct wattage. This causes the laptop to noticeably throttle the CPU speed (big problem in games) even though it does actually have the correct power supply.

You could try downloading the ThrottleStop application (which I use) AT YOUR OWN RISK. If you tick the "Chipset Clock Mod" and "Clock Modulation" options then this allows you to disable the throttling in many Dell laptops.

If that rectifies the issue and you see the clocks you are expecting, it may well be that the significant boost in CPU frequency has pushed your laptop's power requirements over the performance of your power adapter. For instance, you may have a ~60W one and now need a ~90W.

Dell actually provide lots of different chargers for laptops of different powers - for instance the top Alienware models require a charger way over 100W.

 

[ring]

Ran Prime95 for 5min, fan starts speeding up, SisSandra, CPU-Z, Intel ID all shows same thing .... 2.16Ghz, ~664Mhz FSB

Is this under load, or idling?

It could be SpeedStep at work, slowing the CPU when it's not under load so it uses less power.

Trying loading up the CPU (running Prime95, for example), and checking the speed again.

 

[ring]

I tried to used the OEM 90W Dell AC adapter even with the battery plugged in, it still gives the same result, BIOS sees the AC running at 90W too... Now the stress test I'm running brings the CPU load to 100% but nothing changed ... I think I've seen somebody using the same laptop with T9500 and the CPU-Z report says the bus is running at 199Mhz... as opposed to the 166 that I'm getting.

Dell laptops often have quite aggressive throttling in place based on heat/power contraints - this is nothing to do with Speedstep (not to say that the prior poster is wrong in this case).

For example, my laptop charger is 90W but there is something wrong with the reporting so sometimes I get an error message saying I don't have a genuine dell charger at the correct wattage. This causes the laptop to noticeably throttle the CPU speed (big problem in games) even though it does actually have the correct power supply.

You could try downloading the ThrottleStop application (which I use) AT YOUR OWN RISK. If you tick the "Chipset Clock Mod" and "Clock Modulation" options then this allows you to disable the throttling in many Dell laptops.

If that rectifies the issue and you see the clocks you are expecting, it may well be that the significant boost in CPU frequency has pushed your laptop's power requirements over the performance of your power adapter. For instance, you may have a ~60W one and now need a ~90W.

Dell actually provide lots of different chargers for laptops of different powers - for instance the top Alienware models require a charger way over 100W.

 

[tekiotaku]

T9500 has default FSB of 800 MHz, but it run at 666 MHz at your system. So the problem could be from your motherboard. Is your board able to support 800 MHz of FSB? What about your RAM specs?

 

[tekiotaku]

Forgot to check your chipset, PM965 supports 800 MHz of FSB. So what about your RAM specs?

 

[tekiotaku]

Forgot to check your chipset, PM965 supports 800 MHz of FSB. So what about your RAM specs?

 

[ring]

PM965 Supports only 667MHZ RAMS, mines is G.Skill 4GB DDR2 at 800MHZ, but CPU-Z shows DRAM at 277MHZ...
I swap the T7300 back in and noticed it's also running low at 1.66MHz, sometimes 1.83MHz (from Dynamic Acceleration ?) with FSB at 667MHZ as well...

Forgot to check your chipset, PM965 supports 800 MHz of FSB. So what about your RAM specs?

 

[DaveUK]

Have you tried throttlestop to check if this is actually a chipset issue or just a throttling problem?

(again, entirely at your own risk)

Even with the correct power adaptor connected, my laptop throttles the CPU substantially sometimes when playing games.

 

[ring]

Ok, i tried it and all it does is to keep the multiplier at 13-14(14 is from dynamic accleration i think ), but the FSB never goes up so the speed never goes pass 2300mhz...
Im assuming something must be preventing my mobo to use FSB800...But it must have the support for it or else I wouldnt be able to use both CPUs at the first place, right?

 

[DaveUK]

Have you actually tried updating the BIOS via Dell?

 

[DaveUK]

the speed never goes pass 2300mhz...

...and at least that is an improvement from 2.16ghz



Definitely thinking it's a BIOS issue, hoping an update will fix it. Otherwise there is pretty much nothing you can do! Dells and most laptops are notoriously BIOS-restricted. If the BIOS won't detect the correct FSB for the CPU you're using there is no way that I am aware of to force it to use a different FSB. There are PLL tools out there but I personally wouldn't risk using one for the sake of a further 13% increase in CPU clockspeed. Not to mention that it would be overclocking (and thus probably frying) your RAM, as you have no way of changing the DRAM ratio in BIOS either.

 

[ring]

I have the latest BIOS installed already. Although it's dated back in July 2008 it sees the T9500 correctly in BIOS. Yet all sort of monitoring utilities(CPUZ, Everest, SisSandra, RMclock, and even Dell diagnostic tool) report the FSB speed is 166x 4 ~=664 MHZ. Both Windows 7 and XP system property shows "T9500@ 2.6Ghz, 2.60Ghz" at startup, but sometimes when I check it it says "T9500@ 2.6Ghz, 2.16Ghz"...
The ~2300 Mhz speed showed up only in CPUZ sometimes when the multiplier gets "overclocked" (due to Dynamic Accleration from BIOS?) above it's normal x13 maximum...(up to x14). In other words, if i can fix the 664mhz FSB issue and get it back to 800mhz, the processor may randomly go above 2600mhz as well.
Another odd thing i noticed in CPUZ is that the Ram is running at some 555mhz effective clock speed instead of 667 that the mobo supports? I have a pair of G.Skill 800mhz 2GB (4gb total) in there..
Something's not right with the bus speed..
My CPU runs in the 50C-60C range and GPU at around 60C. I assume thats probably not too hot to make the computer automatically downclocking itself...

...and at least that is an improvement from 2.16ghz



Definitely thinking it's a BIOS issue, hoping an update will fix it. Otherwise there is pretty much nothing you can do! Dells and most laptops are notoriously BIOS-restricted. If the BIOS won't detect the correct FSB for the CPU you're using there is no way that I am aware of to force it to use a different FSB. There are PLL tools out there but I personally wouldn't risk using one for the sake of a further 13% increase in CPU clockspeed. Not to mention that it would be overclocking (and thus probably frying) your RAM, as you have no way of changing the DRAM ratio in BIOS either.

 

[DaveUK]

This may be a daft question, but where did you get the processor from? There are lots of "engineering samples" floating around on ebay (for example) for CPUs that are running at different specifications to the retail version. In addition, the BIOS sometimes struggle with it I've seen examples of people with an engineering version of your processor in some Dell laptops getting locked to 1.2ghz (!)

Can you post a screenshot of your CPU-Z information please?

 

[ring]

The Intel processor ID Utility identified it as a non-ES sample, and I don't think this is a possibility because I also tried the OEM T7300 (2.0/800/4mb) that came with my Dell Laptop, which must be genuine non-ES, and it gives the same bus speed( ~664mhz).

Here's a SS off the CPU-Z report:

This may be a daft question, but where did you get the processor from? There are lots of "engineering samples" floating around on ebay (for example) for CPUs that are running at different specifications to the retail version. In addition, the BIOS sometimes struggle with it I've seen examples of people with an engineering version of your processor in some Dell laptops getting locked to 1.2ghz (!)

Can you post a screenshot of your CPU-Z information please?

 

[DaveUK]

If it's a "proper" Core 2 Duo T9500 (I may be wrong but I think they only ever made one stepping for this socket) then I'm 99% sure that it is a BIOS / Motherboard issue. There are numerous examples of Dell laptops not correctly (or at all) allowing CPU upgrades that the chipset should technically support.

I would suggest heading here and downloading the pre-OS bootable BIOS test suite from Intel to see if that can shed any light on it:

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/SearchResult.aspx?lang=eng&ProductFamily=Processors&ProductLine=Notebook&ProductProduct=Intel%C2%AE+Core%E2%84%A22+Duo+Mobile+Processor&ProdId=2643&LineId=3006&FamilyId=24

Failing that, contact Dell support and ask them about it. They may be able to confirm either way if this is a compatible upgrade path, or if there are known issues with this such as BIOS issue they are aware of.