Reduce CPU Maximum Frequency in Resource Monitor?

I have an Acer Timeline 4810TZ laptop which has a claimed 8 hour battery life.  I don't expect 8, but would like 6 hours - though I'm getting only 4.5-5.

The screen brightness is about mid-way, maybe less and I'm not really doing anything that is intensive - just regular Office apps and web browsing.

I wonder if the CPU Maximum Frequency shouldn't be lower: in Resource Monitor it shows as never being lower than 93% even though the CPU load is rarely over about 10%.  How can I reduce that?

I'm using Windows 7 Pro (64-bit) and in the Power Options the "Minimum Processor State" is already set to 0% for both battery and mains powered operation, and the "System Cooling Policy" is already on Passive (reduce processor speed before increasing fan speed).

There are few apps installed and fewer running all the time: not even most of Acer's junk because I did a clean Windows 7 install.  There's Office 2010 (no OneNote, Sharepoint, Groove running in the background), Firefox/Chrome, Skype and Avast AV Pro v5.
Resource-Monitor.png
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RedLondonAsked:
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rindiConnect With a Mentor Commented:
If you did a Clean Install that may be your issue. Make sure you have installed all the newest Acer Drivers and also some of the utilities (download them from their site). I think you need at least their "eSomething" utility (not sure exactly how they call it, but as far as I know it contains Acer Power management tools and backup tools etc.).
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Coast-ITConnect With a Mentor Commented:
Have a look at this nifty little program ;

http://www.pbus-167.com/nhc/nhc.htm#anchor_download
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karephreIT Specialist (Server Management)Commented:
Resource monitor says that the chip is running at 93% max frequency, this just means that it's running at how ever many ghz you have in the system. If you had speedstep on it would reduce the speed when idle and actually run the proc at a lower frequency.
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SevitechCommented:
hello, as Coast-IT said, NHC works very well, I used this small app a lot. if standard "underclocking" via power plans in w7 does not seems to work, try to set minimum settings and do some benchmarking, e.g. via sisoft sandra, or any other benchmarking tools and compare, the result in maximum settings and minimum. if they are the same, you should look for new bios and for that e-xxx junk from acer. we had couple of laptops, where standard windows "throttling" doesnt work correctly. on my HP elitebook 8530w (and 6730p) it work correctly.
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RedLondonAuthor Commented:
Thanks, I'll try these links and report back
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RedLondonAuthor Commented:
Thanks, a combination of Acer's ePowerManagement application and NHC seems to have done it.  Not sure which: I shouldn't really have installed both at the same time!
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