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CPU not running at rated speed?

D

desmopilot

Weaksauce
Joined
Mar 17, 2010
Messages
127
Recently built my home file server/htpc (spec's in sig) and noticed the CPU is only running at around ~2.4GHz when it's supposed to be running at 2.5GHz. Now I know this is totally trivial and won't matter, but I'm curious as to why it's not running at 2.5GHz. Anyone have any idea's?

- BIOS is up to date
- Checked with CPUZ and it does say its the E3300
- turned off C1E and any throttling features that may be the cause

Any idea's? Thanks ahead of time.
 
"~2.4"

whats the exact speed?
whats the speed of the bus?

sounds like maybe bios is running 12X instead of 12.5X, that would be a wierd bug.

Might look into updating your motherboard firmware.
 
MrWizard6600 said:
"~2.4"

whats the exact speed?
whats the speed of the bus?

sounds like maybe bios is running 12X instead of 12.5X, that would be a wierd bug.

Might look into updating your motherboard firmware.
Click to expand...

According to CPUZ:
2.394GHz
x9 Multi
266MHz Bus
rated FSB 1064MHz
 
yeah, the E3300 is supposed to run 12.5X on an 800MHz FSB.

a motherboard firmware upgrade would "fix" the problem, but there might be something to be said for the fact that the extra 266MHz you're getting out of your FSB would be better for performance than the extra 100Mhz you'd get if you motherboard could load the correct cpu profile.

in other words, if you're sure its stable (and you should check using orthos or something), then I'd just leave it.

on a side note how are those htpc's? Do you use Windows Media Center with a cable card or how are you feeding your TV in (and from which source, sat or cable?) Are you doing anything with homegroups/streaming/etc?
 
MrWizard6600 said:
yeah, the E3300 is supposed to run 12.5X on an 800MHz FSB.

a motherboard firmware upgrade would "fix" the problem, but there might be something to be said for the fact that the extra 266MHz you're getting out of your FSB would be better for performance than the extra 100Mhz you'd get if you motherboard could load the correct cpu profile.

in other words, if you're sure its stable (and you should check using orthos or something), then I'd just leave it.

on a side note how are those htpc's? Do you use Windows Media Center with a cable card or how are you feeding your TV in (and from which source, sat or cable?) Are you doing anything with homegroups/streaming/etc?
Click to expand...
Just so I'm understanding right, by motherboard firmware you're referring to the BIOS right?

Alright I see what you're getting at. Weird that it would boot than as this is the budget of budget kingston value RAM; would assume it would take a crap at anything over its rated speed (unless I'm missing something). Alright, well I'll start stress testing it tomorrow when I wake up.

This is my first foray into HTPC so I'm really learning as I go along. This system will serve as my home backup/file server as well as being hooked up to my HDTV via HDMI so it can play high-def video (both downloads and blu rays). Right now I'm looking at XBMC.
 
desmopilot said:
Just so I'm understanding right, by motherboard firmware you're referring to the BIOS right?

Alright I see what you're getting at. Weird that it would boot than as this is the budget of budget kingston value RAM; would assume it would take a crap at anything over its rated speed (unless I'm missing something). Alright, well I'll start stress testing it tomorrow when I wake up.

This is my first foray into HTPC so I'm really learning as I go along. This system will serve as my home backup/file server as well as being hooked up to my HDTV via HDMI so it can play high-def video (both downloads and blu rays). Right now I'm looking at XBMC.
Click to expand...

yeah the BIOS. Again I wouldn't bother, upgrading or "flashing" your BIOS firmware is always a little bit nerve racking. Ive never had one botched but I've heard plenty of horror stories, and if you do, you've probably bricked your board.

The FSB is 4 identical busses running in parallel, so we say that the actual speed is X, and the "rated" speed is 4X: in your case its 4 busses each running 266MHz for a "rated" speed of 1066MHz (intel only shows you the "rated" speed because its bigger, and it makes it look like its as fast as AMD's Hyper Transport).

RAM profiles are separate from CPU profiles and you'll notice that all the common ram speeds are friendly ratios to both 266MHz and 200MHz, so your ram will be running in spec.

And I did something very similar to that chip: plugged it into an Abit (RIP --I miss this company) AW9D motherboard. It didnt have a BIOS which recognized an 200MHz chip, so it just ran it at 266MHz. Havn't had any problems yet.
 
Yeah, I bricked my old ASUS A8V board back in the A64 days by flashing its BIOS. Will avoid that route if I can.

Alright, if it's stable I'll leave as is, if it's not I'll flash the BIOS to the most up to date one (thought it was up to date but a quick glance at gigabytes website proves me wrong).

I miss Abit as well, my old NF7-S is still my favorite of all the boards I've owned (though not in use, I kept it for nostalgic reasons).

Thank you for your help good sir!
 
Have you checked to see if the CPU is on the motherboards supported CPU list? Sounds like something that would happen when it isn't on the list, but it is trying to do the best it can.
 
MaxBurn said:
Have you checked to see if the CPU is on the motherboards supported CPU list? Sounds like something that would happen when it isn't on the list, but it is trying to do the best it can.
Click to expand...

Turns out you're right my CPU isn't supported. Was a total mistake on my part as I just assumed it would all work. Looking on the supported list, I noticed with a BIOS upgrade it only lists the Wolfdate/Yorkfield Core 2 Duo's/Quads as being supported but not my Celeron E3300 (which is a Wolfdale). Should I still bother to update the BIOS?
 
desmopilot said:
Turns out you're right my CPU isn't supported. Was a total mistake on my part as I just assumed it would all work. Looking on the supported list, I noticed with a BIOS upgrade it only lists the Wolfdate/Yorkfield Core 2 Duo's/Quads as being supported but not my Celeron E3300 (which is a Wolfdale). Should I still bother to update the BIOS?
Click to expand...

The MB/Bios either supports 1/2 step multipliers or it doesn't. Shouldn't matter if its Celeron or Core2. If that Bios upgrade adds the 1/2 steps then it should fix your problem. Give it a try - if its released Bios (not Beta) then you don't risk very much.
 
Updated the BIOS and now it's detecting the E3300 at the correct 2.5GHz. Again, thanks to all.
 
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