Hardware: AMD Athlon XP 1.9 Ghz (no overclocking)
1024 Corsair RAM (ditto)
Radeon 9600 XT (overclocked using the Catylyst Control Panel-runs cool)
Windows XP Home with SP2

Problem: System information and other programs are saying that my CPU is running at 1.1 Ghz when it should be at 1.9 Ghz. Not cool with me. It also says that am important .dll for Direct X is missing and I need to reinstall it.

Situation: Rendering on Terragen. The second the render was finished the computer froze COMPLETLY and the speakers made a loud pop noise. I restarted manualy and it would not start. I uplugged the power cord, pushed the ON button and replaced the cord, then I pushed the ON button again. It started but it froze in bios startup after doing the memory check. I restarted again and got the same result. So I left it for 5 minutes. When I came back I was able to get into the screen that told me that my compy was improperly shut down. Then it froze in that screen. Then I left it for the day.
When I turned it on next I was very fast selecting my boot method in the "improper shut down screen: select your boot choice" screen. It started Windows and I was able to log on. It worked for about 2 minutes. Then I got a blue screen that appeared just long enough for me to think "Crap" . Then it went back to its old ways and refused to go past bios. So I left it for abother day.
On the third day I was able to boot all the way into windows with no problems and complete a system restore. The computer is working right except that the CPU speed is distorted. I notice a slight increase in load times for big programs.

What should I do? Ask AMD to replace it? Is is real? What would cause this? What the heck happened to my computer? Any advice or suggestions would be very much appreciated!

A couple quick searches:

http://groups.google.com/group/uk.co...rong+CPU+speed

http://groups.google.com/groups?q=wrong+CPU+speed+

Also that general booting behavior is symptomatic of a possible PSU issue.

That solved my CPU problem. Thanks! But I am still wondering about the whole problem that was caused by this. Does anyone understand it? Should I be concerned? Would my computer do this again if I did another render?

This is tying in with another problem that I posted about titled "Random Crashing". Sorry I didn't post here but this thread didn't seem to be attracting to much attention.

What is a PSU issue?

PSU = Power supply unit

Inexpensive power supply testers (~$15.00 US) can be obtained at most computer stores. They are worth the small investment.

Mucho gracias!