very wierd problem with processor

[ajth87]

hey everyone..i am new to this forum...i joined because i have this really weird prob. with my laptop.. I have an IBM thinkpad... well i had it for almost 2 years now...i know that when i bought it it came with an intel p-4 2 Ghz processor..also xp service pack 1. recently i upgraded to service pk 2. but today i was looking at the system info. to find the chipset and when i looked at the processor it said that i have a 1.1 Ghz processor..can anyone tell me what could have happened...also, i wanted to know if I can buy a core 2 duo processor and just have it installed in my current CPU? is this possible.. thanks for any help..

[azzey]

Could be that the CPU is throttling down because the power is unplugged. Lots of laptops do that.

No, no Core Duo for you on that laptop.

[ajth87]

well i was confused...i looked at my pc info and it says that my processor is a 2.0 GHz but then right after that it showed 1.2 GHz..not sure what it means. but what kind of processor can I buy for my laptop..i want something faster...maybe intel centrino..will that work..

[mjc]

Your CPU is a 2 GHz one.

What you are seeing is due to either heat issues, power issues or just lack of need. Under certain conditions the processor will run at a slower speed...by design.

Also, while it is certainly possible to update a laptop's processor, it often isn't very practical.

Centrino isn't a processor...it is a platform...combination of processor, approved motherboard design and wireless connection.

[saphalline]

Mobile processors are designed to throttle their clock speed down when the CPU usage drops below a certain threshold. Lower clock speeds = less power usage and heat dissipation = longer battery life. All mobile processors do this because battery life is always at a premium. What you're seeing is your CPU speed being lowered in order to save battery life.

Since you have a mobile P4 CPU, you can only upgrade to a faster mobile P4 CPU. You cannot physically upgrade to a Pentium M or Core Solo/Duo because those CPU's use different sockets. Any of these new CPU's simply would not fit. So in this case, I'd say it's probably not worth it to upgrade the CPU, even if you could (most laptop manufacturers lock out higher speeds to prevent you from upgrading to an unsupported CPU).

The only two practical upgrades for a standard laptop are RAM and hard drive. Nothing else can be easily or cheaply upgraded, making them too costly or impossible or too costly + very difficult. This is why it is always advised to buy the best laptop hardware you can afford right out of the gate - because upgrading is not an option.