I have had problems like yours, check that the temperature is not getting to high, SpeedStep will automatically switch off (down to lower GHz) is the processor is to hot.

For me the solution was to blow compressed air (from one of those cans) into the processor cooling vents on the back. It seems that the dust collected was enough to stop the cooling from doing what it should.

I guess that the total life time of the computer will be lowerd if running to how for a long time. I have forgotten mine on while having it in my backpack and then it have just shut down (and been complayning loudly afterwards ;).

Hope it helps.

Message Edited by BedazzledUK on 10-04-2005 08:01 PM

Fred,

You were absolutely right - I've just tried it again after leaving the computer off for a few hours and when I switched it back on it ran at a steady 1.6GHz for 5-10 minutes then when it warmed up it switched into the variable CPU speed mode, so it's definately a thermal issue.

The question is, should I load the older BIOS to get round this problem?

Ok, I've cracked this without having to mess around with the BIOS! It's really simple - I've just written a tiny VB application that creates an infinite loop that just issues a "DoEvents" command so that Windows can function normally:

Do
  DoEvents
Loop

The loop forces the CPU to run at maximum speed and uses hardly any processing power itself so games etc run perfectly. Just compile it to an EXE and run it in the background when you are playing games. You also need to disable speedstep first by setting the power options to "always on" in the control panel. I monitored the CPU temperature while it was running and it stays at 50 degreesC with continued use (which is slightly higher than normal but ok I think).... sorted!

I've extended it to also display the CPU speed while it is running:

Set objProc = GetObject("winmgmts:root\cimv2:Win32_Processor='cpu0'")

Reset = False
Do
  If (Timer - StartTimer > 1) And Reset = False Then
   CPUspeed.Caption = objProc.CurrentClockSpeed
   StartTimer = Timer
  End If
  DoEvents
Loop Until Reset = True

Message Edited by BedazzledUK on 10-05-2005 12:23 PM

THANK YOU!!! This was the ONLY fix that helped me to run the original Unreal Tournament properly on my precision m90 without rendering my 2.33ghz dualcore to 600mhz with a bios Speedstep disable, screwing around with render patches or other tweaks that didn't do squat!