Dell Inspiron Core 2 Duo pocessor problem!?

[accessdenied]

Hi guys;

I'm happy to be part of the forum.

I'm having an annoying problem...

I just bought a new Dell Inspiron XPS M1710 laptop equipped with an Intel Core 2 Duo T7200@2.00 GHz

For now I'm planning to stick with Win Xp Pro SP2 32-bit which is installed on the laptop.

When I have a look and right-click MyComputer/Properties, I see the mention:

Intel Core2 CPU/T7200@2.00 GHz
998 MHz 2.00 Go RAM
Physical Address Extension
[By the way, I don't understand what the 998MHz mention stands for, and why it's not 2.00 GHz!?]

But my main question is still to come:

I know XPProSP2-32 bit can't see/use more than two cores, but can see all the cpu's embedded on each core.

For instance, on a computer Quad Core Q6600 I checked recently, Win XPPro cannot see the four cores [it only sees 2 of the cores], but it does indeed see two cpu's per core, which is 4 cpu's. Those are seen performing when one looks at the monitor by hitting Ctrl-Alt-Del/Task Manager. The cpu's are also listed in the Hardware/Device Manager list.

By the same token, on my previous Core Duo laptop, there's only one core with two embedded cpu's, which I can also verify in the hardware list (2 cpu's) and the Task Manager monitor (where I see both cpu's performing).

Back to the new Dell Core 2 Duo: here I was expecting that WinXPPro would see two cores with two cpu's each.

But when I look into Ctrl-Alt-Del/TaskManager/Performances's monitor, this time I can't see anywhere that XP sees more than two cpu's [one core]. The performance graphics, too, only display two cpu-reports. How come? Why doesn't it show 4 cpu's?

I thought the laptop's Core 2 Duo's two cores/four cpu's would be used by XP Pro 32-bit, but now I'm afraid I somehow wasted my money for the time being... Did I go wrong? How come the reasoning that applies to XPProSP2 on a Quad Core and on a Core Duo is not valid on a Core 2 Duo? What am I missing?

Thanks for any help.

[wayout44]

[By the way, I don't understand what the 998MHz mention stands for, and why it's not 2.00 GHz!?]

That is because laptops/notebooks do not run at full speed unless the load requires them to do so.

know XPProSP2-32 bit can't see/use more than two cores, but can see all the cpu's embedded on each core.

For instance, on a computer Quad Core Q6600 I checked recently, Win XPPro cannot see the four cores [it only sees 2 of the cores], but it does indeed see two cpu's per core, which is 4 cpu's. Those are seen performing when one looks at the monitor by hitting Ctrl-Alt-Del/Task Manager. The cpu's are also listed in the Hardware/Device Manager list.

I don't know what you were looking at but I've 2x Q6600's with XP Pro SP2 32-bit on them and both systems clearly show all 4 cores in all cases.

BTW XP Pro can support up to 2 sockets with multi-cores, XP Home only supports 1 socket with multiple cores.

Back to the new Dell Core 2 Duo: here I was expecting that WinXPPro would see two cores with two cpu's each.

You have a T7200 which is a single socket dual core processor so how do you imagine that it can magically grow an extra 2 cores out of nowhere?