Intel i5 M540 showing 1 core and 1 thread

[AML1973]

Pretty much what is described in the title. I have just fixed a constant rebooting issue with all of your help so I'm going to ask another question.

I have an Intel i5 M540 2.53GHz with turbo. I've installed CPU-Z to check on how fast the processor is going, but when CPU-Z starts its showing this CPU with 1 core and 1 thread. I'm ok with computers, but this one has me stumped. The core speed is showing it running around 2.7GHz idle.

Thanks in advance.

 

[AML1973]

I've not messed with the BIOS as it is fairly limited as it's an Alienware laptop so the bios is fairly set and does not allow alot of adjustments to be made. I think something is messed up with the CPU or GPU as after I got it to stop rebooting all the time it seems fairly slow. The games I used to play with it and get 20-30 FPS are now getting high teens or low20's if nothing is around and it's set to low settings.

 

[Prostar Computer]

Have you checked the temperature? And have the CPU settings been altered in the msconfig advanced boot options?

 

[AML1973]

I installed the CPUID and it says that while running the games it is around 59 C. I've not messed with anything in the msconfig boot options.

 

[dasulman]

there's a way to activate the other cores. Just google it.

 

[Prostar Computer]

The higher clock frequency makes sense if you have a lot of services and background processes/applications running. The system shouldn't need to really utilize the second core unless you're putting load on the system - enough to warrant it that is.

Does the other core and clock frequency change when you run something demanding? Your temperature looks good.

 

[AML1973]

When idle it runs at 2.7 and doesn't change when gaming. Maybe I'm wrong, but if turbo was kicking in shouldn't CPUZ show the clock speed of the 3.0? Tubo should have kicked in to accommodate the larger demand for power right?

 

[Prostar Computer]

Idle just means there is no user interaction. The laptop can still be working when under idle, especially if you have a lot of data stored (indexing), a lot of programs installed (background processes, such as auto-updates), etc.

Turbo Boost doesn't operate on either the base frequency or the turbo frequency listed, it's up to 3.066 GHz (hopefully that makes sense). But yes, you're right, Turbo will kick in when the system draws more power to accommodate the load put on the system.

Monitor your Processes in Task Manager. There may be one or more things there causing the CPU to rev a little bit.

 

[AML1973]

Ok I figured it out and I must have screwed with something when I did a fresh win7 install. I went to the MSCONFIG area and under advanced boot options the box stating the number of processors checked was 1. I unchecked the box and restarted the computer. Now under CPU-Z it is listing it with 2 cores and 4 threads and running at 3GHz.

I've monitored the temps of both gpu and cpu and they are not going above 62 C. Thanks all for the help and I appreciate all the help I've received.

If someone, like a MOD, could list this issue as solved I would appreciate it.

 

[Prostar Computer]

Ok I figured it out and I must have screwed with something when I did a fresh win7 install. I went to the MSCONFIG area and under advanced boot options the box stating the number of processors checked was 1.

And have the CPU settings been altered in the msconfig advanced boot options?

If someone, like a MOD, could list this issue as solved I would appreciate it.

If you click on "Pick as the solution" in one of the replies, this thread will appear as resolved from there on. I'm glad you got it sorted!