Not impressed w/dual core Intel...

[BlueOval]

I did a quick search through several pages and didn't find anything near my question and I wasn't quite sure wherfe to put it, but... I bought this Toshiba Satellite A105 laptop with the following specs:

 

Board: Intel Corporation MPAD-MSAE Customer Reference Boards

BIOS: Phoenix Technologies LTD 1.60 04/26/2006

1.85 gigahertz Intel Pentium III

64 kilobyte primary memory cache

2048 kilobyte secondary memory cache

1 GB RAM

 

My question is this - It's a dual core Centrino proc, but the above is from Belarc, so apparently the dual core is not being recognized. Neither have I been impressed with (the lack of) multi-tasking ability. Is there something I need to do to get the second core recognized and will that have any bearing on the performance?

[red930]

Are you sure its dual core? I wasn't aware any PIII's were...

[BlueOval]

Uuh.. well, it was advertised as being a dual core 1.83 Intel Centrino.. That's one of the reasons I bought it..

[EllisD]

Well as far as i know centrinos and p3's arent the same. I know i will be corrected if wrong.

[BlueOval]

I downloaded CPU-Z in the meantime and got the following info from it:

 

http://s9.photobucket.com/albums/a100/Hawa...mgAnch=imgAnch1

 

So I guess Belarc's the culprit here and I do have a dual core proc; but I'm really bummed about its multi-tasking performance. CPU-Z shows that my RAM's really slow.. I know this is a stock machine and I have no plans to OC it (I wouldn't even know where to begin OC'ing a laptop); but is there anything I can do to increase its performance?

 

(I hope this pic's not too large - it's a bitmap.. Angry, I'm sorry ahead of time, but I have no software with which to convert it and I'm headed overseas tomorrow.)

[BlueOval]

Now I've got another question.. I noticed CPU-Z was fluctuating in the reading of the core speed and multi between 997/1828 and 6/11.. Does this mean that each core runs at 997.5 to make a total core speed of 1.83?? If so I'm going to be kicking myself for buying this @#$%^ Intel.. Also, I see in CPU-Z that my RAM's freq is 266 and it's DDR2, so does that mean it's 533 RAM or is it 266? :confused: Since the bus speed is 665, then 667 DDR2 RAM would be a better match? I'm going to get a couple of 1 gig sticks in the next hour or so if I can get a reply that quick..

[ilikeducttape]

first of all, that pic is way too big. just use mspaint to shrink it down a bit. as for the clock speed, centrino processors are designed to save power, so the cpu is throttled depending on the processing power needed. if you are just doing some light solitaire, or minesweeper, or something small, it will slow down the processor to conserve power. now, if you open photoshop, dreamweaver, maya, and oblivion all at the same time (not recommended, lol) it will use the processor at its fullest speed. also, the speed cpu-z lists is the speed per core. so, in that screenshot, your cpu was runnin at half speed.

[BlueOval]

also, the speed cpu-z lists is the speed per core. so, in that screenshot, your cpu was runnin at half speed.

Ok, I rediscovered my photobucket account and tried that since they convert it to .jpg, but it still looked way too big, so I made it a link. I didn't fully understand your answer above at first, but I do now, thank you. What about the RAM? I'm already late in leaving and now have less than 2 hours to get squared away before I have to drive back to TX.. :fidgets:

[ilikeducttape]

sorry man, not quite sure about how ddr2 speed rating work. however, before you drop the money for 2 1gb sticks, i would check to make sure that both your current memory modules are removable. a lot of laptops have the first memory module permanently build into it with only the second one being removable. not sure about yours in particular, but its definitly worth checking.

[JiveTurkey]

I'm not terribly familiar w/ laptop processor specs, but I know the Dell desktops we support at work have to have Hyperthreading turned on (they default to off) in BIOS before Windows will recognize the second core. I'm pretty certain you even have to tell Task Manager to show each CPU on its own graph if you want to see each's individual performance.

 

But as was mentioned above, I'm sure someone will correct me if I've misspoken.

[Guest area51]

@BlueOval

 

The Pentium M line of processors (Centrinos) are all derived from the original Pentium III as opposed to the desktop P4 lines with the netburst architecture. What you have, based on what you have said, looks like a Core Duo (1.86Ghz) which is essentially 2 Pentium M cores...which is essentially 2 Pentium III cores...this is why belarc is mis-identifying your processor I believe. I have the same processor in my macbook...Core Duo 1.86.

 

It's performance is not overwhelming no...

 

I believe your ram is DDR2 667 Like mine...I went the 2*1GB route as well and am very happy with it.

 

As one of the above poster said...core speed fluctuaction on these procs is normal (it is called speedstep) and is used to conserve battery life when the processor is not plugged into an outlet.

 

@JiveTurkey

 

Yes you do need to enable HT in Dell Bios's but that is not a dual core proc...just software emulating one. BlueOval actually has a dual core chip and it will always reflect that in the Task Manager.

[p0tter]

I had a Core Duo (1.86Ghz, Dell E1705) and found it very quick with a few apps running, honestly I was pretty impressed with it. Looks like you have the same proc. Give the proc a chance, a couple of heavy proc apps and Im sure you will be happy.

 

Had a Dell E1705