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Reference number: CH000046
How do I determine
the speed of my processor?
Question:How do I determine the speed of my
processor?
Answer:There are multiple ways of determining
the speed of the computer processor. Below is a listing of the
methods of determining the speed.
Note: Before following any of the
below steps it is important to realize that software settings can be
adjusted or overclocked. This means that the settings could be higher
than the actual speed of the computer processor. The best method of
determining the speed of a processor would be to open the case and
physically look at the computer processor (see hardware).
Documentation
If you have purchased the computer
from an Original Equipment Manufacturer, the manufacturer will likely
include documentation that lists the system specifications of the
computer.
At boot
The majority of computers today will
indicate the computer processor speed as the computer boots. For
example, as the computer boots you may see a listing similar to:
Intel Pentium(TM) III 1000MHz
The above example indicates that the
computer is running an Intel Processor running at 1GHz, or
1000MHz.
Note: Unfortunately, the boot process
will be very fast; therefore, you may have little or no time to read
all that is on the screen during one boot. Also, many
motherboard and computer manufacturers will have a BIOS screen as
the computer boots up showing the company or motherboard logo; press
the ESC key to display the text behind the logo. Finally, some computers
may accept the Pause key to pause the boot process allowing you to
read all the text.
CMOS
If the computer does not have documentation or does not indicate
the processor speed as it boots, it is also possible that the
processor speed will be listed in the CMOS setup. Generally,
this information will be listed under the main or advanced settings
of CMOS. Information about getting into CMOS setup can be found
on document CH00192.
Software
Various software utilities are
available to list and detect the computer processor. You can find
some of these utilities on our hardware
download page.
Hardware
The best method of determining the computer processor speed would
be to physically look at the actual processor. It is important to
note that this option may not be available if a non-removable
heat-sink is attached to the processor.
Power down the computer, open the chassis and locate the computer
processor:
Once the processor has been located, if the computer processor is
a slot processor, the processor speed, cache and other information
can be located on the top of the processor. For example, a slot
processor may have a listing of numbers similar to 500/512/100/2.0V,
which is:
500 MHz Processor
512 KB Cache
100 Bus Speed
2.0V Voltage
If your processor is not a slot processor, but is instead a socket
processor, determining the speed may be more difficult. The CPU
information is generally located on the top of the processor itself.
Unfortunately, however, it is more than likely that a
heat
sink is attached to the processor. Before the speed can be
determined it must be removed. Once removed, it is possible that a
white paste (thermal compound) may
be on the processor / heat sink. This can be wiped away, providing
you have more paste, which can be applied later to the processor. A
socket processor may have a listing of information similar to
1000/256/133/1.7, which is:
1000 MHz Processor
256 KB Cache
256 Bus Speed
1.7 Voltage
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