HP notebook running slow
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From: bnmohan via HWKB.com on 12 Apr 2008 09:19 I have a HP NX6120 laptop. When I opened the Help and Support Centre and looked at my System information, it reported that the processor was Centrino 1.73Ghz, and current speed 800Mhz. Is the "current speed 800Mhz" the reason why the notebook appears to be running slow now? I increased the RAM from 512M to 1.24G ( with matching ram chips)? Is there a BIOS setting that should be touched? I understand that it is quite risky doing that. Mohan -- Message posted via HWKB.com http://www.hwkb.com/Uwe/Forums.aspx/pc-hardware/200804/1
From: Clark on 12 Apr 2008 10:23 bnmohan via HWKB.com wrote: > I have a HP NX6120 laptop. > When I opened the Help and Support Centre and looked at my System information, > it reported that the processor was Centrino 1.73Ghz, and current speed 800Mhz. > > Is the "current speed 800Mhz" the reason why the notebook appears to be > running slow now? I increased the RAM from 512M to 1.24G ( with matching ram > chips)? > Is there a BIOS setting that should be touched? I understand that it is quite > risky doing that. > > Mohan > That is probably the Intel SpeedStep which varies the processor speed depending on load. There is a bios setting to turn it on or off, but leaving it on is the recommended. You can check by entering setup at boot. If the system is running slow, you might look for bloatware or other software doing some type of scanning operation. In one case, I know the Norton software that came with a laptop was making it extremely slow. You might be able to turn off some functions to bring you system back up to speed. Clark Clark
From: Paul on 12 Apr 2008 19:40 bnmohan via HWKB.com wrote: > I have a HP NX6120 laptop. > When I opened the Help and Support Centre and looked at my System information, > it reported that the processor was Centrino 1.73Ghz, and current speed 800Mhz. > > Is the "current speed 800Mhz" the reason why the notebook appears to be > running slow now? I increased the RAM from 512M to 1.24G ( with matching ram > chips)? > Is there a BIOS setting that should be touched? I understand that it is quite > risky doing that. > > Mohan > There is a review here. http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=2483 Most notebook/laptop computers, will have power saving options. One of those options, is to drop the processor speed, when the computer is relatively idle. That is called SpeedStep or EIST by Intel (Powernow or Cool N' Quiet by AMD). That would account for the reported speed - that is one of the two speeds possible. Chipsets come with one or two memory channels. In the two memory channel case, an option called "dual channel" is possible. It allows enhanced memory bandwidth, by fetching from both channels at the same time. If the "dual channel" criterion are not met, the BIOS will set up the chipset for single channel operation. Either one channel or the other channel will be accessed, according to memory address presented. There will be a reduction in memory speed, when this mode is used. For dual channel operation, there are a couple possible criterion used. One is "exact matching". That was a requirement of earlier chipsets. The rows, columns, banks, and ranks of memory (logical dimensions) of each DIMM, had to match its partner. Later chipsets reduced the requirements, to having the same amount of memory present on each channel. On a desktop computer, with that relaxed requirement, you could put 2x512MB on one channel, and a single 1GB stick on the other channel (using three of four slots on a desktop). In the case of your computer, there are two slots. There is little difference between "exact match" and "same total memory" in your case. It is easiest to use the same memory for both the internal slot and the external slot. It sounds like the machine had 2x256MB matched to start with, you removed one and added a 1GB stick. This gives the 1.24GB figure, with the mismatched memory config of 256MB + 1GB. The machine will use single channel mode as a result of the upgrade. (Note - this assumes the manufacturer did not cheat, and simply stick both memories on the same channel, enforcing single channel operation at all times. If that were the case, it would not matter how the slots were populated. But I think this is a dual channel setup.) For a testing program, there is this. This is an ancient program, used by benchmarkers, and has been hand modified (assembler level instructions), in order to prevent cheating. Apparently, the original source is not available. http://www.xtremesystems.com/pi/super_pi_mod-1.5.zip http://www.xtremesystems.com/pi/ To benchmark, the dialog will present a "number of digits" to generate. For example, on my 3.1GHz P4, it takes 50 seconds to generate one million digits of the constant PI. (I used to get 45 seconds, but after my AV program was added, the time increased to 50 seconds.) The above review article (notebookreview.com), notes this benchmark for the program. HP nx6120 (1.73GHz Alviso Pentium M) 1m 50s (Calculate Pi to 2 Million Digits) You could start, by putting the original 2x256MB memory configuration back in the computer. Start SuperPI running, and verify the 1 minute 50 second result. That is verifying the thing works as well as the review article above. On a second run of SuperPI, in the middle of the calculation run, try to run the System Info tool. Now you should be seeing 1.73GHz or whatever displayed as the speed. Since the system should be running at 100% CPU during the SuperPI calculation interval, the Intel SpeedStep should have turned up the clock speed. Now, shut down the computer, and go to your mismatched memory configuration of 256MB plus 1GB sticks. Boot the computer and rerun SuperPI for 2 million digits. You should see a slight reduction in performance. Matching your memory, is the next logical step. As in, purchasing the same memory for both internal and external slots. The maintenance manual for the machine is here. It shows the location of the internal and external slots. Page 140 and 118 respectively. http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bc/docs/support/SupportManual/c00502970/c00502970.pdf?jumpid=reg_R1002_USEN Have fun, Paul
From: bnmohan via HWKB.com on 13 Apr 2008 05:08 I looked at the BIOS, and found a setting for 'Fan always on on AC' set to disabled. I enabled, and now I find the Current processor speed at 1.73!! SpeedStep is enabled. Thanks all Mohan Paul wrote: >> I have a HP NX6120 laptop. >> When I opened the Help and Support Centre and looked at my System information, >[quoted text clipped - 7 lines] >> >> Mohan > >There is a review here. >http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=2483 > >Most notebook/laptop computers, will have power saving options. One of >those options, is to drop the processor speed, when the computer is >relatively idle. That is called SpeedStep or EIST by Intel (Powernow or Cool N' Quiet >by AMD). That would account for the reported speed - that is one of the two >speeds possible. > >Chipsets come with one or two memory channels. In the two memory channel >case, an option called "dual channel" is possible. It allows enhanced memory >bandwidth, by fetching from both channels at the same time. > >If the "dual channel" criterion are not met, the BIOS will set up the chipset >for single channel operation. Either one channel or the other channel will >be accessed, according to memory address presented. There will be a >reduction in memory speed, when this mode is used. > >For dual channel operation, there are a couple possible criterion used. >One is "exact matching". That was a requirement of earlier chipsets. >The rows, columns, banks, and ranks of memory (logical dimensions) of each >DIMM, had to match its partner. > >Later chipsets reduced the requirements, to having the same amount of >memory present on each channel. On a desktop computer, with that relaxed >requirement, you could put 2x512MB on one channel, and a single 1GB stick >on the other channel (using three of four slots on a desktop). > >In the case of your computer, there are two slots. There is little difference >between "exact match" and "same total memory" in your case. It is easiest >to use the same memory for both the internal slot and the external slot. > >It sounds like the machine had 2x256MB matched to start with, you removed >one and added a 1GB stick. This gives the 1.24GB figure, with the mismatched >memory config of 256MB + 1GB. The machine will use single channel mode as a >result of the upgrade. > >(Note - this assumes the manufacturer did not cheat, and simply stick both >memories on the same channel, enforcing single channel operation at all times. >If that were the case, it would not matter how the slots were populated. But >I think this is a dual channel setup.) > >For a testing program, there is this. This is an ancient program, used by >benchmarkers, and has been hand modified (assembler level instructions), >in order to prevent cheating. Apparently, the original source is not >available. > >http://www.xtremesystems.com/pi/super_pi_mod-1.5.zip >http://www.xtremesystems.com/pi/ > >To benchmark, the dialog will present a "number of digits" to generate. >For example, on my 3.1GHz P4, it takes 50 seconds to generate one million >digits of the constant PI. (I used to get 45 seconds, but after my AV program >was added, the time increased to 50 seconds.) > >The above review article (notebookreview.com), notes this benchmark for the program. > >HP nx6120 (1.73GHz Alviso Pentium M) 1m 50s (Calculate Pi to 2 Million Digits) > >You could start, by putting the original 2x256MB memory configuration back >in the computer. Start SuperPI running, and verify the 1 minute 50 second >result. That is verifying the thing works as well as the review article above. > >On a second run of SuperPI, in the middle of the calculation run, try to run >the System Info tool. Now you should be seeing 1.73GHz or whatever displayed >as the speed. Since the system should be running at 100% CPU during the >SuperPI calculation interval, the Intel SpeedStep should have turned up >the clock speed. > >Now, shut down the computer, and go to your mismatched memory configuration >of 256MB plus 1GB sticks. Boot the computer and rerun SuperPI for 2 million >digits. You should see a slight reduction in performance. > >Matching your memory, is the next logical step. As in, purchasing the same >memory for both internal and external slots. > >The maintenance manual for the machine is here. It shows the location of the >internal and external slots. Page 140 and 118 respectively. > >http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bc/docs/support/SupportManual/c00502970/c00502970.pdf?jumpid=reg_R1002_USEN > >Have fun, > Paul -- Message posted via HWKB.com http://www.hwkb.com/Uwe/Forums.aspx/pc-hardware/200804/1
From: Paul on 13 Apr 2008 05:18
bnmohan via HWKB.com wrote: > I looked at the BIOS, and found a setting for 'Fan always on on AC' set to > disabled. I enabled, and now I find the Current processor speed at 1.73!! > SpeedStep is enabled. > > Thanks all > > Mohan > So maybe it was overheating, and decided to use the lower clock value so it could cool off. Paul |