Indeed, wtf.
The CPU usage on my laptop had been running high. I’d been wondering what it could be, it didn’t seem to be a specific application, as all apps seemed to spike CPU load, and their individual CPU usage too high. Internet explorer was using 49% CPU doing menial tasks (cue internet exploder jokes), Zune software was using far too much CPU and so on. I was assuming it had to be an interrupt problem, so I started looking at kernel times, and then I looked at Resource Monitor.
And resource monitor showed processor frequency to be at 28%, in tiny blue text, so much so I nearly missed it. I wondered wtf, and then I ran CPU-Z. It showed my 2.8GHz C2E x9000 to be running at 399.98MHz. My 2800Mhz processor was running at 400Mhz. It wasn’t that programs were running badly by using high CPU time, it’s that they needed high CPU time because the processor was running slowly.
The plot thickens. I was looking around for all kinds of problems – flicked open the BIOS to see if there was some errant SpeedStep problem, played with Windows power management of the processor minimum states and so on, and nothing seemed to work. On a hunch, I pulled the plug out, turned the laptop off and on again.
CPU-Z on boot showed a frequency of 798MHz, which fluctuated to about 1200MHz, and then 1600MHz, and then back to 798MHz. Speedstep, and clock multiplier changes were working properly. Assuming the problem was fixed, I plugged the plug back in. 400MHz. wtf?
At this point, it seemed strange, but the only possibility that there was something wrong with the AC line (insert Holmes quote here). I took a look at my laptop cable, and indeed, there was a small nick in the power cable. I took the cable into the next room, and set to it with electrical tape (do not try this at home, and above all, do not consider doing this with normal tape). Cable seemingly fixed, plugged it back in…and…2798MHz.
Problem solved. I will be ordering a new adaptor from HP, because this shouldn’t by any means be a long term solution. But I’ll leave this on the internet – if your laptop CPU clock is woefully low, take a look at the power supply, it could be because you’re on a foreign power source, or a transformer on it’s way out, delivering lower wattage. It’s probably a strange leap from CPU usage problems to electrical tape on a power cable, but the process is the process.
Sidenote – Windows 7 ran impressively well, retrospectively being on a 400MHz processor. Indeed, it wasn’t as responsive as it should have been, which is what twigged me to the problem, but running on a 400Mhz processor, even a dual core with modern processor extensions, and running actually quite well, is nothing short of awesome.
