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Solve : Slow down processor? |
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Answer» OK, so this is one you might not get every day... I want to slow down my processor further if possible. It's a pentium 4-m which has speedstep. In windows xp if I choose max battery as my power scheme, it automatically slows down to 1.2ghz from 1.8 There has been once or twice I caught it down around 450mhz. I would like to know if there is a way I can MAKE it go there when it's on battery to further help save battery.. With a new battery this thing would last 3-4 hours now I'm lucky if I can get 50 minutes. 1.8 and even 1.2ghz is plenty fast 450 would work fine when on battery. I've tried speedswitch xp and I can't get it to go under 1.2 with that either. Unless i'm setting things wrong-- there is a few things i'm not 100% sure about but still I don't care for that program. So I'm pretty sure this is possible somehow, and I know I could just go buy a new battery but If you know anything about those I'm sure you also know the prices of them lol. Usually it's not a big deal for the battery life, I mean I alawys have my power cord with me I keep one on the dock and one in my case and I have an inverter in the car but other times it's just more convenient you know? Well thanks if anyone can help! slow down your processor -,-' if so just smash it rofl Obviously you can ignore this advice. tommyg you have now been warned repeatedly. This is not your personal PLAYGROUND for offhand comments and questionable advice when it concerns other people's equipment. If your goal here is to get kicked off you are extremely close to that happening. I am no longer going to repeat myself. patio. Quote from: patio on October 30, 2007, 06:27:59 AM The reason this will not work is that even with speedstep the CPU is still going to ramp up according to the demand placed on it. Ok.. this is true depending on the power scheme... As Calum said, on Max Battery it will stay at 1.2 (which by the way is the same speed I get if I just turn off the speedstep in the bios) If it's on Home/desktop or portable/laptop it works as you mentioned... it'll be 1.2 and stepping up to 1.8 when needed. If it's at Always on, it stays at 1.8 all the time. But I am going to go check out the NHC that calum mentioned right now. But if 1.2 is the slowest it will go, howcome I've3 had times wheve Xp has said it was running around 450mhz? WCPUID's wcpuclk has never shown lower than 1.2 though.. Thanks guys and thanks for the site calum I'm going to check that out now. :-)That does seem odd, that it has sometimes stepped down to 450MHz. Perhaps this is thermal throttling? That's when the CPU is very hot and it really ramps down the speed to prevent overheating, prior to shutting down should the HEAT increase further. Check out NHC and let us know how it goes, be sure to read the documentation first as it's a powerful tool, and like all powerful tools can cause problems if used incorrectly. Let us know how it goes.That is a possibility that it was thermal throttling because that time I caught it at 450 I was sitting outside on the deck in the sun... So maybe from the sun hitting it, it was getting extra hot (it is black) This thing has the POOREST ventilation I've ever seen... I had one VERY VERY similar.. you wouldn't know the diff by looking.... when I was in high school for my votech class and it only had one fan in it but it never got hot at all... THis one has 2 and I'm always watching to make sure it doesn't heat up.. My wireless card (pcmcia linksys card) throws off a LOT of heat-- I know that's why too becuase hwen I don't have it in (when it's docked) it won't get as hot as when it's in when it's docked. ALso. I tried the NHC and I don't know if it really helps.. it's showing 1.2 at Max Battery Whichi s the same if I just use the windows scheme for max battery.. And the max PERFORMACE is is the same as the windows scheme "always on" and Dynamic switching is the same as "Portable/laptop" and "home/office desk" What does the battery optimized do? I read the help thing but it didn't really make sense to me.. lol I can't figure the difference between that and max battery. The NHC IS nice though becuase it shows the CPU speed in realtime (1sec I believe) so when I have it on dynamic I can see when it switches which is cool. Also the battery icon is cool compared to the windows one, but really I don't think i'm getting much difference in battery life. But I'll still use it. Maybe it IS helping and I just haven't noticed much I've only been on battery twice since I put it on. (Now being one of those times) So thanks for that!The NHC "Battery optimized" scheme keeps the CPU at the slowest speed all the time, even when on AC power, as far as I am aware. You could try underclocking and possibly undervolting the CPU using NHC, but only if you're very confident in what you're doing, it can cause problems. Other than that, you could try disabling unnecessary things such as wireless, Bluetooth, etc to increase battery life, and decrease the sceen's brightness. Many settings related to battery life can be accessed using NHC, so have a play and see what you COME up with. And you're welcome, glad you like it.Hey Calum... I do dim the display and have loads of stuff disabled in device manager.. However! I did look thru that NHC program again and I found some advanced settings, I was able to take my 1.8 all the way down to 150MHZ!!!! haha.. Not that I'd want it that slow.. it took about 5 seconds for the start menu to show once clicked, but that did do it. So I am going to try it on battery again with it down around 450 or 600 and see what happens. I discovered it last night when I was on battery and it said 0 minutes, and 1% battery life left and it was there for about 10 minutes.. an I lowered it to 600mhz and I was still going for another good 15 minutes probably. It never did die completely I plugged it back in. Also I have calibrated my battery... I just did it about a week ago actually.. I let it sit till it was so dead it just shut off then charged it back up again. I think there's just a bad cell on my battery. It's an 8 or 12 cell I don't remember which. It's a business notebook it's really heavy, well made, and has a nice battery (when it's new, aprox. 4 hours). But anways just wanted to say thanks again becuase I just didn't see that option before in that program but I found it now!!You're more than welcome. glad I could help you out. If you do use NHC to underclock, you could undervolt it slightly too, which means less power is given to the CPU. This should reduce heat and power consumption, but don't overdo it. Also, cycling the battery as you described should help, if it hasn't been done for a while and you have the time do it 4 or 5 times in a row, discharge and fully charge, then discharge again etc. |
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