XPS M1530 XP Vsync / Speed Step Problem. Calling all XP users!

I have this odd problem with my M1530 using windows XP. I currently mainly play WoW. . . I have installed Windows XP on my M1530. . .

So heres what I do.. I open up CPU-Z .. minimize it so that I can see the current speed of my CPU in the task bar. Open WoW in windowed mode and then play so I can see my CPU speed via CPU-Z.
When I do this and Vsync is off it is normal. Speed goes 2.5Ghz @ a 12.5 Multiplier. (using vsync option in wow to control)
When I turn on Vsync instantly the Speed starts going from 2.5Ghz to 1.2Ghz and back to 2.5Ghz ... but over and over and over, back and forth.... enough to notice while playing ... it creates stutters. I have tried everything I can think of to fix this. So if anyone has a idea please share...

(This all happens while plugged in to AC power.)

I would just disable speedstep as I did on my desktop but for some reason Dell made it so when you disable speedstep it goes to its minimal setting with no dynamics at all which is 1.2GHz .... sloooowwww.

Someone Plz help.. This does not happen in Vista... and I know these same chipsets etc are on machines that were marketed with windows XP so I know theres working drivers for all im just flat out stumped.
Also Im not liking Vista for my Laptop would rather still XP at the moment.

ThX
Sota

 

How exactly do you disable speedstep?

I suggest picking a power plan with no adaptive cpu clock modulation. That is "Home / Office Desktop" or "Always On" in XP on AC power:

http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/archive/winpowmgmt.mspx

And you should be done ...

If you use RMClock for undervolting then just configure it to use just one FID/VID.

 

Disable speedstep, and it will stay at 50% speed... The alternating should be normal, as long as it is not getting really hot and downclocking to save the computer.

 

Would second that you just use RMClock and lock it at the highest multiplier. I'm not sure those XP power plans actually do anything to SpeedStep... if I switch my laptop to Home/Office Desktop or Always On, SpeedStep is still working.

 

I tried all the power plans ... if I disable speedstep in the BIOS it then goes to 1.2GHz or a steady 6.0x multiplier with no change but then im not using my t9300 2.5GHz.


Heres why this is odd... In Vista or 7 The cpu will go from a 6.0x multipler at idle to a 12.5x under the load from WoW.
(with vsync on)

In XP it goes from a 6.0x to a 12.x in WoW with vsync off. As soon as you turn it on the multipler changes back and forth from 6.0x to 12.5x over and over ... thus causing stuttering and framerate changes that are drastic.

I tried RMClock and it seems that it does not have control over some of the newer Dell BIOS

 

This is one of the reasons I went back to Vista.

Under Windows XP, the processor scheduling is broken in the drivers somehow. I have even posted to some Intel forums asking questions.

With Windows Vista, I get no stuttering problems at all, and Speedstep works properly when using the High Performance settings.

I would love to use Windows XP (or XP x64) on this laptop, but it seems to run best with Windows Vista.

On my Sony Vaio, everything works perfectly on Windows XP. (Yes it originally came with Windows Vista)

Oddly enough though, Sony provided me with all the drivers to move back to Windows XP, where Dell wants me to PURCHASE media at $380 to get everything "working correctly" as they have put it.

 

Purchase what? did they say there was a option to get XP working?

Also about what u said yes I kind of figured it was some sort of OS control either driver or registry etc.... If anyone else has any more info to shed on to this please do.. Thanks.

 

Do you notice a frame plunge or not... if not, it is normal

 

Thats why im here I need more people thinking about this.. lol
Yes very much so, it drops from the 60fps down to 20-40.. I use fraps and watch the dips over and over for no reason... in Windows 7 / Vista this doesnt happen vsync on or off it stays at 2.5ghz while in WoW. ...
All this hardware has been used for XP before on different laptops I dont get why it wouldnt work.

and as I mentioned if I turn off vsync it goes to a full 2.5GHz constant while playing WOW.... does this happen to you in XP... u can easily use CPUZ to test.

 

Sota,

let me put some info witch might prove useful,

- the only thing Vsync does is to limit your FPS so they match your monitor's refreshrate, ( 60Hz- 60FPS) so i dont see any use for it unless the image is getting teared up pretty badly due to the output FPS being too much for the monitor.

- i have noticed that Fraps has issues running alongside hardawre monitoring programs ( HWMonitor, possibly CPU-z also) the issue consists on it suddenly loosing frames and then re-gaining them ( for like a second or so ) this is because it conflicts with the refresh of the program monitoring your hardware, so maybe turning off CPU-z can fix that problem

 

its for sure something to do with power managment. I have found 2 other people that report the samething.

.:UPDATE!:.
I recently have found that using RM Clock and disabling all the speedstep enchanced states (i.e. C4E etc) Stops the alternating multiplier and gives control. Leaving even one Enhanced option allows it to drop in game.. I have used about 3 or 4 other progs to check the multiplier its really dropping.

I know can use RMClock to run my power managment regarding the cpu clocks.

I however would like to know why this is happening so that I dont need to use a program to adjust my clock speeds. That why I made this thread...

Koer do you have XP installed? Do you have WoW?


Thanks for the reply I appreciate it.

 

That is strange, does it happen with other programs, or just wow? What are your max temps? Use HWmonitor

 

will check but I doubt its temps as it stays solid 2.5 when I turn off vsync.. .

Will report back.

 

What the enhanced c-states do:

If enhanced c-states are enabled sleeping the CPU for a short period of time as it's triggered by v-sync on looks like this:

[high VID/ 12.5x] -> [low VID/6x] -> [C1|C2|C3|C4] -> [low VID/6x] -> [high VID/ 12.5x]

If you disable enhanced c-states:
[high VID/ 12.5x] -> [C1|C2|C3|C4] -> [high VID/ 12.5x]

If you further look into intel's VRM specification, you'll notice that changing VID/FID requires some time. Therefore it seems reasonable that the enhanced c-states add some latency to this process. However 99.9% of all notebooks shipped are configured with enhanced c-states enabled (C1E, C2E, ...). This doesn't explain why you're facing these problems with XP and not with Vista.

At least it explains why still see 2.5GHz / 1.2GHz jumps if you disabled Speedstep. The 1.2 GHz is not due to speedstep, but due to C1E|C2E|C3E ...