CPU speed not right?

English Hardware
1

Hi there,

Ok, so I had a look at my CPU speed and something strange is happening, the system is telling me that the CPU speed is 1.2 Ghz? The processors are Xeon X3470’s which run at 2.93 GHz, so what’s going on here?

Ran cat /proc/cpuinfo and here is the output, some of the threads register at 1197 MHz and others at 2927 MHz???

processor : 0
vendor_id : GenuineIntel
cpu family : 6
model : 30
model name : Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU X3470 @ 2.93GHz
stepping : 5
cpu MHz : 1197.000
cache size : 8192 KB
physical id : 0
siblings : 8
core id : 0
cpu cores : 4
apicid : 0
initial apicid : 0
fpu : yes
fpu_exception : yes
cpuid level : 11
wp : yes
flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx rdtscp lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good xtopology nonstop_tsc aperfmperf pni dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx smx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm sse4_1 sse4_2 popcnt lahf_lm ida tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority ept vpid
bogomips : 5866.02
clflush size : 64
cache_alignment : 64
address sizes : 36 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management:

processor : 1
vendor_id : GenuineIntel
cpu family : 6
model : 30
model name : Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU X3470 @ 2.93GHz
stepping : 5
cpu MHz : 2927.000
cache size : 8192 KB
physical id : 0
siblings : 8
core id : 1
cpu cores : 4
apicid : 2
initial apicid : 2
fpu : yes
fpu_exception : yes
cpuid level : 11
wp : yes
flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx rdtscp lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good xtopology nonstop_tsc aperfmperf pni dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx smx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm sse4_1 sse4_2 popcnt lahf_lm ida tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority ept vpid
bogomips : 5865.76
clflush size : 64
cache_alignment : 64
address sizes : 36 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management:

processor : 2
vendor_id : GenuineIntel
cpu family : 6
model : 30
model name : Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU X3470 @ 2.93GHz
stepping : 5
cpu MHz : 1197.000
cache size : 8192 KB
physical id : 0
siblings : 8
core id : 2
cpu cores : 4
apicid : 4
initial apicid : 4
fpu : yes
fpu_exception : yes
cpuid level : 11
wp : yes
flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx rdtscp lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good xtopology nonstop_tsc aperfmperf pni dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx smx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm sse4_1 sse4_2 popcnt lahf_lm ida tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority ept vpid
bogomips : 5865.76
clflush size : 64
cache_alignment : 64
address sizes : 36 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management:

processor : 3
vendor_id : GenuineIntel
cpu family : 6
model : 30
model name : Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU X3470 @ 2.93GHz
stepping : 5
cpu MHz : 2927.000
cache size : 8192 KB
physical id : 0
siblings : 8
core id : 3
cpu cores : 4
apicid : 6
initial apicid : 6
fpu : yes
fpu_exception : yes
cpuid level : 11
wp : yes
flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx rdtscp lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good xtopology nonstop_tsc aperfmperf pni dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx smx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm sse4_1 sse4_2 popcnt lahf_lm ida tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority ept vpid
bogomips : 5865.76
clflush size : 64
cache_alignment : 64
address sizes : 36 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management:

processor : 4
vendor_id : GenuineIntel
cpu family : 6
model : 30
model name : Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU X3470 @ 2.93GHz
stepping : 5
cpu MHz : 1197.000
cache size : 8192 KB
physical id : 0
siblings : 8
core id : 0
cpu cores : 4
apicid : 1
initial apicid : 1
fpu : yes
fpu_exception : yes
cpuid level : 11
wp : yes
flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx rdtscp lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good xtopology nonstop_tsc aperfmperf pni dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx smx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm sse4_1 sse4_2 popcnt lahf_lm ida tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority ept vpid
bogomips : 5865.75
clflush size : 64
cache_alignment : 64
address sizes : 36 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management:

processor : 5
vendor_id : GenuineIntel
cpu family : 6
model : 30
model name : Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU X3470 @ 2.93GHz
stepping : 5
cpu MHz : 2927.000
cache size : 8192 KB
physical id : 0
siblings : 8
core id : 1
cpu cores : 4
apicid : 3
initial apicid : 3
fpu : yes
fpu_exception : yes
cpuid level : 11
wp : yes
flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx rdtscp lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good xtopology nonstop_tsc aperfmperf pni dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx smx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm sse4_1 sse4_2 popcnt lahf_lm ida tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority ept vpid
bogomips : 5865.76
clflush size : 64
cache_alignment : 64
address sizes : 36 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management:

processor : 6
vendor_id : GenuineIntel
cpu family : 6
model : 30
model name : Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU X3470 @ 2.93GHz
stepping : 5
cpu MHz : 1197.000
cache size : 8192 KB
physical id : 0
siblings : 8
core id : 2
cpu cores : 4
apicid : 5
initial apicid : 5
fpu : yes
fpu_exception : yes
cpuid level : 11
wp : yes
flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx rdtscp lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good xtopology nonstop_tsc aperfmperf pni dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx smx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm sse4_1 sse4_2 popcnt lahf_lm ida tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority ept vpid
bogomips : 5865.75
clflush size : 64
cache_alignment : 64
address sizes : 36 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management:

processor : 7
vendor_id : GenuineIntel
cpu family : 6
model : 30
model name : Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU X3470 @ 2.93GHz
stepping : 5
cpu MHz : 1197.000
cache size : 8192 KB
physical id : 0
siblings : 8
core id : 3
cpu cores : 4
apicid : 7
initial apicid : 7
fpu : yes
fpu_exception : yes
cpuid level : 11
wp : yes
flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx rdtscp lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good xtopology nonstop_tsc aperfmperf pni dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx smx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm sse4_1 sse4_2 popcnt lahf_lm ida tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority ept vpid
bogomips : 5865.75
clflush size : 64
cache_alignment : 64
address sizes : 36 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management:
*

Hope someone can help, thanks :slight_smile:

2

On 08/01/2011 09:06 AM, rgbaguy wrote:
>
> Ok, so I had a look at my CPU speed and something strange is happening,
> the system is telling me that the CPU speed is 1.2 Ghz? The processors
> are Xeon X3470’s which run at 2.93 GHz, so what’s going on here?

probably automatic throttling to save energy cost, heat production,
battery life and etc…

the thing is the computer can sense when full screaming power is not
needed and automatically drop down to a lower speed when the higher does
noting for you (except waste energy)…

don’t worry, it shifts back to full speed, at light speed…

enjoy the savings…

–
DD
Caveat-Hardware-Software
openSUSE®, the “German Engineered Automobiles” of operating systems!

3

Hi Denver, thanks for the reply. Ok, cool thanks for that :slight_smile:

4

> Hi Denver, thanks for the reply. Ok, cool thanks for that :slight_smile:

welcome!

–
DD
openSUSE®, the “German Engineered Automobiles” of operating systems!

5

OpenSuSE 11.4 sometimes incorrectly reports CPU speed.

For example my Q8300 overclocked from 2.5ghz to 3.33 Ghz still shows only 2.0-2.5Ghz (depending on load). It should be more like 2.7-3.3Ghz (6x or 7.5x multiplier, about 450mhz FSB).
This makes no real difference though, as CPU is in fact still running at overclocked speed - every other diagnostic program (like CPU-Z under Wine) shows correct value.

The funny thing is other linux systems show correct speed even when running on VirtualBox (and OpenSuSE).

edit:
for your CPU, speed of your cpu in mhz is bogomips/2. Measured at boot time.

6

chek ur Bios as denver said its somekind of powersaving stuff, but if u want a full power of ur cpu all the time im sure u can turn it off in bios, i have Asus motheboard in there its name cool n quite, if i turn him on i see only 800mhz :))) but actualy its 3.6. GL

rassel