Is the T60 properly configured out-of-the-box for dual core?

I was just looking at Gophn's post entitled "How to make sure your notebook is setup right for dual core use in Windows XP" about checking for a specific registry entry.

According to Gophn your registry should have a key named "Throttle" that optimizes the dual core; if you don't have the "Throttle" entry he goes through how to add it.

Does anybody know anything about this in regards to dual core Thinkpads? I checked my T60 with XP Pro and I don't have the "throttle" entry - does this mean I'm not properly configured for dual cores?

To find Gophn's walk-through search for "dual core throttle", open the first link, and it's at the bottom of the page.

 

I can't think of a single manufacturer - Levono included - that properly configures this.

 

I bet NO manufacturer does the dual core modification.

 

What does the throlltel thing do anyway?

 

It is supposed to increase performance and allow Windows to utilize both cores instead of one. Without the Hotfix and the Registry change, WinXP only uses one core.

 

Wouldn't there also be a need to update the BIOS? I've read that most likely the BIOS will also need to be updated but am not sure if the BIOS update is basically making this registry key change or unrelated. Anyway, I figure after Lenovo with Core 2 Duo is out for a few months, there will be lots of posts on how to upgrade regular Core Duo's.

 

So, has anybody actually modified the registry on their Thinkpad to configure for dual cores? If so, did you use Gophn's technique, or did you use some other technique?

 

I used Gophn's technique and it works fine.

 

Do you find that things go faster? I mean, when I run programs, the cpu usage doesn't go above 50% much, but it the graph shows both cores active and when I applied the reconfiguration, none of that changed, so I just got rid of it.

I'm guessing it only makes a difference if you multi-task?

 

I tried it and got rid of it, too. My impression was that startup might have been a little quicker, but otherwise no difference. I also felt it made my T60 run hotter and I was concerned that it shortened battery runtime.

Chris