Asus M50VM CPU always full speed

Is it normal that the fan is spinning all the time? Im using the Power4gear entertainment and the CPU is set up on minimum 5% and maximum 100% and the fan is spinning constantly when doing low intense task such as browsing the internet etc. Not that the fan is noisy but its a low constant hum...

Anyone?

 

Something isnt right. My CPU is on full speed all the time no matter what task i do. Where do you change the speed? Power4gear controls?

 

a) There is an Owner's Lounge for the M50VM already, and the point of this thread is not to start one -- so its name is wrong.Also, it should have been placed in the main ASUS forum. I will do both those things.

b) In many recent computers the fan is spinning all the time.

But if your CPU is really at full speed all the time, that's a problem. It's either a Power4Gear problem, or an ACPI problem.

Try stopping power 4 gear, putting the laptop in the Portable/Laptop power scheme (XP) or a balanced or power saving profile (Vista). Use CPU-Z to see if it downclocks. If it does, the problem is from Power4Gear.

Else, it may be with the ACPI drivers. Reinstall ATK/ACPI drivers, in that case.

 

Ok, im sorry. Anyhow, been playing around with power4gear and CPU-Z for a while now, and this is what i saw:

- When using "quiet office" and having the CPU at Max 70% and Min 5% when watching flashmovies on the net, the CPU is at 70% (max). When doing nothing at all, just turning everything off and looking at the CPU-Z (idling), the CPU is also at max (70%).
I tried to lower the max in to 30%, but it wouldnt go lower than the original speed (70%). Wierd!

- When using "Entertainment" and the CPU is set from Max 100% and Min 5%, it stays on 100% no matter what i do : Idling, surfing the web, watching movies.


Seems like power4gear maybe is faulty like you said E.B.E. Will try the power saving profile within Vista tomorrow.

 

No prob.

Well those tests are only with Power4Gear on, so you can't yet isolate the fault to Power4Gear. Do test with it turned off, and then we should have a clearer picture.

 

Will do, but first a question:
It seems that the power4gear somehow works, because if i chose the "battery saving" with the different power plans, it doesnt go beyond 1596 MHz. But it doesnt go lower either. Its stuck at 1596 MHz. Is that a OK speed when just surfing the internet? If i use the "Maximum performance" instead of "battery saving", it always goes to 100% in CPU speed no matter what i do.

Conclusion>
- Using "battery saving" in "Entertainment mode" and having the CPU set from Min 5% to 100% Max, it stays at 70% ~ 1596 MHz no matter what i do. Using the full performance, it goes right up to 100% when surfing the internet, but stays at 70% when idling.

I cant get it to go lower than 70%, is that a "normal" speed" when idling or surfing the internet? And when watching the CPU speed in Control panel, it says its full speed all the time. CPU-Z is what ive been using to see what speed ive have. NB Probe says different though. It claims i have 36% CPU speed when idling or surfing the net with CPU set from min 5% and maximum 70%.

Im CONFUSED

 

Ok i uninstalled the Power4Gear and used the power controls within VISTA.
It seems that Power4Gear and VISTA power controls my CPU identical.

- "Power saver" have the CPU set from Min 5% to Max 50%, and the CPU is on 1596 MHz no matter what i do. Surfing the web, watching movies, idling...it stays at 1596 Mhz which is ~70% of the total CPU speed.

- "Balanced" have the CPU set from Min 5% to Max 100%. When surfing the web, the CPU varies from 1596 to 2206 MHz (100%). Watching movies makes it go to 100%. Idling is 1596 MHz.

- "High Performance" is the only one who works. It is Min 100% and max 100%, lol.
So no matter what i do it stays at 100%.


I have tried changing the CPU Max and Min, but it doesnt go below 70% of full speed no matter what task im doing. The only thing that works is increasing the Max from 70% and upwards, and the CPU seems to follow.


Anyone with some idea of what im experiencing? Is this normal? Maybe VISTA is so demanding it require this speed to work?

 

This may be a different problem (or no problem, really). I think your CPU may not be able to go lower than 1600 MHz. To check this, install RMClock, setup the Power Saving profile as described in my Tips and Tricks under "underclocking CPU" (minimum FID), enforce it, and check the CPU speed. That speed is the minimum speed that can be obtained using FID/VID control, which I believe both Vista power management, and Power4Gear, use.

The confusion here is caused by the fact that the Vista and Power4Gear profiles allow arbitrary settings in the range 1%-100% for the CPU speed, even though some of those settings are impossible to achieve (and therefore meaningless) by the frequency control methods that Vista and Power4Gear employ.

RMclock is more transparent in this way, but should be used with care because it can be buggy with Montevina computers.

 

I reckon i just leave it this way. Its probably the lowest speed available. I was just curious because i still think its a little high for just browsing the internet and doing office work. But its super quiet and cool and thats what im looking for. Gonna use the battery save mode that runs around 1.6 GHz.
Thanks for all the replies E.B.E. I really apriciate it.

Wonder if XP will lower the CPU speed. Isnt Vista a little demanding?

 

Only with laptops that are more than a couple years old. Since its initial release, Vista has undergone some serious optimization. The M50 shouldn't be strained at all when it comes to running the OS.

 

There will be no difference in XP.

You can use a method called throttling to lower the speed of your CPU even further -- but that usually comes with little power & heat savings. I recommend not going into that.