Pentuim 4 640 3.2 Ghz. Windows shows clock speed of 2.78 Ghz?

Hello there - I do hope someone can help.

I have a Pentium IV 640 3.2Ghz processor on an Elitegroup RS400a motherboard. Recently (though not totally sure when - in the last month or so) the processor clock speed in the My Computer > Properties > 'System' box on Windows shows that my clock speed is actually 2.78 Ghz.

A utility called CPU-Z confirms this is the case, but it always used to be 3.2 Ghz. Why might it be doing this?

I am soon (infact overdue) to reinstall Windows XP. Would this fix it? Would re-seating the processor work?

Many thanks in advance for reading my questions! I hope you can help me.

 

If you could post a screen shot of CPUZ or post the info from it, like the bus speeds, multiplier, chip model number, etc... This info will be very helpful in trying to fix the problem....
Thanks!

 

I did a bit of research, and it looks like the FSB is 800mhz (which is actually 200mhz for technical purposes) and the multiplier is 14. 200 x 14 = 2800 which is where your chip is at. Your multiplier should be set for 16 (16 x 200 = 3200). Or your FSB should be set for 228 (228 x 14 = 3192). Anyway, post the CPUZ info and we'll go from there.

 

Thank you dlb.

Yes, I cheched CPUZ again and made some screenshots of all tabs and it is indeed as you say - multiplier of 14.

I attach all the screenshots here.

I don't seem able to change the multiplier in the BIOS but can change the FSB. I'll wait for your advice before messing around there though.

Thank you for getting back to me.

 

The clock multiplier for a Pentium 4 640 should be 16x. Not 14x.

If you feel comfortable with it, can you power down the computer, unplug the power cord, and remove the heatsink from the top of the CPU? Then write down what is written on the CPU.

It should look similar to this:


This will let us (as well as you) know what processor you have for sure.

 

I dont have much experience with intel but do they have any thing similar to AMD's cool 'n quiet feature? It could just be underclocking itself when its full power isnt needed.

If your cpu multiplier is supposed to 16 and is 14 you could always download cpu msr. It lets you change the multiplier and voltage in windows.

 

Edit:

I'm not 100 percent sure of the info I listed, so i will remove it.

I will say this hegemon--do not reccomend overclocking utilities to use as a bandaid. Its dangerous and poor advice.

 

I'm not sure I feel totally comfortable doing that. I just remember putting that heatsink on, hoping I'd never have to remove the thing. Sorry about that, it scares me a little. (And I have no thermal glue to replace it with.)

It is certainly a PIV 640 though, 800mHz FSB, 2mB L2. I kept the piece of the packaging with the hologram which says this also.

I certainly cannot find any optin in the BIOS I recognise to change the multiplier from 14 to 16, which would seem a little strange.

Thanks so much to all of you for the help so far! I hope there is a solution for it.

 

The CPU is multiplier locked. It will not allow manual changes.

 

Yeah, as Adrynalyne said, your CPU multiplier is locked. You won't be able to change it.

I guess I was just asking because I've had some experience with a shady computer store (back when I was 14 or so and didn't know much about computers) that sold my parents and I a 'Pentium' system which I later found out had a Cyrix processor in it. :*** What a jerk!

But, since you bought the processor yourself, I would guess you know what you got.

In any case, I don't know how or why the processor multiplier is not correct. The only thing that I can think of is that your motherboard is not recognizing it correctly. You could try upgrading your BIOS to the latest version.

It looks like this is your motherboard: ***Be sure that it is before you attempt to upgrade the BIOS***
http://www.ecsusa.com/ECSWebSite/Pr...ailID=507&DetailName=Feature&MenuID=1&LanID=9

Beyond that, the only thing I can tell you is to contact ECS tech support for further help.

 

Okays. First off, thanks so much to everyone for helping.

Going to update the BIOS and reinstall Windows. At least then I'll be able to see where I am with a clean slate.

Oddly enough, if this is worth mentioning, if I right click My Computer > Properties and look at the specs under 'System' THE VERY VERY MOMENT WINDOWS STARTS then the clock speed shows up as 3.2 GHz. If I leave it a moment, then look again it's back at 2.78 GHz. Very strange.

Also, if I close the ekrn.exe process from Task Manager (ekrn.exe is part of my NOD32 antivirus) and have CPUZ open, the clock speed will VERY briefly jump up to 3.2 GHz before dropping back down again as the ekrn.exe starts up on its own.

Does any of this shed any new light on things?

I really am so grateful for the help. Thank you all.

 

Yep, your CPU is throttling to lower temperature, and save energy.

It ramps up to 3.2 ghz when its needed.

 

I do apologise, but I think I've solved it in some odd way.

Turning off the monitor powersaving and the screensaver in XP and loading the performance optimized defaults in the BIOS seems to stop everything bad happening. CPU up to 3.2GHz again. I don't know about the crashing problem, but I think the power management may have something to do with that also.

I plan to reinstall XP and replace my PSU anyway (see my other current problem) ...But does this smell like a fix so far?

You've all been so helpful, thanks everso much. Very Merry Christmas to you all, incase I miss saying so next time.