processor speed

Discussion in 'other software & services' started by pumphybear, Aug 12, 2004.

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  1. pumphybear

    pumphybear Registered Member

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    anybody give me a bit of help here, my pc has a xp athlon 2400 proc, but on start up it says its an 1800

    i think that xp pro has a default value(?) for the speed, how do i go about turning up the speed
     
  2. Mr. Hrmm

    Mr. Hrmm Guest

  3. Devinco

    Devinco Registered Member

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    Hi Pumphybear,

    It is normal for an AMD Athlon XP CPU to have a lower actual CPU speed then their "perceived performance".
    It was essentially a marketing gimmick to make the numbers look equivalent compared to Intel. It is true however that the AthlonXP processors perform more work per clock cycle then the Intels at the time. So they performed equivalent to a higher speed Intel.
    This is only my opinion. I like AMD, in fact I am using one right now.
    I also like Intel.
    It seems like the right MHz for a 2400+ is 1.93 GHz - 2GHz so it seems like you have something not configured in BIOS right, probably the CPU multiplier, or maybe a RAM setting. BE CAREFUL...you can really mess things up if you don't know what you are doing. You should probably try the forums at Tomshardware, HardOCP, and Anandtech. You can learn a ton over there. Also don't change lots of things at once. Change one thing (and just by a small amount!) then test. Then repeat and change another. And don't mess around with overclocking unless you really know what you are doing. The gains aren't worth the stability issues.

    Here is some more info on the subject:
    Performance matters
    CPU comparisons
    Tomshardware forum
    Anandtech
     
    Last edited: Aug 12, 2004
  4. pumphybear

    pumphybear Registered Member

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  5. Pigman

    Pigman Registered Member

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    Eh, Devinco, you're talking about overclocking, aren't you?

    I've heard that that is a good way to screw up your chip...
     
  6. Devinco

    Devinco Registered Member

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    Hi Pigman,
    Yeah, although on pumphybear's it may be underclocked or simply a turbo setting switch in BIOS, or a RAM setting.
    If the only thing that matters is MHz (playing video games) and you have money to burn (literally), then go for it(overclocking). But you will have to get special cooling and RAM to make it happen. Then you will reduce your CPUs life. And your system stability goes out the window, especially timing critical subsystems like SATA and USB2. I have overclocked before(mildly and with high performance RAM/good cooling, etc.) and went in depth into it. But it wasn't worth the money or problems. Your Mhz may vary.
     
    Last edited: Aug 12, 2004
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