? - VAIO SZ - CPU clock speed dropped from 2.16Ghz to 1.006Ghz

I have had some strange things happen on my Sony Vaio SZ.

I returned from holiday (two days away) and brought my SZ back up from hibernation mode. It hung after I logged in. Rebooted it, and it came back after I put the battery back in and disabled wifi. Not that these actions indicate a problem with either wifi nor the battery (which died back in 2006).

However, it is running rather slowly. I installed the benchmark programme called Performance Test, ( http://www.passmark.com/products/pt.htm ) from an Australian company. It informed me that the T2600 (2.16Ghz) was actually running at 1.006Ghz. On top of this it gave an overall performance rating of 276, which is extremely poor for a Vaio SZ.

The original Sony Windows XP installation was removed a long time ago and an OEM XP Pro and SP3 was installed with a selection of specific drivers for the Vaio SZ components.

 

Typically this is an indicator of bad memory, and yes it can just die.

You might get away with a Bios reset, but odds are the ram (or much less likely the processor or motherboard is dying).

 

I'll leave it running memtest over the the next few days and see what it reports.

 

You haven't accidentally changed into the Vaio Battery saver mode?
(Power plans) - or anything like this?

On Vista the max battery saver locks my CPU at 1,6GHz rather than the regular 2,5GHz (SZ7)

Also, download CPU-Z and see what that reports.

 

I checked by disabling the Vaio Power management and then rebooting. No change, unless I overlooked something. The little Sony toolbar icon reads 'Performance'. I left the SZ running memtest last night and the tests were passed. Also, I reseated the memory.

Not that any of this has made any difference to the CPU clock speed.

 

It most likely is just your laptop throttling to save power. It should be fine. It naturally goes down or up depending on the load at the time.

Did you download CPU-z?

 

I would have thought throtteling too... and the Vaio power management can do that.
But then it should go up under load.

(PS: best power plan is balanced)

 

No, its stuck at 1000Mhz, and it is set to be at preformance level. It fine last week. No matter what I try it won't budge. I shall download CPU-Z ce soir.

PS. Best power plan is as fast as possible, otherwise I cannot play my CPU / GPU intensive computer game, which is the only reason I have WXP.

 

If you search the Windows Thread - Balanced will lead to higher scores than Performance - in Balanced mode the laptop will supply where performance where needed and use less energy when it can.

The SZ isn't a gaming laptop anyway.

But that doesn't solve your problem...
No over/undeclocking software? The more I think about it, a locked multiplier seems logical - did you run CPU-Z?
Can you post a screenshot of it?

 

Hi,

Sony said that they will not support Linux on it, so by your logic, the SZ is not a Linux platform. What a load of twaddle.

The game runs very well on it, and with the CPU running at 2 Ghz, and the GFX in best performance mode I have a near constant 90FPS. The SZ is a gaming platform, but it depends on the game that one plays. If the games requirements are an Intel Quad core with 8Gb of memory then no, the SZ fails. Since the game requirements are DirectX7, one CPU, 1Gb RAM, and a card similar to an nVidia 7600 then the SZ is a gaming platform.

Even when running with the Intel GPU the game is reasonable, but the CPU has to be near to the 2Ghz clock speed mark.

Back on topic:
No, I have not. I will d/l CPU-Z this evening (ce soir) ; in other words I am in work and the PC is in the home. I shall post the screen-shot then.

If I am lucky, I am wrong about this clock speed and have missed something. Also, I shall monitor /proc/cpuinfo for changes to cpu Mhz value while I use the box:
while x=1 ; do grep 'cpu MHz' /proc/cpuinfo ; sleep 1;done

 

Hi,

I check with Linux and the CPU was throttled down to 1ghz, but jumped back to 2.16Ghz when required. Here is the CPU-Z information from WXP. I am unsure how to actively monitor the Ghz changes with WXP Any ideas?

Note. Please ignore the fact that there is only one core listed on a T2600 chip. The second core does exist, but the Sony BIOS disabled it, and I have never managed to turn it back on. (Problem is replicated in Linux and Solaris O/Ses so is not WXP specific)

Code:

Binaries	 
CPU-Z version	1.52.2
 	 
Processors	 
Number of processors	1
Number of threads	1
 	 
APICs	 
Processor 0	     -- Core 0	     -- Thread 0	0
 	 
Processors Information	 
Processor 1	ID = 0
     Number of cores	1 (max 2)
     Number of threads	1 (max 2)
     Name	Intel Core Duo T2600
     Codename	Yonah
     Specification	Genuine Intel(R) CPU T2600 @ 2.16GHz
     Package (platform ID)	Socket 479 mPGA (0x5)
     CPUID	6.E.8
     Extended CPUID	6.E
     Core Stepping	C0
     Technology	65 nm
     Core Speed	1000.1 MHz
     Multiplier x FSB	6.0 x 166.7 MHz
     Rated Bus speed	666.7 MHz
     Stock frequency	2166 MHz
     Instructions sets	MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3
     L1 Data cache	32 KBytes, 8-way set associative, 64-byte line size
     L1 Instruction cache	32 KBytes, 8-way set associative, 64-byte line size
     L2 cache	           2048 KBytes, 8-way set associative, 64-byte line size
     FID/VID Control	yes
     FID range	           6.0x - 13.0x
     Max VID	           1.263 V
 	 
Thread dumps	 
CPU Thread 0	
     APIC ID	0
     Topology	Processor ID 0, Core ID 0, Thread ID 0
     Type	01004002h
     Max CPUID level	0000000Ah
     Max CPUID ext. level	80000008h
     Cache descriptor	Level 1, D, 32 KB, 1 thread(s)
     Cache descriptor	Level 1, I, 32 KB, 1 thread(s)
     Cache descriptor	Level 2, U, 2 MB, 2 thread(s)

Chipset	 
Northbridge	           Intel i945GM rev. 03
Southbridge	           Intel 82801GHM (ICH7-M/U) rev. B0
Graphic Interface	PCI-Express
PCI-E Link Width	x16
PCI-E Max Link Width	x16
Memory Type	           DDR2
Memory Size	           2048 MBytes
Channels	           Dual
Memory Frequency	266.7 MHz (5:8)
CAS# latency (CL)	4.0
RAS# to CAS# delay (tRCD)	4
RAS# Precharge (tRP)	4
Cycle Time (tRAS)	12
Bank Cycle Time (tRC)	16
MCHBAR I/O Base address	0x0FED14000
MCHBAR I/O Size	4096

Memory SPD	 
DIMM #	1
     SMBus address	0x50
     Memory type	DDR2
     Module format	SO-DIMM
     Manufacturer (ID)	Corsair 
     Size	1024 MBytes
     Max bandwidth	PC2-4300 (266 MHz)
     Part number	VS1GSDS533D2 
     Number of banks	2
     Data width	64 bits
     Correction	None
     Nominal Voltage	1.80 Volts
     EPP	no
     XMP	no
JEDEC timings table	CL-tRCD-tRP-tRAS-tRC @ frequency
     JEDEC #1	3.0-3-3-9-11 @ 200 MHz
     JEDEC #2	4.0-4-4-12-15 @ 266 MHz


DIMM #	2
     SMBus address	0x52
     Memory type	DDR2
     Module format	SO-DIMM
     Manufacturer (ID)	Corsair 
     Size	1024 MBytes
     Max bandwidth	PC2-4300 (266 MHz)
     Part number	VS1GSDS533D2 
     Number of banks	2
     Data width	64 bits
     Correction	None
     Nominal Voltage	1.80 Volts
     EPP	no
     XMP	no
JEDEC timings table	CL-tRCD-tRP-tRAS-tRC @ frequency
     JEDEC #1	3.0-3-3-9-11 @ 200 MHz
     JEDEC #2	4.0-4-4-12-15 @ 266 MHz

Hardware Monitors	 
     Hardware monitor	Intel Core Duo T2600
     Temperature 0	41°C (105°F) [0x3B] (Core #0)

 

Hi,

I just noticed that the Performance Test s/w listed the GeForce Go 7400 as having 128Mb of RAM on the GPU, whereas CPU-Z lists it as 64Mb. Which one can I trust for reliable information?

Code:

Display Adapters	 
Display adapter 0	
     Display name	\\.\DISPLAY1
     Name	NVIDIA GeForce Go 7400
     Revision	A3
     Codename	G72
     Technology	90 nm
     Memory size	64 MB
     Memory type	DDR
     PCI device	bus 1 (0x1), device 0 (0x0), function 0 (0x0)
     Vendor ID	0x10DE (0x104D)
     Model ID	0x1D8 (0x81E6)
     Performance Level	0

 

No, the SZ isn't meant for gaming it was aimed at business users.
Same as you can drive a Toyota iQ/Ford Ka from Paris to Berlin - i'll work but its not meant for that.

I played Empire Earth 1 & 2 on my old laptop which has originally 512MB RAM later 1GB, a 1,6GHz Pentium M and a 910/915 integrated Graphics card...
Guess what, it worked - but that doesn't mean the laptop was built for this.

Good

This is how it should be - ntel Speedstep.
Just did a little bit of looking:
http://forum.rightmark.org/topic.cgi?id=6:1057
Where a member posted the following:

Which is what I would expect - so you re stuck in a lower multiplier for some reason.
And no, Sony doesn't disable one core - my SZ7 has both cores show up in CPU-Z

By the way - just compared it with mine, this is in your CPU-Z data:

Code:

FID range 6.0x - 13.0x

So its a 6-13 multiplier - you seem stuck at 7...

Now why this happens I'm not sure...
Any software like RM Clock that can control it?

The grpahics card - I don't know, my X3100 is supposed to have 358MB ( shared... CPU-Z tells me I have 448MB ... a game once told me I had over 1GB... and GPU-Z tellsme I have 8MB (possibly onboard)...

So I've given up on that.

 

> So its a 6-13 multiplier - you seem stuck at 7...

>Now why this happens I'm not sure...
>Any software like RM Clock that can control it?
Shall look into RM Clock.

I am certain that Sony did not intensionally disable the core. However, its not an O/S related problem. Booting Solaris and forcing it to use the second core still leaves it disabled (A colleague in work tried this). For some reason the a core is disabled, which is a shame. This is also shown by WXP not recognising the second core even though the Multi HAL is installed. Wierd, but I have come to accept this.

 

It shouldn't be BIOS related either...
RM Clock is used for over clocking - it may be able to get you back to the 13 Multiplier, maybe not - if you fancy playing around, have a look at it.
It would only patch your problem as you still don't know its origin...

 

Hi there!

Can you enter the BIOS?
Check there if there is something that has your CPU locked and performing slower.
As far as I can see it, your CPU is throttling. I suggest you use Core Temp and HWMonitor to check your temps.

RMClock will allow you to overclock it back, but I dont suggest it, since it can lead to BSODs. First off, go to the BIOS, and check the CPU settings, if there is nothing that has it locked.

Check temps, to see if it is self-throttling in order to avoid overheating.

About you GPU. GPU-z could be worth it, and if not, use the NVIDIA driver, it allows you to modify the settings and set the amount of memory you want to utilise on your card (so that you know the amount being used).

Other than that, if it does not work, check the overclocking guide here, study it, and do it carefully. Still I do not suggest it.

 

Hi,

CPU
I did install RMClock and could not get it over 1,000 Mhz using the profile management.

I have looked in the BIOS and there are no settings that affect the CPU performance. Sony butchered, sorry I meant to write modified, the Phoenix BIOS rather well. Attempting Hardware Monitor in a second.

GPU
The supplied nvidia driver does not allow changing of any specific details other than setting the 'performance' verses 'quality' setting. There is no reference to RAM on the chip. Perhaps there are other nvidia drivers availabled

It is not possible to overclock the nvidia card on my SZ. The programme will attempt this and report succes but as far as I can remember Sony locked these settings. I tried with Linux and the nVidia tool but this failed.

 

I ran Hardware Monitor whilst playing the computer game. Its a FPS/MMORG. The data is below, but the strings of numbers are fairly meaningless to me. I suppose the data details some change of states in the hardware.

Code:

CPUID HWMonitor Report
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Binaries
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

HWMonitor version	1.1.5.0

Monitoring
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mainboard Model		VAIO (0x0000012F - 0x00003158)

LPCIO
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

LPCIO Vendor		SMSC
LPCIO Vendor ID		0x55
LPCIO Chip ID		0xB
Config Mode I/O address	0x2E
Config Mode LDN		0x8
Config Mode registers	
		00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 0A 0B 0C 0D 0E 0F 
	00	00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
	10	00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
	20	0B 00 00 00 00 00 2E 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
	30	01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
	40	00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
	50	00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
	60	16 70 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
	70	00 02 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
Register space		LPC, base address = 0x01600


Hardware Monitors
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hardware monitor	ACPI
	Temperature 0	49°C (120°F) [0xC95] (ATF0)
	Temperature 1	44°C (111°F) [0xC63] (DTS0)
	Temperature 2	44°C (111°F) [0xC63] (DTS1)

Hardware monitor	Intel Core Duo T2600
	Temperature 0	44°C (111°F) [0x38] (Core #0)

Hardware monitor	ST9500420ASG
	Temperature 0	38°C (100°F) [0x26] (Assembly)
	Temperature 2	38°C (100°F) [0x26] (Air Flow)

Hardware monitor	Battery 1


Processors
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Number of processors		1
Number of threads		1

APICs
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Processor 0	
	-- Core 0	
		-- Thread 0	0

Processors Information
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Processor 1			ID = 0
	Number of cores		1 (max 2)
	Number of threads	1 (max 2)
	Name			Intel Core Duo T2600
	Codename		Yonah
	Specification		Genuine Intel(R) CPU           T2600  @ 2.16GHz
	Package (platform ID)	Socket 479 mPGA (0x5)
	CPUID			6.E.8
	Extended CPUID		6.E
	Core Stepping		C0
	Technology		65 nm
	Core Speed		1000.1 MHz
	Multiplier x FSB	6.0 x 166.7 MHz
	Rated Bus speed		666.7 MHz
	Stock frequency		2166 MHz
	Instructions sets	MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3
	L1 Data cache		32 KBytes, 8-way set associative, 64-byte line size
	L1 Instruction cache	32 KBytes, 8-way set associative, 64-byte line size
	L2 cache		2048 KBytes, 8-way set associative, 64-byte line size
	FID/VID Control		yes
	FID range		6.0x - 13.0x
	Max VID			1.263 V



Thread dumps
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

CPU Thread 0	
	APIC ID			0
	Topology		Processor ID 0, Core ID 0, Thread ID 0
	Type			01004002h
	Max CPUID level		0000000Ah
	Max CPUID ext. level	80000008h
	Cache descriptor	Level 1, D, 32 KB, 1 thread(s)
	Cache descriptor	Level 1, I, 32 KB, 1 thread(s)
	Cache descriptor	Level 2, U, 2 MB, 2 thread(s)

	CPUID		 
	0x00000000		0x0000000A	0x756E6547	0x6C65746E	0x49656E69
	0x00000001		0x000006E8	0x00020800	0x0000C1A9	0xBFE9FBFF
	0x00000002		0x02B3B001	0x000000F0	0x00000000	0x2C04307D
	0x00000003		0x00000000	0x00000000	0x00000000	0x00000000
	0x00000004		0x04000121	0x01C0003F	0x0000003F	0x00000001
	0x00000004		0x04000122	0x01C0003F	0x0000003F	0x00000001
	0x00000004		0x04004143	0x01C0003F	0x00000FFF	0x00000001
	0x00000005		0x00000040	0x00000040	0x00000003	0x00022220
	0x00000006		0x00000001	0x00000002	0x00000001	0x00000000
	0x00000007		0x00000000	0x00000000	0x00000000	0x00000000
	0x00000008		0x00000000	0x00000000	0x00000000	0x00000000
	0x00000009		0x00000000	0x00000000	0x00000000	0x00000000
	0x0000000A		0x07280201	0x00000000	0x00000000	0x00000000
	0x80000000		0x80000008	0x00000000	0x00000000	0x00000000
	0x80000001		0x00000000	0x00000000	0x00000000	0x00100000
	0x80000002		0x756E6547	0x20656E69	0x65746E49	0x2952286C
	0x80000003		0x55504320	0x20202020	0x20202020	0x54202020
	0x80000004		0x30303632	0x20402020	0x36312E32	0x007A4847
	0x80000005		0x00000000	0x00000000	0x00000000	0x00000000
	0x80000006		0x00000000	0x00000000	0x08006040	0x00000000
	0x80000007		0x00000000	0x00000000	0x00000000	0x00000000
	0x80000008		0x00002020	0x00000000	0x00000000	0x00000000

	MSR 0x0000001B		0x00000000	0xFEE00900
	MSR 0x000001A0		0x00000002	0x64973488
	MSR 0x00000017		0x00140000	0xD80486AC
	MSR 0x000000CD		0x00000000	0x00000133
	MSR 0x0000019C		0x00000000	0x88380000
	MSR 0x000000EE		0xF8000000	0x82B90000
	MSR 0x00000198		0x06130D2C	0x06000613
	MSR 0x00000199		0x00000000	0x00000613




Graphic APIs
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

API				NVIDIA NVAPI
API				NVIDIA I/O

Display Adapters
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Display adapter 0	
	Display name		\\.\DISPLAY1
	Name			NVIDIA GeForce Go 7400
	Revision		A3
	Codename		G72
	Technology		90 nm
	PCI device		bus 1 (0x1), device 0 (0x0), function 0 (0x0)
	Vendor ID		0x10DE (0x104D)
	Model ID		0x01D8 (0x81E6)


ACPI
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

ACPI Tree		
_GPE
  _L01
  _L02
  _L03
  _L04
  _L05
  _L07
  _L08
  _L09
  _L0B
  _L0D
  _L1D
_PR_
  CPU0
    _PPC
    _PCT
    _PSS
    SPSS
    NPSS
    _CST
    HI0_
    HC0_
    _PDC
    _OSC
  CPU1
    HI1_
    HC1_
    _PDC
    _OSC
_SB_
  OSTB
  OSTY
  [ ]
  TPOS
  OSTP
  SEQL
  _INI
  LID0
    _HID
    _LID
  PWRB
    _HID
    _PRW
  PLOK
  NCPU
  PCI0
    _HID
    _CID
    _ADR
    _BBN
    HBUS
    [ ]
    [ ]
    [ ]
    PM0H
    [ ]
    PM1L
    [ ]
    PM1H
    [ ]
    PM2L
    [ ]
    PM2H
    [ ]
    PM3L
    [ ]
    PM3H
    [ ]
    PM4L
    [ ]
    PM4H
    [ ]
    PM5L
    [ ]
    PM5H
    [ ]
    PM6L
    [ ]
    PM6H
    [ ]
    [ ]
    HENA
    [ ]
    [ ]
    TOUD
    BUF0
    _CRS
    _PRT
    PDRC
      _HID
      _UID
      BUF0
      BUF1
      _CRS
    PEGP
      _ADR
      _PRT
    GFX0
      _ADR
    HDEF
      _ADR
      AZPW
      _PS0
      _PS3
    RP01
      _ADR
      P1CS
      [ ]
      [ ]
      ABP1
      [ ]
      PDC1
      [ ]
      PDS1
      [ ]
      [ ]
      PSP1
      [ ]
      [ ]
      HPCS
      PMCS
      S1F0
        _ADR
        _SUN
        _PRW
        _RMV
      S1F1
        _ADR
        _SUN
        _PRW
        _RMV
      S1F2
        _ADR
        _SUN
        _PRW
        _RMV
      S1F3
        _ADR
        _SUN
        _PRW
        _RMV
      S1F4
        _ADR
        _SUN
        _PRW
        _RMV
      S1F5
        _ADR
        _SUN
        _PRW
        _RMV
      S1F6
        _ADR
        _SUN
        _PRW
        _RMV
      S1F7
        _ADR
        _SUN
        _PRW
        _RMV
      _PRT
    RP02
      _ADR
      P2CS
      [ ]
      [ ]
      ABP2
      [ ]
      PDC2
      [ ]
      PDS2
      [ ]
      [ ]
      PSP2
      [ ]
      [ ]
      HPCS
      PMCS
      WLAN
        _ADR
        _PSC
        _PS0
        _PS3
        _STA
      _PRT
    RP03
      _ADR
      P3CS
      [ ]
      [ ]
      ABP3
      [ ]
      PDC3
      [ ]
      PDS3
      [ ]
      [ ]
      PSP3
      [ ]
      [ ]
      HPCS
      PMCS
      _PRT
      TLAN
        _ADR
        _PRW
      _HPP
    RP04
      _ADR
      P4CS
      [ ]
      [ ]
      ABP4
      [ ]
      PDC4
      [ ]
      PDS4
      [ ]
      [ ]
      PSP4
      [ ]
      [ ]
      HPCS
      PMCS
      _PRT
      DLAN
        _ADR
        _SUN
        _PRW
        _EJD
      S4F1
        _ADR
        _SUN
      S4F2
        _ADR
        _SUN
      S4F3
        _ADR
        _SUN
      S4F4
        _ADR
        _SUN
      S4F5
        _ADR
        _SUN
      S4F6
        _ADR
        _SUN
      S4F7
        _ADR
        _SUN
    RP05
      _ADR
      P5CS
      [ ]
      [ ]
      ABP5
      [ ]
      PDC5
      [ ]
      PDS5
      [ ]
      [ ]
      PSP5
      [ ]
      [ ]
      HPCS
      PMCS
      _PRT
      EX2P
        _ADR
        _SUN
        _EJD
        _PRT
      S5F1
        _ADR
        _SUN
      S5F2
        _ADR
        _SUN
      S5F3
        _ADR
        _SUN
      S5F4
        _ADR
        _SUN
      S5F5
        _ADR
        _SUN
      S5F6
        _ADR
        _SUN
      S5F7
        _ADR
        _SUN
    RP06
      _ADR
      P6CS
      [ ]
      [ ]
      ABP6
      [ ]
      PDC6
      [ ]
      PDS6
      [ ]
      [ ]
      PSP6
      [ ]
      [ ]
      HPCS
      PMCS
      S6F0
        _ADR
        _SUN
        _PRW
        _RMV
      S6F1
        _ADR
        _SUN
        _PRW
        _RMV
      S6F2
        _ADR
        _SUN
        _PRW
        _RMV
      S6F3
        _ADR
        _SUN
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        _RMV
      S6F4
        _ADR
        _SUN
        _PRW
        _RMV
      S6F5
        _ADR
        _SUN
        _PRW
        _RMV
      S6F6
        _ADR
        _SUN
        _PRW
        _RMV
      S6F7
        _ADR
        _SUN
        _PRW
        _RMV
      _PRT
    USB1
      _ADR
      U1CS
      [ ]
      U1EN
      _PRW
      _PSW
    USB2
      _ADR
      U2CS
      [ ]
      U2EN
      _PRW
      _PSW
    USB3
      _ADR
      U2CS
      [ ]
      U3EN
    USB4
      _ADR
      U4CS
      [ ]
      U4EN
    USB7
      _ADR
      HUB7
        _ADR
        PRT1
          _ADR
        PRT2
          _ADR
        PRT3
          _ADR
        PRT4
          _ADR
        PRT5
          _ADR
        PRT6
          _ADR
        PRT7
          _ADR
        PRT8
          _ADR
      _PRW
    PCIB
      _ADR
      SLT0
        _ADR
        _PRW
      LANC
        _ADR
        _PRW
      CRD2
        _ADR
        CCRD
        [ ]
        [ ]
        CD04
        [ ]
        CD3E
        [ ]
        CD44
        _INI
        _PSC
        _PS0
        _PS3
        _STA
      S294
        _ADR
      MST2
        _ADR
      CRD0
        _ADR
        CCRD
        [ ]
        [ ]
        CD04
        [ ]
        CD3E
        [ ]
        CD44
        _INI
        _PSC
        _PS0
        _PS3
        _STA
      SD94
        _ADR
      MMST
        _ADR
      _PRT
    AUD0
      _ADR
    MODM
      _ADR
    LPCB
      _ADR
      LPC0
      [ ]
      [ ]
      PARC
      PBRC
      PCRC
      PDRC
      [ ]
      PERC
      PFRC
      PGRC
      PHRC
      [ ]
      IOD0
      IOD1
      IOD2
      [ ]
      [ ]
      [ ]
      GID2
      GID3
      GID4
      LNKA
        _HID
        _UID
        _DIS
        _PRS
        _CRS
        _SRS
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        _HID
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        _SRS
        _STA
      EC0_
        _HID
        _CRS
        _GPE
        ECOK
        _REG
        _PRW
        ECR_
        [ ]
        [ ]
        MPBP
        MPBD
        DOKD
        DFBP
        [ ]
        BT1A
        BT2A
        ACAT
        [ ]
        PWRB
        JOGB
        LIDS
        [ ]
        BT1P
        BT2P
        [ ]
        B1ST
        B2ST
        [ ]
        [ ]
        WUP0
        DKID
        [ ]
        MASK
        BT1S
        BT2S
        [ ]
        BT1W
        BT2W
        [ ]
        FAN0
        CB0S
        CB1S
        [ ]
        PHYO
        [ ]
        BRIT
        CONT
        PMUT
        VAUD
        [ ]
        SMDM
        [ ]
        [ ]
        SIRQ
        SLOB
        SHIB
        MPWR
        COFF
        ERST
        EOFF
        IRST
        OPOW
        IUSE
        LIDE
        [ ]
        B1RC
        B1AB
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        B1VO
        B2RC
        B2AB
        B2AC
        B2VO
        B1DC
        B1LF
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        B2DV
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        A1TP
        A1AT
        A1PT
        A1CT
        A2TP
        A2AT
        A2PT
        A2CT
        [ ]
        [ ]
        CPRS
        UDRQ
        DCKB
        WUP1
        BT1B
        BT2B
        ACAB
        _Q50
        _Q51
        _Q53
        _Q58
        _Q5F
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        _Q66
        _Q5A
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        _Q5C
        BAT1
          _HID
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          _PCL
          BATI
          BATS
          _STA
          _BIF
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        ACAD
          _HID
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      FWHD
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        _HID
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        _HID
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        _HID
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        _CRS
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        _HID
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        _HID
        GBRT
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        GPBR
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        PWAK
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        GCDP
        LRST
        SLRS
        MIDB
        RBMF
        RSBI
        CBMF
        AZPW
        GAZP
        LNPW
        GLNP
        SCAM
        GCAM
      PS2K
        _HID
        _CRS
      PS2M
        _HID
        _CID
        _CRS
    PATA
      _ADR
      PACS
      [ ]
      PRIT
      [ ]
      PSIT
      [ ]
      SYNC
      [ ]
      SDT0
      [ ]
      SDT1
      [ ]
      ICR0
      ICR1
      ICR2
      ICR3
      ICR4
      ICR5
      PRID
        _ADR
        _GTM
        _STM
        P_D0
          _ADR
          _GTF
        P_D1
          _ADR
          _GTF
      FWSO
      _PSC
      _PS0
      _PS3
    SATA
      _ADR
      SACS
      [ ]
      PRIT
      SECT
      PSIT
      SSIT
      [ ]
      SYNC
      [ ]
      SDT0
      [ ]
      SDT1
      [ ]
      SDT2
      [ ]
      SDT3
      [ ]
      ICR0
      ICR1
      ICR2
      ICR3
      ICR4
      ICR5
      [ ]
      MAPV
      PRID
        _ADR
        _GTM
        _STM
        P_D0
          _ADR
          _GTF
        P_D1
          _ADR
          _GTF
      SECD
        _ADR
        _GTM
        _STM
        S_D0
          _ADR
          _RMV
          _GTF
        S_D1
          _ADR
          _GTF
    SBUS
      _ADR
      SMBP
      [ ]
      [ ]
      I2CE
      SMBI
      [ ]
      HSTS
      [ ]
      HCON
      HCOM
      TXSA
      DAT0
      DAT1
      HBDR
      PECR
      RXSA
      SDAT
      SSXB
      SRXB
      SWRB
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      SBLW
      SBLR
      STRT
      COMP
      KILL
  DOCK
    _HID
    _UID
    _BDN
    _EJ0
    UDCK
    _DCK
    _STA
_SI_
_TZ_
  ATF0
    KELV
    _TMP
    _PSV
    _PSL
    _CRT
    _TC1
    _TC2
    _TSP
  DTS0
    _PSV
    _CRT
    _PSL
    _TC1
    _TC2
    _TSP
    _TMP
  DTS1
    _PSV
    _CRT
    _PSL
    _TC1
    _TC2
    _TSP
    _TMP
_REV
_OS_
_OSI
_GL_
PRT0
[ ]
P80H
S_IO
[ ]
PMS0
PME0
PMS1
PMS2
PMS3
PME1
PME2
PME3
SMS1
SMS2
SME1
SME2
RT10
RT11
[ ]
RT13
[ ]
RT30
RT31
RT32
RT33
RT34
RT35
RT36
RT37
[ ]
DLPC
CK33
CK14
IO_T
[ ]
[ ]
TRP0
PMIO
[ ]
[ ]
[ ]
GPEC
GPIO
[ ]
GU00
GU01
GU02
GU03
GIO0
GIO1
GIO2
GIO3
[ ]
GL00
[ ]
GP12
[ ]
GL02
GL03
[ ]
GB00
GB01
GB02
GB03
[ ]
GIV0
GIV1
GIV2
GIV3
GU04
GU05
GU06
GU07
GIO4
GIO5
GIO6
GIO7
[ ]
GP39
GL05
GL06
GL07
GNVS
[ ]
OSYS
SMIF
PRM0
PRM1
SCIF
PRM2
PRM3
LCKF
PRM4
PRM5
P80D
[ ]
[ ]
DBGS
[ ]
ACTT
PSVT
TC1V
TC2V
TSPV
CRTT
DTSE
DTS1
DTS2
[ ]
BNUM
B0SC
B1SC
B2SC
B0SS
B1SS
B2SS
[ ]
APIC
MPEN
PPCS
PPCM
[ ]
NATP
CMAP
CMBP
LPTP
FDCP
CMCP
CIRP
[ ]
IGDS
TLST
CADL
PADL
CSTE
NSTE
SSTE
NDID
DID1
DID2
DID3
DID4
DID5
[ ]
BLCS
BRTL
ALSE
ALAF
LLOW
LHIH
[ ]
EMAE
EMAP
EMAL
[ ]
MEFE
[ ]
TPMP
TPME
[ ]
GTF0
GTF2
IDEM
RCRB
[ ]
[ ]
[ ]
[ ]
HPAS
[ ]
HPAE
[ ]
[ ]
PATD
SATD
SMBD
HDAD
A97D
[ ]
RP1D
RP2D
RP3D
RP4D
RP5D
RP6D
MUTX
_S0_
_S3_
_S4_
_S5_
DSEN
ECON
GPIC
CTYP
L01C
VFN0
_PIC
_PTS
_WAK
BRTW
BTTM
GETB
HKDS
LSDS
P8XH
PNOT
TRAP
GETP
GDMA
GETT
GETF
SETP
SDMA
SETT
SMI0
[ ]
BCMD
DID_
INFO
[ ]
[ ]
INFB
[ ]
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INFD
[ ]
[ ]
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[ ]
[ ]
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INF2
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[ ]
SMIC
MPHS
PHS0
PHS_
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PSCS
PSSS
PSPS
PSDI
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PWRS
TBUF
SPM0
SPM1
TBU2
SPM2
SPM3
SSDT
CFGD
PDC0
PDC1
SDTL

 

Hello.

I just went thru your post.

I have several questions for you.

What were the storage conditions of the laptop?
How much is humidity?
Has the CPU been ever replaced? If so, which one was before it?
Has the laptop received (ever) some damage or spill?
Did you left the laptop connected by that time on stand by mode? (I refer to voltage changes)

 

Hi everyone,

Here are the details from CoreTemp. The icon on the task bar is permanently red, and measures between 41c and 45c, with 41c classed as a low temp., and 45c classed as being high.

I have attached a screenshot and the log of the CPU just before I started the game, during the game (a few mins or so) and afterwards. The log file has a .txt extension, but is actually in a CSV format, but this forum won't accept .CSV files.

 

Ok, so in the multiplier range from 6 to 13 you are locked in 6..

Its a long shot, are you able to test the CPU in another laptop and test another CPU in this laptop?

 

Hi Serg,


What were the storage conditions of the laptop?
Only ever in the flat. Location in NL. It has been used in CL GI and in the US. However, CL was humid but this was 3 years ago. GI was not humid nor the US. In all cases it was used in an air-conditioned office except GI and NL : In the home, but little humidity.
Otherwise, it was seldom taken outside because it is generally used as a desktop replacement.

How much is humidity?
Low.

Has the CPU been ever replaced? If so, which one was before it?
No. Only the hard disc was replaced about 3 months ago.
The RAM was upgraded from 1Gb to 2Gb about 3 years ago.

Has the laptop received (ever) some damage or spill?
I tripped over it in the spring of 2006 but I did not think it did any damage. The laptop was disconnected shutdown. Not powered on.

Did you leave the laptop connected by that time on stand by mode? (I refer to voltage changes).
I have never used Standby mode (maybe once when I bought it). I only use Hibernate and shutdown. The notebook is almost never left on over night or during the daytime. It is always turned off after use.

K.

 

Sounds pretty good to me - Netherlands - that's nice in Central Europe, yo conditions should be OK.
The tripping - except if it was very violent it should be OK - my SZ7 get's lugged to and from uni and survives

 

Certainly a long shot. I'd have to ask my wife if I could buy another laptop to test it in, and then there would be no point On top of this I am not going to upgrade a CPU. The task scared the hell out of me on my laptop.
No spare notebook to test it on, neither.

Tripping. No, it was not hard at all. I did not hear a crack, and it was a 3 and half years ago.

 

I am intrigued.
Core Temp reports you have a T1650 Core Solo.

Let us check that, ok?

Go to http://cyri.systemrequirementslab.com/srtest/ and choose any game, and tell us what CPU is that program reading (you must use IE7 or newer for it to work). It will tell you your CPU.GPU.RAM.etc.

One question, since you mentioned you have used this laptop and stressed it, have you ever overclocked it?
How much have you stressed it?
Have you ever gotten to the point of high temps, such that the CPU had to throttle itself to protect from overheating?
Have you ever manually tweaked the CPU (undervolt, overclock, underclock, etc)?

When using the laptop, is the fan running high trying to cool the laptop down?

 

If it was 3,5 years ago it should be fine
Processor switch - to be honest I personally wouldn't dare to do it either.

Just a note Serg and I are bouncing ideas off each other on MSN.
And this is definitely noteworthy.

Also - the fact that 45° is recorded as hot - this could lead to throtteling - but it still doesn't explain how it happened.

 

A 45C temp is quite average, and I would say even low for a CPU with 65nm Yonah...
There is something wrong with the readings being as HIGH. If the CPU reports a HIGH temperature, no matter if it is not that high, it will throttle. Self-defense mechanism not to be overheated.

If your CPU is constantly reporting HIGH temps due to a malfunction, it WILL throttle.

DetlevCM and I are trying to figure this out via MSN to give you a better help.

 

> Core Temp reports you have a T1650 Core Solo
I know. Its reporting it incorrectly. All other CPU utils report a T2600. So does the lshw command in Ubuntu.

In fact, I have a T2600 and it has one core activated. I remember when I first bought it both Linux and WXP reported 2 cores, but at some point, and I don't remember when, one core disappeared. It was a year or so ago. I thought that it BIOS related as this was the only major change I had made.

 

I really do appreciate this.

 

BIOS update? And since then the core disappeared?


Can you please reply me to these questions?

It is very important, considering that it could be the CPU itself doing it, if it reports to high temps...

 

One question, since you mentioned you have used this laptop and stressed it, have you ever overclocked it?

No, I have never overclocked the CPU. I did not think that this was possible with the Sony SZ.

I tried to overclock the GPU, but after reading, and trying, it never worked, which was just as other people reported it.

How much have you stressed it?
unsure, what stressed it really implies. CPU has never been over clocked.

Have you ever gotten to the point of high temps, such that the CPU had to throttle itself to protect from overheating?
Unknown.

Have you ever manually tweaked the CPU (undervolt, overclock, underclock, etc)?
No, not that I was aware of.

When using the laptop, is the fan running high trying to cool the laptop down?
Yes, while I play the computer game the fan sometimes runs continuously.
Actually, I think the fan is running now, and I am only running Opera.

PS. I do have IE installed.

 

I might be worth mentioning, that when running Ubuntu 9, the CPU changes states from 1000Mhz straight to 2.1 Ghz without a hitch, although there is still only one core reported.

 

Let me try and explain why I am asking all of this.

As stress I mean constantly running at 100% both cores (when both were active). Running both cores at 100% means a full load, the CPU is really taxed at this point, and it reaches its rated TDP (thermal design power). The rated TDP is a value which is the max the CPU can reach at any given time, anything above that limit, will automatically cause the CPU to cut down on power, known as throttle, as a measure of protection. Intel Speedstep is the name IIRC.

So, the CPU ever reaches that barrier it is set, how to know? The laptop is getting warmer, the fan is working non-stop at full speed. Until then you are still on the safe side.

If you breach that barrier, automatically the CPU will go down. It cannot overheat. Safety first. The fan has to keep working non-stop and keep everything under reasonable, acceptable, max-rated temps for your laptop (each laptop can have different maximums). Does this make the one core shut down, I dont think so. I have never pushed my laptop to that point, nor I have heard of it, but it could be plausible.

I keep asking about CPU overheating, since, as the NVIDIA faulty chips, a constant change in voltage, temperature, power, on the CPU, can damage it. (much like the faulty NVIDIA chips, which use to burn the chips due to quick temp changes). So, if your CPU has seen this a lot, the temp controllers could have suffered a damage, if that is the case, then the CPU reports high temperatures and locks itself on low performance.

All laptops do this, but on regular tasks, is the fan always on?

Has the performance suddenly, and out of nowhere just dropped?

 

That is important to know.

It means the problem is software bound and hardware bound.

The one core thing is what has me thinking. But the misread on speed can be a software effect...

You sure you dont have ANY tool to control the CPU or performance of the laptop?

 

Well, the CPU can be overclocked on most laptops, even if only via software, but weleve that aside.

On the cooling - if I were to use the NVidia the fan would run all the time.

 

I have never used a tool to control the CPU speed under WXP or Linux. I left this up to Windows. At some point back in 2006, I did install a nVidia driver from a site called Laptop2Go. However, I have since reinstalled WXP thrice and not installed the Laptop2Go driver. The last time that driver was installed was between 2006 and 2007.

Now, this bit might be interesting. Last week, using the nVidia driver that I downloaded from the nVidia website, I changed the graphics card from best quality to best performance. I noticed an excellent increase from a mean of 50FPS to and mean of 90FPS on the computer game. This worked reliably for a week. I then turned the notebook off for three days. I came back and noticed that the CPU was clocked down. I do not know whether this is related. I used the nVidia in Linux as well and experienced not such problem; I checked this this evening as well.

Is the fan on now?
Yes. I am only using the browser.

Is the laptop hot?
Well, I can pick it up and hold the underside with the palms of my hands and its warm, but not hot. I could hold it indefinably until my arms tired.

Has the performance suddenly, and out of nowhere just dropped?
Not that I am aware of.

I am just going to reboot with the Intel GPU running..

 

Just thinking - there is no new BIOS update for you model?

 

There is a later BIOS, but I have shyed away from installing it because the Sony battery died a year & a half ago and am concerned that a power cut during the update process would brick the notebook.

Latest version is R0083N0 and mine is R0073N0.

 

hmm... that is a concern - it may be the solution, it may not be.. unlucky situation

 

I am using the Intel GPU now, and CoreTemp reports different temperature thresholds
Low 39
High 43
Core #0 temp: 39
I think that this would be expected since the nVidia is not generating heat; What thinks you?

 

Yepp, that is as it should be.

 

Hi Serg and DetlevCM,

I have to sleep now, since its 00:30 hours & work continues tomorrow.

I shall contemplate the BIOS upgrade, but it shall have to await until next Monday because I am oncall this week. If the laptop dies then, well, I won't be happy & nor will work

However, I do not think that the BIOS change will affect the clock speed / Intel SpeedStep portion, so am very willing to perform any other tests or answer questions that you have.

Good night & many thanks for your help so far. I shall resurrect this thread tomorrow.

 

Sure thing. It is same timing here in France too.

I will dig a tad more on this matter, since it is the first time I hear from a missing core.

 

Good evening all,
I think, that as I am home and cooking dinner, that now is a reasonable time to resurrect this thread.

Have you had any ideas about this oddity, or are there any other tests that I could run to see what happens?

k.

 

Good evening kzii.

I have been thinking and perhaps this could be worth a try.
http://www.snapfiles.com/get/mbm.html

I have never used it, but seems like a measurement tool to know what is going on the mobo.

 

Good evening - I think I may be at the end of my wisdom - I'm thinking of whom to ask to have a look at this thread - as it really is an odd issue.

 

I have run MBM and got this so far, which does not show a lot.
However, I noticed that Core Temp's readouts are:

Core #0: 33c (low 33 High 24 Load 9%)
Frequency is still at 1,000 Mhz

 

Nope, not so helpful. At least that tells the CPU is at 2.16GHz and reads both cores, which discards a mobo/cpu failure. The mobo is reading the CPU correctly, so hardware-wise that is working.

Did you do the BIOS update?

 

Both DetlevCM and I have been commenting this, and we are thinking that perhaps it could be due to a temperature sensor failure.

24C as high is wrong. The CPU sensor is misreading that and reporting it as high. Either the BIOS is wrong there and reports that as a high temp, or it is a physical failure, and the sensor is misreading the temp, and the software is doing what it was programmed to do.

 

One more point:
If I read your post correctly you say that 33°C is low and 24°C is displayed as high?

In this case - as 24 > 33 the CPU will throttle which means the temp management got broken.

It may be ideal if you could have the CPU swapped and the laptop tested - it is possible that a hardware problem is at the rootof your problem.

But try a BIOS update if you can.