What's wrong?

[e-ville]

Hey guys, and girls. Just wanted to ask, what could be wrong? I'm not sure if this topic is about Graphics/ATI, but I decided to post it here. Well, anyways,
this is what I've got:

- Sapphire Radeon X1900XT 512 MB GPU
- AMD Sempron 64 3400+ CPU
- AsRock K8NF4G-SATA2 mobo
- SilverStone Zeus ST56ZF 560W PSU

The problem is, that my benchmark scores are VERY bad, and the computer feels slow (?). On 3DMark03, I scored 7892 with all test and full settings and on 3DMark06 I scored 2132 with the stock settings. I had an Asus GeForce 6600 GT, and all the other stuff I've got now, and it made 4264 on Mark03 and 792 on Mark06. What could be wrong? I have the newest drivers for mobo, CPU and GPU. Any comments / solutions please :!: :roll:

Thanks, e-Ville

 

[sojrner]

well, based on just the specs you posted I would suspect the sempron proc as being a tad slow for that video card... but I do not know where that asrock mobo sits on the "performance" realm.

In reality we need to see complete system specs. How much/what type of ram you have, hard drive (IDE or SATA), sound card (if you have one) etc...

the more info you have, the easier it is to trace.

finally. Have you done anything but the bungholio testing? '06 is ok but '03 is plain old and does not really test a current system now. '05 would be a better rod to measure by w/ that video card then '03. Reality is that you should also post some other game/app numbers if you have them. UT2004, doom3, any sound encoding times... anything else that can show what you are getting beyond dedicated benchmarks.

If not, no biggie but post what your hardware specs are at least.

 

[e-ville]

Thx for replying. I know the sempron is slow for the video card but I don't think it effects this much. Nope I haven't made any testing but the 06 and 03 ones. Now here is a list of all the hardware inside my case:

AMD Sempron 64 3400+
Sapphire Radeon X1900XT 512 MB
AsRock K8NF4G-SATA2 (Sound card integrated) Nforce 4
1 GB of DDR 400MHz(2x512MB)
Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 200GB S-ATA HD
SilverStone Zeus 560W PSU


Btw, there is a GeForce 6100 integrated in the mobo.

Hope this helped you. Just ask more if needed.

 

[sojrner]

well, other then the sempy there is nothing standing out as "bad"... and even that proc is not that bad. Have you made sure that the onboard video is disabled in the bios? (setup screen you can access during bootup usually by pressing the delete key) Also, it may sound stupid but do you have all the newest drivers? video/mobo/sound

I will have to check the numbers on my system when I get home but I am pretty sure mine gets ~5,000 on bungholio '06 and ~10,000 on '05 but I really cant remember as it has been a while since I ran either one... I will check for ya and get back.

until then, stuff to think about:
In '06 the cpu figures alot into the calculation of that final score, so that sempron will affect that score. That is one reason I asked about "real" apps and how they perform.

on '03 I am just not sure how the 1900 would perform as it is less shader-heavy and may (i think) put more stress on the cpu as it feeds that card as fast as it can. This might result in lower #s b/c of the sempy even though the cpu does not directly factor in to the final score like in '06.

 

[e-ville]

The onboard video is disabled, yes I have all the newest drivers including DirectX.

I just scored 7698 on 3DMark2005, and I don't think it's as bad as the scores on the other marks 8O I really wonder how this happened, but I know it would be better if I had a newer CPU. I will run all the benchmarks again and check what it gives.

Still waiting for solutions, thx

 

[e-ville]

Ok now have benchmarked with following scores:

3DMark03: 14998
3DMark05: 7727
3DMark06: 4252

I'm kinda satisfied, but I wonder how the scores go up and down like every day :?: :roll:

 

[Flopmouth_Fish]

The Sempron is bottlenecking the grahpics card, but not to that extent. You should try reinstalling Windows.

I just scored 7698 on 3DMark2005

That score is kinda low for an X1900XT; try overclocking your CPU; that will lessen the bottleneck on the graphics card.

 

[ches111]

E,

Before benching do you normalize your PC?

Normalize = get it into a (as much as possible) known "Control" environment?

Do you shut down all not needed processes?
Do you term your connection to the internet.
Do you let everything clean itself up before starting (some apps take a while to clean up after themselves even after they look like they went away).
Do you run your tests at the same time (right after boot, not after gaming for a while, going to the internet, writing some DVDs...)

All of these things "could" have impact on your Bench experience/numbers.

 

[ches111]

By normalizing your PC each time you can tell if you are actually making a difference in the changes you are making.

 

[RichPLS]

I have a X1800XT OC'd ~ 700/1600 MHz with an Opteron 175 @ 2.64GHz

5,040 3DMarks06 and 10,900 marks in 3DMark05

 

[sojrner]

re-ran mine again, w/ no optimizations or cleaning anything up... even left most stuff running in the background

05 - 11,100

06 - 5,600

In '05 it is similar to Rich's 1800, but our systems are close and the 1900 should perform the like the 1800 on "older" games anyway... plus I really dont bother w/ optimizing b/c I have no issues w/ my current performance. Runs everything fine.

Looking @ your system, If you oc'd that proc you might get slightly better but honestly you are doing fine w/ those newer numbers you posted.

these bungholio marks are good for measuring if you have a severe problem, but where you are at you should just enjoy the performance you have and play games. Dont bother trying to get it running "faster then the next guy"... rock on man.

 

[e-ville]

The Sempron is bottlenecking the grahpics card, but not to that extent. You should try reinstalling Windows.

I just scored 7698 on 3DMark2005

That score is kinda low for an X1900XT; try overclocking your CPU; that will lessen the bottleneck on the graphics card.

Windows reinstalled, didn't help..
Now I'll try to oc.

 

[e-ville]

Yes, PC normalized, everything shut down, straight after reboot.

 

[e-ville]

I'll anyways get a new processor and mobo at christmas or something

 

[sojrner]

ya, that is always an option... I just think that you are posting respectable #s w/ that proc and should just use what you have (which is no slouch of a machine at all) and only worry about an upgrade when actual games (and not benchmarks) start running slow. Right now I would bet that any game will run wonderfully on your system. Sempron or not.