question about clockspeed

I have a E5200 2.5ghz, and it is usually at 1.7ghz. This is because of the intel feature to save power right? I even loaded up L4D and checked back with CPU-Z and it was still at 1.7ghz. Is this good or bad, do most people turn off the power saving stuff in the bios or something?

I have a E5200 2.5ghz, and it is usually at 1.7ghz. This is because of the intel feature to save power right? I even loaded up L4D and checked back with CPU-Z and it was still at 1.7ghz. Is this good or bad, do most people turn off the power saving stuff in the bios or something?

chocobo7000

Yes, your CPU multiplier is being dropped when the processor isn't under a heavy load. This reduces the clock speed just like you're seeing. I would suspect that your CPU IS getting up to 2.5ghz once you really start playing L4D or other games, but it clocks itself down quickly once the load is reduced (like when you tab out to check CPU-Z). I usually turn the power-saving features like this off if I'm overclocking, but I would leave it on if you're not.