Actual cpu speed?

What is the actual speed of the m11xr2 with an i7 in it?
It says 1.2, and when i overclock with turbo boost 3dmark06 says i get 1.5..
Is each core only 300 mhz, or is it 1.2 times 4??

 

CPU is calculated by taking the multiplier and (surprise, surprise) multiplying it by the FSB. The default multiplier is 9, and the default fsb is 133 mhz. 9*133mhz=1197mhz, which is rounded up to 1.2ghz. This is the speed each core is capable of separately.

If you overclock, then you change the fsb speed, so to get the real cpu speed, you need to multiply the new fsb speed times 9. For instance, with the fsb at 166 mhz, your default cpu speed is 1494mhz, which is about 1.5ghz. Are you overclocking to 166 mhz?

edit: Forgot to mention, basically what Turbo Boost does is raise the multiplier to overclock the cpu cores (separately) on a temporary basis.

 

Yes I overclocked it to 166 mhz, is that a bad idea?
I read somewhere that turbobooster brings the speed to 1.7ghz, is that true?

 

It is indeed a bad idea if you didn't check to make sure it's stable because there is a chance you will get bluescreens at inopportune times.

If I remember correctly, Turbo Boost on the I7 can raise one core to 17x and the other to 14x, so one core can go to 17*fsb (in your case 17*166=2.8ghz), and the other does 14*fsb (in your case 14*166=2.324ghz).

By the way, it only has two cores, not four. It has four threads, which are not the same as cores.

 

Thanks for the insight, how can i check the stability of it though?

 

By loading it up with processes and seeing how often it fails.

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m11x/505732-ocing-cpu-does-use-more-power.html#post6544463

Follow the steps give there specific to stress testing an OC'd system.

 

You can get stress test utilities but for a quick way just run your favourite game that hammers the pc.

This actuals tests the CPU and GPU but real world stability is what you want anyhow.

 

i OC'd my i7 to 166 the moment i fired it up that was Thursday since then i have played numerous games like WoW/Warhammer Online both very CPU heavy and not one crash.

So i hope it's ok hehe.

 

I recommend you using a cooling pad while doing this.

 

Actually, it would probably be better to stress test without a cooling pad when you're doing the initial testing. The idea is to find what FSB setting is going to be stable under all conditions. If you find that 162 is your rock solid stable clock, then afterward you might try seeing if things such as cooling pads or other tweaks will help for squeezing out that extra bit of performance.