Pentium 4 2.4GHz running at 1.2GHz

[theredyoshi]

My friends computer has a Pentium 4 2.4GHz processor, except for some reason it is running at 1.2GHz. Ive already updated the motherboard drivers, and flashed and updated his bios. It still shows at 1.2GHz. I downloaded SiSandra Software to make sure it wasnt an error, and it indeed does show at 1.2GHz. Any idea whats wrong?

[Egaladeist]

Hi theredyoshi,

I'd check to see what motherboard he has as it may not support the processor.

Sorry Paddy, but that motherboard does not support 800FSB processors, which I'm guessing is what you have there.

A processor's frequency is determined by its multiplier and the front side bus (FSB). For a present-day 2.8Ghz P4, the FSB is 200Mhz (quad pumped to 800) and the multiplier is 14. 14 * 200 = 2800Mhz (2.8Ghz).

In your case, the motherboard has defaulted to a FSB of 100Mhz (quad pumped to 400), which results in 14 * 100 = 1400Mhz (1.4Ghz).

Your board supports up to 533FSB processors (133 quad pumped to 533), so the best you can stick in there would be a 3.06Ghz P4 (533FSB).

http://www.daniweb.com/techtalkforums/thread12995.html
Processor problem

Eg

[theredyoshi]

He has an ASUS P4VP-MX motherboard. I dont think his processor is 800FSB though. I think its 400FSB.

Just read that link and I see the problem is basically a mismatching CPU/Motherboard. The board most likely has 266FSB, and his processor is 400FSB. The solution would be a new motherboard, correct? I dont think he'd want a slower CPU.

[theredyoshi]

Well I thought I understood that the motherboard didnt support such a fast processor, but after looking at the motherboard specs I dont know what to think. It says it supports 400/533MHz FSB, and the processor that my friend has, has a 533MHz FSB. Im totally confused.

For reference,
The CPU is a Intel Pentium 4 2.4GHz Socket 478 processor. I looked at newegg and only 2 processors of that type were actually on the market, both having 533MHz for a FSB.

The motherboard is an ASUS P4VP-MX motherboard. I looked at its specs, and it shows it can support 400/533 MHz processors, so I am now stuck and confused. Could someone please enlighten me.

[Tim_axe]

Run CPU-Z on your friend's computer and tell us what it tells you about his computer. ( You can get CPU-Z @ http://www.cpuid.org/cpuz.php#download )

You can set it to produce a HTML report (on the About tab), and then format the results in [ code] [/ code] tags to copy/paste into a reply. It'll give us the information we need to know (Motherboard, Processor specifics, etc) to figure out why your processor is running at half the speed it should.


Cheers.

[theredyoshi]

I would do that except I guess tonight after it working just fine, his computer crashed and doesnt want to work anymore. He cant even get logged in. These are the errors he was getting.

http://tmj.ath.cx/DSC00104.jpg
http://tmj.ath.cx/DSC00106.jpg
http://tmj.ath.cx/DSC00108.jpg
http://tmj.ath.cx/DSC00109.jpg

[nihil]

So what happens now?...........any lights and/or noises?

Has this machine ever worked normally?

What has he done recently..........new hardware? operating system?

OK:

1. Ground/earth yourself then remove
a] The memory, clean it with alcohol or a proprietary electronics cleaner then re-seat it. Clean the slots (compressed air) as well.
b] The video card and its slot.
2. Make sure that all the drives are firmly connected.

Can he:

1. Boot into set-up?
2. Boot into "safe mode"?

With a 2.4Mhz P4 I would say he has a 400/533..............this is a 2.26Mhz, and that is its spec.

If you can get into setup, set everything to "failsafe" or "factory default" and do not try to overclock

It sounds to me as if this machine has been messed around with by someone who did not really know what they were doing?

[theredyoshi]

Yes, his computer has been working fine all day, and for past months too. Im sure he gets both lights and noises. The only thing that has been done recently is that I updated the bios. It rebooted, and the computer worked just fine. I even checked the bios and sure enough it was updated and more options were availible.

Just checking, but grounding youtself is as simple as always holding on to a metal part of the case?

Could you explain how to clean it with alcohol? At first I thought you meant dipping it into alcohol but that doesnt make much sense to me. Also, I dont understand what you mean when you said remove the video card's slot.

I'll get back to you when he does this and tell you if he can get into setup or safe mode. I know he can get into bios.

Are you saying that the board for sure is a 266MHz FSB?
Nothing is overclocked.

Indeed he doesnt know a whole lot about computers.

Thanks for your help so far.

[nihil]

OK was it running at 1.2Mhz or 2.4 before you flashed the BIOS?

What operating system are you trying to boot?

Get some rubbing alcohol and a cloth and just wipe the contacts of the memory sticks and the video card. Blow out the slots they go into with compressed air. Methylated Spirits will also work, but wipe them with a clean cloth afterwards (it does leave a slight residue...........the stuff that's in there to stop you drinking it ) DON't use petrol (gasoline) or paraffin (kerosene) way too many impurities.

What are the specifications of the machine. I can put the speed thing down to the BIOS flash, but the non-booting sounds like a different issue. Maybe if we can get into safe mode we can do more. Other potential causes for a non-boot (apart from a corrupt OS or malware)

1. PSU
2. Memory
3. Video
4. HDD
5. MoBo

Please make sure that all fans are working when it powers up.

Yes just keep touching bare metal every now and then to make sure you are not building up static.

Incidentally, when you updated the BIOS did you get any messages?

[theredyoshi]

It was running at 1.2GHz before I flashed the bios. I was hoping that would fix it but it didnt. Windows XP is the OS.

I will tell my friend to do that exact procedure.

He says hes just going to have a pro look at it.