X201 slow CPU speed

Hi,

I have an X201 with a i5 520M with Windows 7 64-bit, and the Windows Experience Index is 4.0 . The base value is being held down by the processor. I thought this was strange and looked at the values in cpu-z and found that my processor was running at 1.2GHz instead of 2.4GHz. Any ideas why this might be happening? I also tried running wPrime 32M and it took 50 seconds, compared to the 17 to 20 seconds everybody else seems to be reporting. cpu-z is telling me that the the bus speed is at 133MHz, and the multiplier is going back and forth between 9.0 or 10.0, depending on the load, giving a core speed of 1.2GHz on high load and 1.33GHz on low load. I can't figure out what is wrong.

Thanks!

 

The two simplest things:
Is the computer plugged into a power outlet with the battery in place? What are your settings in power manager?

 

Yes, I have it plugged in, and I took out the battery (I don't use the battery when it is plugged in). My settings in power manager is Energy Star, and I have gone into the Power Options->Edit Plan Settings->Change advanced power settings->Processor power management and set the Minimum processor state and Maximum processor state to 100% for On battery and Plugged in (the Maximum processor state was always 100%).

By the way, I also have that mouse stuttering problem too . I've updated the drivers and it seems to happen less often, but I did see it again today.

Thanks!

 

Put the battery back in your computer and your cpu problem will be solved.
Honestly, there's no reason to take the battery out anyways with modern batteries. The battery in my T60 is 3 years old, has over 1100 cycles on it (it's off right now or I'd tell you the exact number, but last I checked it was ~1160 cycles), was never taken out of the laptop when plugged in, and still retains over 70% of its charge capacity.

Also, why are you not using the Thinkvantage Power Manager (click the green battery icon in the taskbar)? If you go into advanced mode it's pretty darn useful/powerful.

Did you try uninstalling the Intel Pro/Set and installing instead the driver on the driver-only link linked to in that stutter thread? Seems to have worked for me.

 

Wow, thanks!! I called Lenovo and they said they would be sending me a box. I told the guy I was pretty sure it wasn't a hardware malfunction, but he insisted (or didn't know better would probably be more accurate). I guess I'll have to call them and stop the waste. Do you know why you need the battery and the power plugged in? Also, I'm quite curious as to how you knew that. My last notebook (of 5 years ago) slowly diminished in battery life and so I thought it would be better to leave it out (so I wouldn't have to buy a new one, since I plan to use the battery only so often.) I have been using the Thinkvantage Power Manager, but I looked into the control panel and found the Maximum processor state and Minimum processor state settings there, which I couldn't find on the Thinkvantage Power Manager.

Anyways, my CPU is now at 2.8GHz!!! It also goes down to 1.33 GHz when nothing is really happening (after I changed the Minimum processor state back to the default 5%). Thanks once again~!

 

It has something to do with the circuity and how it handles power coming from the brick. Only reason I knew this is I've seen it posted about before.

 

redhand

If you want use x201 with out battery buy 90w power adapter. I checked it on my x201 week ago.

 

without battery, the only way to make the laptop run at full speed is to have the 90 watt as mentioned. But putting the battery in your laptop with the proper setting is not going to kill your battery.

 

What kind of 'super' battery do you have? I have never heard of a Lithium-Ion battery with 1000+ cycles still able to retain more than 70% of its original capacity.

 

I dunno, it's the 9 cell I got when they did a recall on the 9cells that came with it. I just checked it, 1163 cycles, 3 years and 2 months since first use.

 

Thanks for the 90W adapter tips! I managed to find the previous thread about the problem I was having. Too bad I spent about 2 hours with the wrong queries before this post...

@marlinspike : Wow, that means it got recharged once a day....that's pretty heavy usage, and still at 70%...I think you definitely have a super-battery. When this become standard, I'll stop worrying about mine (My battery is a Sanyo )

I'm guessing that my computer doesn't charge the battery until it hits the specified threshold, even if it is off. Is this correct? The Thinkvantage utility somehow programs the charging circuit so that it knows what to do even though the computer is off? I'm guessing it does, since the charge left on my battery left plugged in and turned off is the same as it was 12 hours ago. This also means I should only be getting charging cycles when I unplug my laptop and use it to below the start charging threshold. If this is the case, it seems that keeping my battery in won't be much of a problem, (I've set it to start charging at 30% and stop at 80%) except for the cases when I'd rather carry around the power brick without the battery for lightweight and extended use.

 

How do you know what cells are in your battery? The only brand markings on mine are Lenovo.

And yes, the way you described the battery charging is how it works.

EDIT: According to this
http://www.laptopbatteryexpress.com...p-R60-R60e-Z60m-Laptop-Battery-p/ibm-58xt.htm
The cells in my T60's 9 cell are Panasonic.

So do you pretty much never use the battery? I couldn't imagine having it so when I unplug to use my laptop on battery it might only have 40% charge left (heck, I can't imagine doing that with only an 80% charge left, taking away a lot of time from yourself).

 

It's in the ThinkVantage Power Manager, under the battery tab in the advanced view. Mine lists the battery details, with the status, remaining percentage, remaining capacity, cycle count, manufacturer name (Sanyo), manufacture date, first used date, serial number, and a whole lot of other info.

I plan to use my X201 as a desktop replacement at home, and carry it to school (when I go...not too often) to use mostly in my office, since I'm done with coursework. I finally upgraded my 5 year old notebook because I was finding myself unable to do work when I went on trips. Be it at school or home, most of the time there seems to be a free outlet somewhere in the vicinity. When going on trips, I'd have to charge up in advance, and probably change the charge settings to be suitable for the trip.

 

I suspect the info chip in your battery is corrupt as more than 1000 cycles should cripple your battery to very low levels of capacity.

Have you tested the battery life in real life? How many hours can you use it for, e.g. at half screen brightness and normal surfing/office apps usage?

 

I use the battery on a daily basis (well, I did until getting this x201 a couple weeks ago). I've never timed it with a stopwatch, but it's several hours.

 

Super battery it is then.

Just reaching that amount of cycles in little over 3 years is a feat in itself - getting a full charging cycle about once every day. Could you send a screen shot of the Power Manager battery tab? I'd like to use it as wallpaper

 

Heck, there are some days where I cycle it more than once, plugging it in at the middle of the day (though usually the second cycle would have only started at 90% or so since that last 10% takes a while to charge up.

http://img580.imageshack.us/img580/276/batteryk.jpg

 

To the Original Poster in this thread:
Lithium-Ion batteries will diminish in their ability to hold a charge whether you are using them or not. So, might as well use it.

Don't buy an extra battery if it's just going to sit on a shelf all the time -- you'll be wasting your money. They start degrading the moment they are manufactured. And don't believe all that stuff about "conditioning" the battery every couple of months. A battery engineer will tell you that fully depleting a Li-Ion battery will cause it to develop crystals in the fluid and shorten it's overall life considerably. Never let it get below 20% capacity or so. If you want to store it, deplete it to 40% and store it in the refrigerator (make sure it doesn't freeze) in a plastic wrapper to keep moisture out. Even if you do this, you should take it out and charge it up every month or so and then deplete to 40% again for storage. This will extend the life of the battery. Heat is murder on these batteries. My Lenovo has a power management scheme that stops the charging at 79%. The worst thing you can do is constantly apply a charge to a fully-charged battery.

 

you must have the ultra secret battery. I know the Panasonic Batteries are good (haven't heard there is a recall involving them), unlike Sanyo and Sony batteries. But 1100 charge cycles is a new record.

 

The recalled one was a Sanyo, the one they gave me for my recall replacement (that now has the 1163 cycles on it) is Panasonic.

I'm with Raydabruce, because the recalled one holds the same amount of charge (actually a little less) despite having FAR fewer cycles on it. I think it's time, not cycles, that counts.

 

My personal experiences with battery is slightly different. For faulty batteries, time or cycles could equally affect them.

While, for Panasonic batteries, usually 600 cycles is the maximum life i have seen. But that would entirely depend on how you use them.

 

My dumb question of the day: "What constitutes a 'cycle'? Is there a minimum charge/discharge threshold to count as a battery 'cycle'?"

 

Good question. I know a "full cycle" would be complete discharge and recharge but anything less I suppose would be called a partial cycle or perhaps just a cycle. I'm wondering what the manufacturers consider to be "a cycle".

 

.. and there I was thinking my 4 year old 9-cell, with 600 cycles and 20% degradation was legendary..

Really? What's the general practice people take with laptop batteries these days? I've always yanked the 9-cell from my ThinkPad R50 (while it's turned on) as soon as I hit my power cord for an extended period of time (eg overnight or an evening of tethered use).

 

Just leave it in an enjoy your computer?

 

I have a 90W adapter that I use with my T60. Can I use this 90W adapter with my new X201?

 

you can even use the 135 watt on the x201. I am using the 135 watt on the X60... all good. But it is recognizing it as only 120 watt.

 

I'll enjoy it more when I'm replacing the $200 battery fewer times during the laptop's lifespan.

 

1) $200? where in the world do you buy your batteries?
2) It won't make an appreciably difference in the life of the battery.

 

Each time the battery discharges a total of 85% and recharges counts as one charge cycle (e.g. discharging 45%, recharging, discharging 40% and recharging is 45%+40%=85% one cycle) .

 

A new 9-cell battery for my current R50.. well I swear up until recently Lenovo had replacements on the website, but they were priced at just slightly south of $200 AUD.

Good to hear it won't make much of a difference though.

 

Ah, Aussie dollars. Still though, you can get factory batteries for significantly cheaper from a 3rd party retailer than you can from Lenovo direct. For instance, I bought a new, genuine, 4 cell for my X201 for 75USD from a thinkpad retailer vs 129USD from Lenovo. I see genuine R50 9 cells for about 90USD after shipping on ebay.

 

the shipping charge to Australia is quite expensive for things coming from USA.

 

I would imagine there is some Australian equivalent for these options though, no?