more thinkpad t40 issues

[therieldeal]

ok i typed this all up before and it disappeared (wtf?) so here we go again, the short version.

see image below. it looks like my pentium M is limiting its speed. shawn told me they do this when they overheat, but i took this screen shot like 30 seconds after a 100% cold boot (computer was off and unplugged overnight).

ideas? is my processor bad?

[ftjandra]

Maybe it's just SpeedStepping? Run a cpu intensive program and see if it goes up.

--Ferdi

[Lex]

Yup, it's an IBM feature to preserve power. I had this happen on my R51 as well. You can fully turn it off but it eats through batteries faster.

[therieldeal]

this is while connected to outlet power...

it says 598mhz now, i didnt change anything. just running firefox and aim.

i've had it since 03, ive considered replacing it many times but its never actually failed so... why replace it?

[smoke187]

its a power save feature i think you can set it to run at full power while plugged into the outlet

[CaymenEGT91]

if you go into the bios you can turn the Intel SpeedStep off and run it full speed all the time... but iirc you said u had an overheating problem right? so i wouldnt recommend it

[therieldeal]

figured it out, there was a setting i had to change. never noticed this before, odd.

it was overheating because of some wierd driver issue i was having that kept the cpu running 100% all the time. i went back to an older driver and it went away.

[jturbo323]

hey john iam a computer tech the thinkpads also run alot of utilities programs in the background which uses your resourses and memory sometimes tends to slow the system down dramaticaly. i know you fixed your problem but id take a look at wat programs from ibm you have on there that require lots of processor and ram to run them

[MATT91GT]

my old dual core used to do that. its just something that happens.

[almighty4wd]

go real old school. my old old old p3 700mhz t20 makes your when throttled look fast. seriously. Fresh install of XP pro stripped to barebones basics, networking and trackpad are the only extranious drivers running. Starts using 86megs. Still takes 2:36 minutes to start. Heaven forbid you actually install stuff and want to use it.

Only good news about IBM thinkpads: My wife and I have litterally abused and beaten this thing. She-in a fit of rage that the backlight stopped working-slammed it against the desk repeatedly till it came back. Guessing it was 8-10 times she said. I've dropped it from 5ft, landed on its side, never stopped running. Picked it up and kept going. Sure, the case is cracked in 4 places, has about 5* of flex when picked up (front to back), but hell, it'll never die. Battery is worthless though. I can't even boot to the desktop without the battery dying, and I've tried "reviving" it.

Great product, crappy product. Glad I've replaced its daily status with my dell vostro 1310. Way more fun laptop

[therieldeal]

*shrug* it seems to serve me well. if it dies i think i will probably pick up a refurbed t43 for $350. the ram i bought for the t40 will fit in the t43 and its overall just upgraded. better processor, hard drive, wireless card, etc.