Processor speed differs depending who's logged in

  • Thread starter Thread starter Rojo Habe
  • Start date Start date
R

Rojo Habe

This is weird (or maybe it's normal and I'm missing something).

I've just installed an Athlon 64 X2 4200+ to replace my old single core
Athlon 64 3200+. It was about the only upgrade I could find locally that
would work in my motherboard. Anyway, I think this used to happen with the
old processor too but I just ignored it. What happens is this:

I have two logins, one for business and one for personal. If I log in using
my business login and call up the System Properties my processor speed shows
as 2.25 GHz, which I'd say is about right. If I log in with the other login
it only shows as 1.01GHz. Is there something odd going on here or can these
processors adjust their clock speed depending on demand? If the latter is
the case, why does my business account run at full speed with nothing but
Windows running?

My best guess it's somthing to do with Cool'n Quiet, and that it's enabled
on a per-user basis. If this is the case, I don't remember enabling it in
the first place, so have no idea how to do it for the other account.

Another thing is that the CPU fan (came in the box with the processor) runs
much slower than the old one: about 480 RPM when the CPU is at 39 degrees.
Is this normal?

Anyway, I'm off to put it through its paces now, and see if it ramps up; in
the meantime any comments will be welcome.
 
Aha! Now I have my answers I thought I'd share them with anyone who (like
me) didn't know...

It is indeed down to Cool'n Quiet and it is indeed a per-user setting. It's
enabled by changing the Power Management settings to anything other than
'Home/Office Desk' or 'Always On'. When enabled, the processor will (for
want of a better word) "idle" at 1 gig, stepping up through 1.8 to 2.2 where
necessary. I've downloaded this cute little utility called the AMD
Cool'n'Quiet Dashboard that shows me in realtime my CPU speed (as a
percentage of maximum) Voltage, Temperature, fan speed (Min to Max) and
power savings( Min to Max. Maximum savings at idle, obviously). Ity also
has two little dynamically updating graphs showing the utilisation for each
core.

Not something I'll use that often, but much better looking than the Abit EQ
software, which looks like a Tonka Toy.
 
Back
Top