Is this for real???

[rhegedus]

To cut a long story short, I've bought a HP Pavilion Slimline s7600n PC.

The specs on the box are:



but Windows says:



CPU-Z confirms this.



How did this happen?

[JohnnyMalaria]

How did this happen?

Which bit?

The fact that the CPU shows up as 3800+ instead of 3500+ or that it reports 448MB RAM when you have 512MB?

The latter suggests some of the RAM is set aside for sharing with integrated graphics.

Also odd - the reported clock frequency for the CPU is 1.00GHz. Which just ain't right!

[TBoneit]

How did what happen?

Do you mean that you got a faster processor than the box specs say?

Or do you mean you thought that the you thought a 3500+ AMD ran at 3.5 Ghz? It doesn't BTW.

I'm not sure why it is showing 1 Ghz? Should show higher than that, My Athlon 64 X2 4200+ runs at 2.1 Ghz as I remember the speed. The new Core 2 Duos from Intel don't run a Ghz equal to their rating either.

The memory is lost to the built in video.

I'd call HP and see what is up. Either you have a faster processor or windows is reporting it wrong or it has slowed down due to running hot. You are running the computer out in the open?

Edit: Have you opened computer to see if anything shook loose in shipping that might be causing it to run hot? Don't break any security seals doing do, Something is odd and you want to keep warranty.

And if you you bought it retail do they have one running you can look and see what it shows on their sample?

[bmo]

JohnnyMalaria is right about the RAM. Integrated graphics chipsets 'share' some of your RAM, and in this case it's sharing 64mb. It's the same with an HP notebook I have. The specs are stated as having 512MB but, it only shows up as 448MB since 64MB of it is shared with the integrated graphics. Although, I believe you can set the amount that it shares in your BIOS.

About the 3800+ rating, I'm not too sure about that, but I do know that AMD pricessors have a technology called 'Cool 'N Quiet' which essentially slows down the processor when it's idle or not being used heavily. It does this, I believe, by lowering the CPU multiplier and if I remember correctly, the CPU multiplier on the Athlon x2 3800+ is 10x. So if the Cool 'N Quiet technology has kicked in on your computer, then it probably just lowered the multiplier to 5x. So multiplier at 5 x 200mhz FSB = 1000mhz = 1.00ghz, which should explain the CPU speed in your screenshots there.

If you're really concerned about the clock speed, try running a demanding application and then try cpu-z again. If you really do have the Athlon x2 3800+, it should have a 2.0Ghz (multi@ 10x x 200mhz FSB) rating. Otherwise, I'd call HP to see what's up.

[Bjs]

I prefer this tool ... http://www.cpuid.org/pcwizard

User's can then copy the info for posts

[kush]

It looks like they *did* upgrade you to a 3800 X2..I'd be happy with that.

[edit]
Oops missed the poster aboe that mentioned CnQ; anyway my vote is on that as well...

[TheFamilyMan]

I use "cool 'n' quiet" with my 4200+ X2 and it shows that it's at 1G when it is idling. I think it's a great feature especially if you overclock using only your bus speed, for your CPU only overclocks when it's workin' hard.

[rhegedus]

Sorry, I should have been clearer.

I mean that the box says it's a plain old vanilla Athlon 64 3500+ but I end up with a dual core 3800+

I'm new to dual core and Athlon so this is over my head....


p.s. i just encoded some avis to mpg using tmpgenc and it now shows the CPU at 2.00Ghz.

[Xylob the Destroyer]

I can make my CPU show up as a different (lesser) model by changing some BIOS settings.
It fools Windows, it fools cpuid, it fools CPU-Z, SIW, SIV....
It looks like you got a better processor, but something doesn't seem right.
I'd say check your BIOS settings (FSB to start with)

[glockjs]

cpu-z will show what the chip is. can confirm via stepping. pic plz

[redwudz]

I have a dual core AM2 3800+ in my HTPC and it runs at 2.10 Ghz with a little bit of OC and uses about 32MB of shared memory for the video.

With the newer CPUs, make sure you are using the latest versions of CPU-Z, v1.38. It will also show your memory speed and FSB speed. In XP, if you open Task Manager, the 'Performance' tab should show you both cores. Divx seems to utilize them both fairly well. My version of Xvid, not as much. The CPU also runs at 29C idle temp, which I really like.

[rhegedus]

Using TMPGEnc...

[glockjs]

110% sure thats a x2 3800 ^ ^

[rhegedus]

Excellent.....