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Speedstep Problem

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Latest post 11/02/2009 07:10 PM by Airbull. 15 replies.
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Joined on 05/13/2007
Posts: 14
Points 35

Speedstep Problem

04 Aug 2007 12:30AM
Okay here goes: I think I'm having serious issues with Speedstep.  My current laptop is a Dell Inspiron 600m using an Intel Centrino Mobile processor, which obviously has Speedstep.  It came default from the factory with Speedstep enabled in BIOS.  A few months ago I started having a problem, while gaming or anything CPU intensive, where my CPU load jumped and stayed at 100% while the frequency lowered along with the voltage.
 
Normally, according to CPU-Z, my Core Speed is 2.0 GHZ with Speedstep enabled.  With Speedstep disabled the Core Speed is stuck at 600 MHz.  The problem thus lies in I need to keep Speedstep enabled for gaming.
 
Now my problem that exists is every so often after being under load (even ~30% load will do it) the Core Speed drops to 600 MHz and the system becomes unusable for a few minutes till the Core Speed returns to 2.0 GHz.  I've done a lot of research on Speedstep and have tried various things:
1.) taken out the battery completely while running on AC
2.) every single power management setting that the laptop has
3.) made sure there were no "power saving" options enabled in BIOS
 
And probably a few other things.  Regardless, I still get the problem.  I know how Speedstep works and totally understand it; however, why is it dropping my Core Speed while the CPU is in the middle of gaming and under load?
 
How can I get it repaired?  Dell technical support has yet to find a solution.
  • Post Points: 35

15 Replies:

Joined on 11/02/2009
Posts: 1
Points 5

Re: Speedstep Problem

02 Nov 2009 07:10PM

  I just got a Vostro 1520 with a 9300M video card that was driving me nuts!!  I spent all weekend trying to figure out why Battlefiled @ would not play more than 10 seconds without freezing for 2-3 seconds, then playing, the freezing...  I was ready to send the laptop back because it was doing the same type things on other graphic intensive sites too..  I finally tried enabling and disabling items in the Bios, and once I disabled Speedstep, everything worked great, but slower..  Now that I see the other posts, I will try disabling it in the power settings instead..  You'd think since you reported this 2 years ago, the new laptops would be fixed by now.  Oh well.

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  • Post Points: 5
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