Intel SU2300. Speedstep or not?

Intel says this CPU has Speedstep, but RMClock only shows one multiplier: 6.

Also CPU-Z says it's always running at 1.2Ghz.

I would like to downclock it to get better battery life.

 

your not the only one.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=439724

 

Thanks, interesting.

 

Same thing with the su2700 i believe.

 

Yup, same here. In fact, I'm pretty POed that despite what Intel's site claims for the SU2300, it does NOT have SpeedStep. That's one of the main reasons I picked the Aspire with the SU2300: it was dual core, but 10W TDP and WITH SpeedStep. I mean, geez, at least throw in ONE other P-state like 800 MHz at a lower voltage.

Intel's page says it has EIST:
http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=42779

But the datasheet on the SU2300 basically says it doesn't (page 30, note #10):
http://www.intel.com/design/mobile/datashts/321111.pdf

Right, so that means no SpeedStep! You can't tell me that lowering the voltage by 0.0875V constitutes SpeedStep when in every other Intel processor I've ever seen, SpeedStep means at least 2 different P-states that are not the same clock freq.

Speaking of voltage, I did manage to undervolt my SU2300 to 0.9 using RMClock, which resulted in a 5C temp reduction at full load! SU2300's min voltage is 0.8 according to the Intel datasheet, so it's rock solid and running cooler. Still, it certainly would have been nice to get what I paid for!

Finally, thanks to all of you who have posted such awesome info here on the 1410 and similar laptops. It was like hitting the jackpot!

 

Phil,

What I've noticed is that on my VAIO, speed step isn't used, of course, when running the high performance power profile, but interestingly, using the CrystalCPUID 'real time clock function' (simply press F4 when CrystalCPUID is running), the CPU runs all the way down to 108Mhz via the FSB being dynamically controlled.

Could this possibly be happening also to the CPU you're running?

Download CrystalCPUID for yourself and see:

http://crystalmark.info/software/CrystalCPUID/index-e.html

 

Thanks for the tip Tiller.

In Crystal it seems like it downclocks but when I check with other programs (CPU Z, RMClock, Super PI) it still runs at 1.2GHz.

 

Try pressing F9 on CPU-z. It unlocks the actual clock speed to detect SuperLFM and such

 

Thanks, just tried it. It stays on 6 x 200 = 1.2GHz.

 

I tried CrystalCPUID on my machine. Even though other tools are not reporting a change in the CPU clock speed, my battery life went from 3hr50 on a full charge to 6hr10. The Realtime Clock window does indeed show that the clock is being reduced, and it appears that it IS actually doing something.

When I start doing heavy-duty stuff, the clock jumps up to the full 1.2GHz, and estimated battery life drops. When I'm just sitting there reading a web page, the CPU apparently drops to like 196MHz (???), and estimated battery life jumps back up again.

After a couple of hours of running on battery with CrystalCPUID, I have 4 hrs 20 minutes left at 88% battery capacity (WiFi off, ethernet in use, 40% brightness).

Obviously, due to the severe lack of SpeedStep, the multiplier settings make no difference. Now I just need to figure out if I can force a slower max clock speed when on battery, like 0.8 or 1.0GHz to really maximize battery life without sacrificing performance for things like flash vids.

Thanks for the tip, tilleroftheearth!!