Vostro 1500 Upgraded T7250 to T9500, new CPU running at 0.79 ghz?

I upgraded my T7250 2.0 ghz CPU to a T9500 2.6 ghz in my Vostro 1500 and the machine boots and runs just fine.

I noticed though that the cpu speeds do not seem right though. This cpu is supposed to be 2.6 GHz @ 800 MHz FSB, but several places report it as being slower:

Intel Processor Identification Utility says each core is at 0.79 ghz and system bus is 398 mhz.

Control Panel -> System Properties says "T9500 @ 2.60Ghz" 777 MHz

CPU-Z says each core is running around 1596 MHz (Multiplier x .8.0 and Bus speed 199.5 Mhz and states Rated FSB to be 798.0 Mhz.) Thos values do appare to be changing ever so slightly ever couple seconds or so.

Is this normal to see? I understand that some CPUs can change speed dynamically, though I'm not sure what is normal to see for this CPU.

I have the latest BIOS (1500_A06.EXE) and CHIPSET (R153997.exe) drivers installed (before that the system did feel a bit slower than with the T7250 but after updating the bios and chipset it feels fine.)

Thanks.

 

800MHz is correct if the CPU isn't loaded.

If you want to check if the CPU can reach its rated speed then I suggest you (i) Load HWiNFO (which has a nice dynamic speed display) and then (ii) run wPrime to stress the CPU and watch what the CPU speed does.

John

 

Ok I believe I've figure out and solved that particular problem. I noticed that the CD/DVD drive wasn't showing in Explorer. I hadn't noticed earlier because I also have a virtual optical drive for mounting images and I just didn't look close enough.

Upon visually inspecting the drive I noticed that the tray face plate appeared to be ever so slightly out furthur compared to the body of the laptop instead of being completely flush with it. After shutting down the laptop and unplugging the power and undoing the lone screw, I pulled it out and firmly pushed it back in so it's seated flush now; put the screw back in booted back up.

It felt faster and the speed is being reported correctly (System Properties shows 2.59, Intel CPU Intel Processor Identification Utility shows 2.6 and 800 bus speed. So it seems that the incorrectly seated CD/DVD burner was causing the problem (some sort of electrical short?)

I just have one small concern though. The cooling fan doesn't seem to be coming on like it used to before the cpu swap and updating the bios. I downloaded Dell Notebook Fan Control Utility and that seems to have helped.

It seems to be idling around 35 C, sometimes around 40C. Under load (when converting a video with Handbrake 0.9.9.5530) the utility kept reporting temps between 85 and 95 C, occasionally getting to 99 C but usually falling back to 90-85-ish C.

Are these normal temps?

 

That's an interesting problem related to the optical drive. It would have been difficult to diagnose.

As for temperatures, 35 to 40C on idle is pleasantly cool but not implausible if the fan keeps running slowly when the CPU is on idle. However, temperatures in the 90s C are at the hot end of the normal range and throttling may be occuring (HWiNFO should be able to show this). I would suggest that you try repasting the CPU. You might have put the thermal paste on too thick - all you need is the thinnest layer that will fill the gaps due to surface irregularities between the CPU and the heatsink.

John

 

May I also suggest looking at the Undervolting Guide?

Those temperatures are really abnormal and as John pointed out it has to do with the cooling (paste/dust). After getting this sorted out and you are feeling techie Undervolting will get you 5-10c lower high load temps. Thats what I got with my Inspiron 1520 and T9300.

 

Thank you for the replies!

@John Ratsey: Thanks, I opened her back and redid the paste. You were right that I put it on too thick. I did it much thinner like you mentioned and put it back together. Booted up and ran a test and noticed it was running a bit cooler (maybe 10 C less than before in the same test case.)

@veselatakurabiika: Thanks for that guide. I followed it and here are some before and after screenshots of the voltage changes I made for now. I haven't gotten any BSODs and might try the next lower voltage later on.

Curious though, unlike in the initial screenshots in the guide where all the voltages vary depending on the multiplier (higher clock, more power), all of mine started out as 1.1375V.

Maybe this is connected with my CPU (T9500) being auto detected as "Desktop" in the "Advanced CPU Settings" tab? The "CPU Info" tab reports the CPU as being "Genuine Intel(R) Core(TM) 2 Duo", "Penryn", Revision "C0" and Signature "10676" for both cores. HWMonitor shows "Intel Mobile Core 2 Duo" for the CPU temp section.