Pentium M centrino switching frequency - TechRepublic
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March 8, 2007 at 06:56 AM
natty_dread78

Pentium M centrino switching frequency

by natty_dread78 . Updated 19 years, 3 months ago

Hi all,
I have an HP laptop (dv4275EA) with a pentium M centrino 1.7GHz. I noticed recently that the CPU changes its frequency from time to time (I know it’s normal), so I installed speedswitchXp to have it run at full speed.
However, the CPU still changes its frequency when under heavy load (e.g. games), it switches from 1.7 GHz to 900MHz, but the multiplier does not change (x13). Typically, it would run at 1.7GHz for about 5-10 mins, then gets down to 900MHz for about 3-5 mins, then gets back to 1.7, etc…
So I wanted to know if such a behavior is normal. Does the cpu lower its frequency in response to a thermal event ? Then gets back to full speed when it has cooled down ? Is there a way to have it run at 1.7GHz no matter what, and is it dangerous to do so ?
Thxs in advance,
N_D

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