P4 3.4 Ghz running most at 2.8!!! HELP!

[Tristan-ah]

Hey i've just put together a pc and you could say, i'm in love with it!
But, one slight problem.... I have a P4 3.4 Ghz processor.......which runs most of the time at 2.8 Ghz.
Anyone got any ideas or help.
Thanks in advance

My specs are:
Gigabyte MB
1.5 Gigs of Ram
Nvidia 7600GT
My PSU is 350 watts i believe
and a P4 3.4 not 2.8 Ghz processor

[directhex]

i don't get the use of the term "most of the time"

how are you determining the speed it runs at, and under what conditions does it change?

also, the exact motherboard model would help

[Agent]

Its probably speedstep.
It'll run at a lower speed when not in use, then ramp up the speed when needed, but you really need to answer Directhex's questions if we are to help

[Tristan-ah]

I've worked it out, thanks anyway though guys!
It was the power settings in control panel, set to minimal power management!!!
Live and learn!
Thanks again!

[gary_rip]

It can also be that the bios needs updating if anyone else comes across this issue!

[chrisg22]

Never really heard of Power Management doing that, I would of bet on Speedstep. Maybe speedstep program within Windows using Power Management?

[FatalSaviour]

Mmm...IIRC, Speedstep kicks in when Windows backs off the Power Management a bit...it's determining that it's not under sufficient load to require running at maximum speed, so is downclocking to lower temps/power usage - This shouldn't impact performance, as it should run at 3.4GHz once it's running at a higher load, so you should be ok to leave it as is if you like.

HTH