Bizarre processor speed issue in HP m7260n

[RoxRanger]

I have recently purchased two Hewlett-Packard m7260n Media Center PCs. In
exploring the systems, I discovered one very strange thing related to
processor speed, and it perplexes me.

These PCs use Intel's dual-core Pentium D CPU, running at 3.0 GHz. However,
when I open the System Properties - General tab on the machines, one reports
the processor speed, correctly, as 3.0 GHz. The other reports the processor
speed, incorrectly, as 2.79 GHz. I've run a number of tests on the "2.79"
PC, using - variously - the Intel Processor ID Utility, Performance Test 6.0
(shareware), and even Microsoft's System Information utility. ALL of these
tools (and HP's own supplied diagnostic tools) - as well as the BIOS -
correctly report the machine as having a Pentium D 3.0 GHz processor.

Does anyone have an idea why - given that apparently the correct processor
is installed - one machine would report itself as having the incorrect
processor? I've contacted HP about this with, predictably, uninformative
results.

Thanks for any help anyone can give in shedding light on this issue.

 

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

The Processor Speed May Be Reported Incorrectly in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;316965

How Processor Speed Is Reported to a Computer
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;312104

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows - Shell/User
Microsoft Community Newsgroups
news://msnews.microsoft.com/

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:

| I have recently purchased two Hewlett-Packard m7260n Media Center PCs. In
| exploring the systems, I discovered one very strange thing related to
| processor speed, and it perplexes me.
|
| These PCs use Intel's dual-core Pentium D CPU, running at 3.0 GHz. However,
| when I open the System Properties - General tab on the machines, one reports
| the processor speed, correctly, as 3.0 GHz. The other reports the processor
| speed, incorrectly, as 2.79 GHz. I've run a number of tests on the "2.79"
| PC, using - variously - the Intel Processor ID Utility, Performance Test 6.0
| (shareware), and even Microsoft's System Information utility. ALL of these
| tools (and HP's own supplied diagnostic tools) - as well as the BIOS -
| correctly report the machine as having a Pentium D 3.0 GHz processor.
|
| Does anyone have an idea why - given that apparently the correct processor
| is installed - one machine would report itself as having the incorrect
| processor? I've contacted HP about this with, predictably, uninformative
| results.
|
| Thanks for any help anyone can give in shedding light on this issue.

 

[RoxRanger]

Carey:

Thank you so much for your quick and informative response. Sure enough, the
3.0 and 3.2 GHz versions of this processor are SpeedStep processors (the 2.8
GHz isn't).

The PC that was reporting 2.8 GHz was set by HP to the "Energy Star" power
scheme, which throttled the processor down to 2.8 GHz to save power. When I
reset the computer to "Home/Office Desk," the processor was correctly
reported as 3.0 GHz. The other PC was set to "Home/Office Desk" at the
factory.

Problem definitively solved!