tx1120us CPU max speed battery power

My notebook is HP tx1120us which is 12.1" with touchscreen and 1.8GHz AMD Turion 64 X2 CPU.

Using AMD Power Monitor Version 1.0.2 ( http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/TechnicalResources/0,,30_182_871_14098,00.html), under battery power, it showed the maximum running CPU frequency of 0.8 GHz. Under A/C power, it shows full clock CPU speed of 1.8 GHz. I have changed minimum and maximum CPU power option settings to 100%. No matter what power option settings I set to, the Power Monitor still showed 0.8 GHz CPU clock frequency under battery power.

Is it hard coded by HP or can it be changed? My friend has a similar HP laptop but his is 14.1" and he can change the power option settings to run CPU clock at full speed under battery power.

Thanks,
Peter

 

Set your power setting to Max Power, or Always On, or something like that, and then benchmark the CPU while on battery and while on AC. It's possible the CPU is running at full clocks, but the Power Monitor just doesn't register it.

 

I know it's not running at full CPU power because the video stutters like crazy under battery power while watching HDTV programs using Media Center Edition which is part of Vista Home Premium.

The video plays smoothly under A/C power.

I cannot find "Max Power" or "Always On" settings like you described. Are you referring to Windows XP? I am using Vista Home Premium.

I set the exact same power option settings as my friend's HP 14.1" notebook and his plays smoothly under battery power and mine does not. His notebook is identical to mine except his is 14.1" and mine is 12.1". I am willing to bet there is a software bug in my notebook.

I will try to e-mail HP about this but I don't expect a clear answer from them.

Peter

 

Yeah, it seems to be most likely a software problem. You could also try to read through this, if you haven't already.

 

I figured it out. There is a BIOS setting for this also. It was defaulted to "Battery Life". I changed it to "Performance" and the Monitor now shows CPU clock speed of 1.6 GHz even though the full CPU clock speed is 1.8 GHz. That's better than 0.8 Ghz. I still have to set the Minimum Processor State to 100% (default was 5%) of Processor Management for Battery Power under Advance Power Settings.

That's good enough for me for now.

Peter

 

why you want full speed while on battery?

 

One day I was watching HDTV programs using Media Center Edition (MCE) under battery power and the video was stuttering pretty badly. I was curious about resolving this issue.

I normally use A/C power for MCE because MCE requires quite a bit of CPU power. I use Fusion USB HDTV tuner and it now works well with MCE using battery power as well as A/C power.

Peter

 

Hope you have a cool pad when using it in full power as it does get very hot!

 

I have watched continously for several hours of HDTV programs using A/C power and I have not noticed the laptop getting hot. The CPU was running at full speed. It does get warm, but not hot. The cooling fan was running pretty fast.

It's a good idea to get a cooling pad to be safe.

 

Very true, Makes a great $1800 hair dryer in performance mode.