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My Samsung N145+ Net book specs say that my Intel Atom Processor N455 supports Speed step technology. Is this something that can be activated or is it always working? Is it just a marketing ploy?

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    Its not a marketing ploy
    – Ramhound
    Dec 20, 2014 at 3:47
  • What information have you found as part of your own research? Please include that in your question. Dec 20, 2014 at 4:37
  • I think nearly every intel system back to the PIII has had some flavour of speedstep. Its just a way of saying "The processor throttles back to a slower speed to save power"
    – Journeyman Geek
    Dec 20, 2014 at 7:49

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Intel SpeedStep Technology allows the processor to operate at reduced clock rates in low-load situations to save power

  • Every time a transistor switches, it dissipates power. This means that a processor will consume more power and generate more heat when it runs at faster clock speeds. In addition, the required CPU core voltage increases as clock rates increase, and power consumption and heat output increase with the square of voltage.

  • Intel SpeedStep Technology allows the processor to run at a slower clock rate when idle or under a light load. The operating system can set the processor's clock rate to a level appropriate for the load, so that it doesn't waste power running at full speed when it doesn't have much work to do.

  • The equivalent AMD technologies are Cool'n'Quiet and PowerNow!, which are functionally similar to the Intel solution. These solutions are collectively referred to as dynamic frequency scaling.

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