# Can any PC dudes check this please - CPU speed



## MadOnVaux! (Jun 2, 2008)

My Desktop has been slow these last few days, I've run cleaners, checked loads of things, & checked everything else so I'm thinking it could be the CPU....do CPU's slow down if faulty, or just stop?

anyway, here is the specs from 'Speccy'

Is there anything at fault here speed-wise or not?



Thanks in advance


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## simon.hunter (Feb 6, 2009)

Your CPU won't be the issue here. First thing to check is your hard drive(s) - are they full? If so then you need to take appropriate action. If not, then check your anti-virus software is up to date, as your machine may be infected. What A/V do you use? Also, have you installed any new programmes just prior to the pc slowing down?


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## PugIain (Jun 28, 2006)

Open task manager and have a nosey, see what's what.
I'm guessing given you said just "laptop" it's Windows. If it's an Apple you'd definitely have said


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## MadOnVaux! (Jun 2, 2008)

Thanks guys......Hard drive isn't full, using Avast anti virus, and no programmes d/l prior to slowing down.

Checked RAM on memtest, cleaned fan and heatsink and replaced thermal paste with arctic silver etc.....everything else seems OK


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## Mikesphotaes (Jul 24, 2016)

Give it a wee check with Malwarebytes.

Probably malware if the hardware is fine.


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## GleemSpray (Jan 26, 2014)

The CPU would only slow down if excessively hot and a Core2 like yours would normally operate in a safe range of about 40 to 70 degrees c. 

It wouldn't start to show signs of overheat and slow down until it got to about 85 degrees c and, by then, it would be doing other weird stuff as well !!

In addition to what you have already tried, i would suggest making sure the hard drive is defragged ( if you don't have a defrag service running or regular maintenance ) and also check what programs are running at startup, using Msconfig or task manager.

Corrupt / badly indexed swapfiles can sometimes cause slow running, so worth switching off Virtual memory, then reboot ( which will delete file ) and then re-enable it and reboot to create a fresh one.


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## MadOnVaux! (Jun 2, 2008)

Thanks Mike & Gleem


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## alfajim (May 4, 2011)

Is it a Dell? Sounds like what my old machine was like.


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## DrEskimo (Jan 7, 2016)

While you are at it, I would be swapping the HDD (assuming thats what you have..?) for an SSD if you can


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## MadOnVaux! (Jun 2, 2008)

alfajim said:


> Is it a Dell? Sounds like what my old machine was like.


No, and Acer, but it has new internals etc....nothing is factory I don't think.



DrEskimo said:


> While you are at it, I would be swapping the HDD (assuming thats what you have..?) for an SSD if you can


Yeah I have a HDD, it's fine though.

I might be being thick here too, but I#m sure when the PC used to boot up it used to say something about the CPU and it's supposed speed of 2.6 ghz.....now it says 1.8 ghz.....should it say that?


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## Mikesphotaes (Jul 24, 2016)

Boot into the BIOS and see what the settings for the CPU say.


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## Sh1ner (May 19, 2012)

What OS are you using?
If Windows but not 10 you could try a boot into safe mode ( Press F8 on startup) select safe mode and then run Malwarebytes or your antivirus from there.
Once it has finished, decide your actions then shut down and reboot as normal.
It often catches things that escape once the pc is fully booted up.
Have you cleared all the temporary files that can clog up the system? There are various ways. A quick search should show you how.
Win10 uses different procedures.


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## MadOnVaux! (Jun 2, 2008)

Mikesphotaes said:


> Boot into the BIOS and see what the settings for the CPU say.


It's running at 1.8 GHZ!! NO wonder it's bloody slow!

(Picture of BIOS)



New CPU required by the looks of things!!



Sh1ner said:


> What OS are you using?
> If Windows but not 10 you could try a boot into safe mode ( Press F8 on startup) select safe mode and then run Malwarebytes or your antivirus from there.
> Once it has finished, decide your actions then shut down and reboot as normal.
> It often catches things that escape once the pc is fully booted up.
> ...


Yeah thanks Sh1ner...that's one thing I do as a matter of course when anything like this occurs....seems the CPU is the fault, see above!


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## DrEskimo (Jan 7, 2016)

This might help mate:

https://communities.intel.com/thread/11702

"In the bios it was saying "Core 2 Duo: 2.93ghz", but under speed saying 1.6ghz.

Anyway, I've managed to fix it now, I just had to reset the CMOS"


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## Mikesphotaes (Jul 24, 2016)

Can you remember if your CPU Clock control was always disabled?

If not, what other options do you have when you click on it?

Other than that, you could try increasing the clock ratio to give something closer to your expected clock speed.

If you go too far and it doesn't start up, then boot into BIOS and cut it back a wee bit.


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## MadOnVaux! (Jun 2, 2008)

DrEskimo said:


> This might help mate:
> 
> https://communities.intel.com/thread/11702
> 
> ...


Thanks DrEskimo......how would I reset the CMOS though?



Mikesphotaes said:


> Can you remember if your CPU Clock control was always disabled?
> 
> If not, what other options do you have when you click on it?
> 
> ...


Thanks Mike...

I have no idea if the CPU Clock control has always been disabled....I've certainly never changed it.....should I enable it?


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## Will_G (Jan 23, 2012)

To reset cmos should just be a case of having everything off then pull the bios battery out for 5 minutes. It's the flat coin type battery on your motherboard


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## DrEskimo (Jan 7, 2016)

Mikesphotaes said:


> Can you remember if your CPU Clock control was always disabled?
> 
> If not, what other options do you have when you click on it?
> 
> ...


To change the core clock multiplier, doesn't it require an unlocked CPU?

I.e. the 'K' series of Intel chips?


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## DrEskimo (Jan 7, 2016)

MadOnVaux! said:


> Thanks DrEskimo......how would I reset the CMOS though?


Good question...no idea! 

Sure Google can help


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## Mikesphotaes (Jul 24, 2016)

MadOnVaux! said:


> Thanks DrEskimo......how would I reset the CMOS though?
> 
> Thanks Mike...
> 
> I have no idea if the CPU Clock control has always been disabled....I've certainly never changed it.....should I enable it?


Aye, go for it!

Will G explained about the battery, sometimes there are jumpers you move for 30 secs or so too.


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## MadOnVaux! (Jun 2, 2008)

OK right, i enabled the CPU Clock control and it gave 2.4 GHZ on the BIOS...and it recommended to change the System Voltage Control to Automatic, and I did that and changed the CPU clock ratio to 10, and it gave me the 2.6GHZ speed on the BIOS of what the CPU should be....but, the PC wouldn't boot at all.

It kept trying to recover, then said something was corrupt and I had to run system restore and get back to BIOS and set all fail-safe defaults and the PC is now running again, albeit slowly being back to the 1.8 GHZ.


I haven't tried resetting the CMOS yet, i'll do that tomorrow.......but if that doesn't work, does it look like a new CPU is needed.

and as I have a socket 775 motherboard....will any socket 775 CPU be ok? just that i've seen a few 3.0 GHZ core 2 duo CPUs on ebay quite cheaply.

Thanks for all the help and advice so far guys


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## Mikesphotaes (Jul 24, 2016)

Did you change the clock ratio to 10 or was it the sys voltage on auto that did it?

If you changed it, put it back to 9 and retry to boot.

As for CPU, google your mobo and see what the recommended CPU is but doubt you need to change it.


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## MadOnVaux! (Jun 2, 2008)

Mikesphotaes said:


> Did you change the clock ratio to 10 or was it the sys voltage on auto that did it?
> 
> If you changed it, put it back to 9 and retry to boot.
> 
> As for CPU, google your mobo and see what the recommended CPU is but doubt you need to change it.


Thanks Mike,

I tried that this morning and the same happened.....I also reset the CMOS (by removing the battery and replacing, and still the same issue.

What else could it be now apart from the CPU though?


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## Mikesphotaes (Jul 24, 2016)

I think it is down to the BIOS settings.

Suggest you put the sys voltage back to whatever it was and leave the clock ratio at 9.

Then it's just a case of lowering the ratio until your machine boots up.

I am surprised the CMOS reset didn't help, did you leave the battery out for 5 mins?


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## GleemSpray (Jan 26, 2014)

It rang some bells in my brain, so i had to go check, but i remembered that the Core 2 Duos always ran higher cpu clock speeds, than the lower speeds of the Core 2 Quads (i used to run a Q6600 Quad). I had a feeling that 9x200 was wrong, 

Your CPU clock ratio should be set to 13, to give a processor speed of 13 x 200 (mhz Front Side Bus) = 2600 or 2.6Ghz

Set the host clock control to "Auto" if that is an option.

I think that might fix the problem for you.


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## MadOnVaux! (Jun 2, 2008)

Mikesphotaes said:


> I think it is down to the BIOS settings.
> 
> Suggest you put the sys voltage back to whatever it was and leave the clock ratio at 9.
> 
> ...


OK i'll have a look and see what happens...and yes, I removed the battery for 5 minutes



GleemSpray said:


> It rang some bells in my brain, so i had to go check, but i remembered that the Core 2 Duos always ran higher cpu clock speeds, than the lower speeds of the Core 2 Quads (i used to run a Q6600 Quad). I had a feeling that 9x200 was wrong,
> 
> Your CPU clock ratio should be set to 13, to give a processor speed of 13 x 200 (mhz Front Side Bus) = 2600 or 2.6Ghz
> 
> ...


Thanks Gleem, i'll see what I can do.


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## MadOnVaux! (Jun 2, 2008)

Gleem - Sorted!! back to running at full speed again, much appreciated, thankyou! 


This also begs the question, how did anything in the BIOS change in the first place to slow it down? Very odd!

I might actually get another CPU as i've seen some compatible 3Ghz ones for £7 on ebay....every little helps!


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## GleemSpray (Jan 26, 2014)

Given the age of your processor and, by extension, the age of the machine, i would replace the BIOS backup battery if that's an easy option. 

These batteries retain the BIOS settings when the machine is switched off and can cause these sorts of random setting changes when the battery is running out and no longer able to hold the settings correctly.

They are usually a CR2032 coin battery that is just clipped into a holder on the motherboard. They have a useful life of anything from 3 to 5+ years, depending on how much the machine has been booted / used.


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## Mikesphotaes (Jul 24, 2016)

I usually wait until the date comes up wrong before I change the battery.


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## MadOnVaux! (Jun 2, 2008)

Yeah I think i'll swap the battery if that's a possible cause.

Thanks again for the help and advice


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## DrEskimo (Jan 7, 2016)

I bought a lot of PC hardware second hand and my Gigabyte mobo has held up well over the last few years, but it has had BIOS corruption a couple of times. The fact it has dual BIOS has been very helpful!


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