FWIW, my Q9450 sometimes reports the wrong speed too, though it does not seem to affect time. cpu0 at mainbus0 apid 0: Intel 686-class, 42028MHz, id 0x10677 vs: cpu0: "Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q9450 @ 2.66GHz" i have kern.timecounter.hardware = hpet0. .mrg.