Home > Freeware > CPU TrueSpeed > FAQ
| Q: | This program use to be named "TrueSpeed" and now it is "CPU TrueSpeed". Why is the name change? | |
| A: | I found that
quite a few people where looking for a program like mine, but by
searching the internet they could not fetch any idea what "TrueSpeed" is
really for. So now it should be perfectly clear. |
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| Q: | I found quite a few similar utilities on the Internet which do the same thing. Why would I use "CPU TrueSpeed" instead? | |
| A: | Short answer:
Because CPU TrueSpeed is the most accurate software-based CPU speed
detector for Windows, as of today (Feb 23, 2009). Long answer: The vast majority of similar utilities you can find have been created as a programming exercise on how to get a reading of CPU cycles from modern CPUs using an assembly language. There are a few well made accurate professional grade utilities, but none of them go all the way to measure speed with absolute possible precision. The most accurate results, regardless of testing time, are 0.01 MHz (very few utilities can actually achieve this). Absolute possible precision, calculated in the shortest time period possible, is CPU TrueSpeed’s primary goal. CPU TrueSpeed’s accuracy is 0.001 MHz in 0.5 seconds, which is ten times more accurate compared to what you can find elsewhere. |
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| Q: | I am not sure I am convinced I am getting the best possible speed results using your program. What is so special about the way you measure the CPU speed? | |
| A: | Actually the
algorithm is relatively simple. You read CPU time stamp counter, then do
something then read time stamp counter again then calculate the
difference and convert result to MHz. All of software based CPU speed
detectors are doing it the same way. The CPU TrueSpeed primary advantage is that I worked countless hours to refine the simple process I described above to gain as best result as possible in not ideal situation of measuring CPU speed under Windows OS. It is actually quite difficult to measure CPU speed under OS like Windows for a number of reasons. - as a multitasking system Windows always trying to switch CPU cycles from one task to another. - background Windows threads are constantly kicking on and off to do all kind of house (Windows) keeping tasks again stealing cycles from CPU speed measuring program. - hardware interrupts can interrupt any Windows process at any time including CPU TrueSpeed process. - it is quite difficult to get an accurate time measurement under Windows. GetTickCount() for example would not get you anywhere near 0.001 MHz accuracy The reason I spent so much time worrying about CPU speed is because CPU speed calculation engine is an essential part of any software optimization tool. CPU TrueSpeed calculation engine has been used for optimization of a number of commercial products that’s where my confidence in the accuracy of the engine comes from. |
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| Q: | What other utilities would you recommend for a CPU speed detection? | |
| A: | I used to use Intel's “Intel Processor Frequency ID Utility.” It used to calculate the actual frequency with 0.1 MHz accuracy. Unfortunately since version 5.0 Intel's accuracy wend down to 10 MHz only. You can always compare the results using WCPUID and CPU-Z - utilities that are very well known in the industry. Their precision is 0.01 MHz. | |
| Q: | Are you going to support multiprocessor systems? | |
| A: | The way I calculate the CPU speed is under the 100% load. It is the way to find out the absolute best CPU speed result. In multi CPU systems it is mandatory to have an absolutely identical CPU on a motherboard. The same rule applies to multi core CPU. CPU TrueSpeed calculates the first CPU and the rest of CPUs are going to have the same speed. In a feature, When I add in an idle CPU speed calculation I would need to measure each CPU/core separately. Because when CPU is not 100% loaded CPU power management may come in play. It is called processor throttling. Intel uses SpeedStep and AMD uses Cool'n'Quiet power management technologies. | |
| Q: | In the limitations section you state TrueSpeed can not check I486 and Below. Why so? Is this over your head? | |
| A: | One thing I have
learned over the years is ROI - return on investment. In this case I
have to put a lot of resources to make very few people happy. I suspect
there are some people running Windows on 486 CPU. Myself, I still have Pentium 100 running Windows 98. This computer is 12 years old, so I do not have a 486 hardware to test CPU TrueSpeed on. |
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| Q: | Do I have to go through an installation process on every computer I want to check CPU speed on, or can I run it directly from a network drive? | |
| A: | Certainly. TrueSpeed does not need formal installation purposely. We
wanted it to be a very light and handy utility you can run from
anywhere, like a network drive or floppy disk. |
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| Q: | TrueSpeed displayed the message “CPU clock: Unable to detect.” What can the problem be? | |
| A: | Version 1.2 and better detect CPUs it can't work with. Instead of hanging your computer, it shows this message. For example, you will get it if you try to work with a I386. Try to find a utility which supports your CPU. | |
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