Inexplicable core problem

ApexMirage

My second core is running at 1mhz? I'm pretty clueless as to what to do here =/ Restarting didnt fix anything.

PC Wizard screens:

theclam

Is one core disabled in the BIOS?

ApexMirage

theclam wrote: »

Is one core disabled in the BIOS?

I remember messing around trying to find fan settings in there a long while ago, but there's nothing about core control... it's a pretty limited bios as far as I could tell.

(I didnt actually change any of the settings while I was in the bios)

ApexMirage

This is still a problem if anyone has some insight

Firebrand

Does the task manager show one or two CPU graphs? If it's only one, try Start->Run, msconfig, "Boot" tab, "Advanced options...", and make sure the # processors box isn't ticked.

What happens if you try to assign a process (say Firefox) to the second core through the task manager?

ApexMirage

The box isn't ticked, and there are two graphs. How do I assign a process?

Firebrand

Rightclick the process and then "Affinity". See if the process still is working correctly and if the frequency in PCWizard remains at 1Mhz.

Does sound like some BIOS setting though.

ApexMirage

I set winamp to 'core 1' only and it still worked fine as far as i could tell, so maybe it's just pcw not picking up my second core properly? What other program could I check with?

proXimity

Try CPU-Z http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php

ApexMirage

proXimity wrote: »

Try CPU-Z http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php

It's a little less user-friendly, what am I looking for?

Moudis

Bottom left corner of the CPU tab has a block labeled "Clocks". Your clock speed is listed right inside of it at the top.

ApexMirage

I see no change in the numbers besides an odd decimal when I switch cores, so I guess it checks out?

Barrakketh

Older AMD processors (the orignal Phenom line for sure) are very aggressive about power management if you leave Cool'N'Quiet enabled. It's particularly a problem with Windows because of how it manages processes and threads on multicore systems, so the moment that second core isn't being utilized it'll lower the clock speed. That issue has been fixed with the Phenom II.

Since you're on a laptop (judging by the GPU) you won't want to do this permanently, but if you are able to turn off CNQ you can try running PC Wizard again and see if it reports that the second core is running at full speed.