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I am sure. But if you have a limping computer that can't handle a cpu-load, there are steps you can take, like:
1) cleaning it
2) not overclocking
3) for multi-core, limit # cores in use using affinity
4) don't use hyperthreading
5) limit the cpu-clock -- most processors in the past 10 years have variable clock rates -- spinning down when idle, or to conserve power, ramping up under load. On Windows you can set the min and the max processor state (might need a patch on some OS's as MS enabled and later hid the controls; a reg-patch from bitsum.com can re-enable). But my cpu normally idles at about 36% max-clock rate. If I set the max-processor-state to 36% or lower, it will never go up from 1.18GHz to its max speed of 3.2GHz. That will save power and result in lower cpu temps: Using https://www.cpuid.com/download...,
Idle: 44C + power ~52W.
Normal w/100% load on all cores: 72C & 122W
with cpu perf limited to 36%: 52C & 62W
---
On linux (more pertinent to article), you can use:
https://git.kernel.org/cgit/li...
(cpupower) to set max frequencies to do the same thing.

There ya go: now you have no one to blame other than yourself for cpu overheating. :-)

Enjoy? Or more unsolvable problems?

I am not a Toshiba fan either, but just for future reference if you ever need to know what kind of hardware is in a machine, run PC Wizard or Speccy.

Are you on Windows or Linux? Because I've noticed the Linux version just doesn't run as well as the Windows version. If you are on Windows may I suggest you run PCWizard by the guys at CPU-Z, as it sounds like you may have a bottleneck causing problems. I've seen weird slowdowns in things like browsers before, and using the benchmarks in PCWizard have been able to trace down the culprit.

Because my PCs aren't top o' the line by any means (an AMD 925 quad with 8Gb and a 1.8Ghz Sempron single with 1.5Gb) and since going to the 3.x branch FF has been nothing but zippy, which is pretty impressive considering how many tabs and extensions I have, plus the fact I only use sleep on my PCs, never reboot except for updates. Currently I have ABP, NoScript, Downloadhelper, Downloadstatusbar, FEBE (a must have IMHO) ForecastFox, iMacros (another must have) Imagezoom, nightly tester tools, and distrust. And neither the Sempy nor the quad has been anything but snappy in FF.

So run PCWizard (there is a zip version so you don't even have to install it) and run the individual benches. Then look at how you compare to others, and if something is way below what you have then something is up. I had the same thing happen to me on a dual Athlon and it turned out a shitty chipset driver was causing all sorts of little slowdowns.

If you think it is the GPU but aren't sure try stressing it with PCWizard and see if it hangs or not. Its free, they make a portable version so you don't have to install if you don't want to, and they have benchmarks tests for all the other major components such as RAM, HDD and CPU. A great little tool for checking performance or just seeing what kind of hardware is installed on an unknown PC.

Well I use PCWizard from the guys at CPUID. While it isn't fancy, and you'll have to take the data and make your own pretty charts, but to stress the basics (CPU,RAM,GPU,HDD,etc) and give you straight data it is pretty good. Then if that doesn't give him enough raw data to use he can always run separate tests.

But unlike some of the others I have tried data doesn't seem to skew towards one CPU or another. Maybe it is because it is from a little bunch and they aren't being used for big reviewers benchmarks, who knows, all I can tell you is the results seemed to be pretty accurate, at least for me.

So why not give it a try? It's free, they have a portable version so you don't even have to install it on the PC you're testing, just launch, pick which test you want to run, and let her go. At the end it'll give you the raw numbers as well as show how the PC matches up to various other builds. Not a bad little tool to have on your flash stick if you need to know how a machine runs or get a full list of what hardware it has.

I don't know of any single-purpose VT presence tester; but I'm guessing that CPU-Z could probably tell you that(along with a whole lot of other things).

Even better than that is PC Wizard. It will not only show you if your CPU is VT enabled, but a shitload of other useful info too.

http://www.cpuid.com/clockgen.php

"They are not in Baghdad. They are not in control of any airport. I tell you this. It is all a lie. They lie. It is a hollywood movie. You do not believe them."

As we can see here...

The Pentium M is basically a "boosted" Pentium !!! : more cache, new optimisation-oriented features.

Add SSE2, and clock the FSB to 400MHz, and vee-olah! Pentium M!

It's a tweaked P3, and there's no denying it.

Your close to the truth, the reality is the M is a mixture between the P4 and the P3 architectures. The M seems like a very good processor to run in Desktop Systems that do not do a lot of number cruching (number cruching such as games, video encoding, CAD, graphics rendering). Still the P4 architecture is good at processing larges amounts of data since the clock speed can be so high. To read more about the differences of the chips go to http://www.cpuid.com/PentiumM/index.php

One of the major things you can do to get the best performance out of a given motherboard is spend 10 minutes tracking down what RAM you have installed in your machine and checking the BIOS is setup correctly for the 2.5-3-3-7 RAM settings, or whatever is appropriate.

All the default setups I've seen come with pretty conservative timings and therefore run a lot slower than they need to.

There's a great tool called cpu.z that can help you look into how your machine is running.

I'm not certain, but I guess some software such as CPU-Z for Windows could still determine the original rating of the CPU. Or at least aid someone trying to find out. I'm not sure if the raw family and model ids help, but at the very least the cache sizes are both hard (impossible?) to fake and give you a general idea of the kind of CPU you are dealing with.

You can undervolt the DTR-class Athlon 64 CPUs down to Low-Voltage-class levels... most of the time. My old C0 stepping DTR 3200+ can. Full speed at 1.3V, 1.8GHz at 1.2V (same as the LV 2800+, only with twice the L2 cache), 1.4GHz at 1V, 1GHz at 0.85V (ridiculously low power consumption). Use ClockGen.

Anyone know of an equivalent to ClockGen for 64-bit Linux?

The new 90nm mobile A64's are 35W max... and outside of the 3000+ in the Acer Ferarri 3400, not out yet. Dunno what AMD is waiting for, desktop 90nm A64's are plentiful.

I used to overclock, but squeezing out the highest performence-per-watt is more fun these days. I read about it on silentpcreview.com and gave it a try. It turns out that Athlon 64 CPUs can usually run full speed at 1.3V (vs. 1.5V), which cuts power consumption almost in half. 1.8GHz (3000+) at 1.2V (35W max), 1.4GHz at 1V, and 1GHz at 0.85V (maybe a dozen watts) work well too. Someone with a newer CPU than I have managed 1.2GHz @ 0.875V. Use ClockGen to tweak the clock multiplier and core voltage under Windows. (Does anyone know of a Linux equivalent? 64-bit compatible?)

I watched a bit over 3 hours of DVD video on my HP zv5000z with the CPU set to 1GHz @ 0.85V before the 12-cell battery ran out. Normal screen brightness and everything.

Of course, this won't work all that well on Intel CPUs. Maybe Alienware will include a free naquada generator with their "4GHz" P4's.

I watched an entire 3 hour Stargate:SG-1 series DVD on my HP zv5000z Athlon 64 notebook with 12 cell battery (just barely, the notebook automatically went into suspend mode afterwards with 3% battery capacity remaining). I achieved this in part by using ClockGen for nVidia nForce3 to undervolt the CPU to 1GHz at 0.85V. (I haven't figured out how to do this under 64-bit Linux yet, anyone know?) The current CG-stepping Athlon 64's use 1GHz @ 0.95V as their slowest PowerNOW! setting, which ought to give you close to the same battery life (I have the older C0 stepping). Mind you, I'm using the least-efficient Athlon 64 notebook chip. (DTR series, Mobile and Low-Voltage are the other two). 1.4GHz @ 1V and 2GHz @ 1.3V (full speed, 3200+ rating) also work.

Too bad HP put a Linux-hostile Broadcom WiFi card in this thing and rigged the BIOS to reject non-HP wireless miniPCI cards (see page 8-1 of the relevant HP Hardware Guide). And they used the 3-year-old GeForce 440 Go video chip (like putting bicycle wheels on a Ferarri). The slow 4200RPM HD and optical drive were easily replaced with proper components. The 1680x1050 widescreen is REALLY nice. Great notebook for getting work done, but the 440 Go can barely handle Doom 3 at 640x480 res. I swear, did Intel pay HP to cripple their AMD notebooks?

How did they prevent condensation from forming on the hardware? It sounds like the air would be humid enough.

The blocked-out part you mention is where the model of the processor would normally live (i.e. the Mhz for intel cpus and the rating for AMDs). See here

You could try this page, and if they move it the steps are:

- amd.com
- Technical Resources link at top
- Technical Documentation at top left
- AMD Athlon(tm) XP Tech Docs

System makers can brand executables, but it is more common for them to use oeminfo.ini. If the General tab under system properties doesn't have a "Computer:" heading and does have a "Manufactured and Supported by:" heading, manufacturers logo or Support Information button, then your system has been branded by the OEM. If you have an oem system then it is about 99% certain that when it was branded, the cpu model ( 1700+ ) was created during.

So, which company made your computer system? I don't have to ask if you built it yourself. We wouldn't be having this discussion if you had.

Some well respected software that won't/can't tell you your sold-as-speed, Sandra 2003, wcpuid, CPU-Z and the Linux kernel.

I have built thousands of systems from scratch and generally know what I am speaking about, but have been wrong before and will be wrong again. I have kept a civil tongue while you made snide remarks like "What's your next brilliant theory?". I have provided detailed information, you quoted WinXP as an unquestionable resource. Check the Forums at overclockers.com, one of the many places on the web to get good info and meet strange new people. BTW, with watercooling, my AthlonXP 1700+ DLT3C (1.5v) chip will run 2.55GHz and pass the prime95 torture test.

Have a great Palm Sunday.