X2 4800+ Performance Query

[johnrambo]

Hi There,

I am a long time reader but first time poster to THG and I am trying to find out if my new system is performing up to spec.

My system is as follows

AMD X2 4800+ (939)
Asus A8N SLI Premium mobo
2 x 512mb Crucial Ram (cas 3)
X1900XT 512mb RAM
Creative Audigy ZS
Antec NeoHE 500 watt power supply
2 120gb Hitatch ide hard drives both 7200rpm with 8mb cache
2 40gb Hitatchi sata drives (7200rpm with 8mb cache) in a Raid 0 config for games

I have run 3dmark 2005 a couple of times and get on average 10800 3dmarks and 5000 cpumarks.

The 3dmark score looks ok but i think i should be getting above 6000 on the cpu mark score based on reviews on the web and a couple of other results on futuremark.com

I have installed the latest AMD dual core drivers and the dual core optimizer and all my other drivers are up to date.

I have scoured the web but cannot find any other info on what might be holding back the performance of my cpu.

Any advice or info you can give would be greatly appreciated .

Many thanks in advance

John

 

[johnrambo]

The reason i went 939 was because i got a cracking deal on the processor and i could reuse my ram from the original system, plus i know socket am3 will be out by the next time i upgrade

Task manager does show 2 cores amd they appear to have independent usuages when running multiple applications.

 

[sailer]

To start off, your ram is not great. Try getting some Cas 2 ram from Corsair or OCZ with timimgs in the neighborhood of 2-3-2-6 at 1T. You also might try gettig two 1 gig sticks for a little better performance. In the BIOS, set the cpu for an overclock profile for a 10% boost. These two things should help your scores.

 

[shabodah]

You should be running either cas 2 ddr400-450, or cas 3 ddr500-600 if you're trying to get the most out of your cpu.

 

[johnrambo]

i know the ram is not the best out there but would the difference between cas 3 and cas 2 make a 1000 point difference? I will def get 2gb of decent ram but wont be able to afford it for a while.

I have seen some review of the 4800+ getting 6000+ om 1 gig or Ram, though it was cas 2.

 

[johnrambo]

I have been looking at the following ram

Corsair 2GB DDR XMS4000PT TwinX (2x1GB) CAS3 (MY-094-CS)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Corsair_XMS_Memory.html

will that run cas 2 at ddr400 speed, want the potential to overclock in the future but not too fussed at the mo as just gone from an athlon xp 3200+ (2500+ overclocked)

 

[shabodah]

I haven't used Corsair in a while. I have heard that that particular memory kit can be finiky, but people seem to like it none-the-less. One thing to keep in mind is that revision E processors had a divider support added to run memory at ddr 500 with the cpu at factory speeds. So, you can use the dividers to manipulate things rather well if you are going to have the hypertransport set up at 5x200 or 4x250 (easiest setting for most AMD 939's to overclock to).

 

[sailer]

I run 2 gig of Corsair XMS 3500LL Pro, with timing of 2-3-2-6-1T. Its shown just below the XMS4000PT at the address you posted. Its a bit more expensive, but the difference is noticable. Yes, there is a big difference between Cas 2 and Cas 3 ram, and the 3500LL Pro is very good for overclocking. By overclocking my cpu and using my present ram, I got an increase of about 2000 points over the stock cpu setting and my original ram that was Corsair XMS PC3200 with timing of 2-3-3-6 at 1T.

 

[johnrambo]

Is there a memory kit you would recommend?

Have never overclocked and AMD 64 processors so have a lot to learn :?

 

[johnrambo]

The ram does look pretty sweet :lol:

How much are you overclocking by to get that increase?

 

[sailer]

I use a 10% overclock normally. Once I ran the ram up a lot and it was still stable, but I backed it down to 10% for everyday use.

 

[shabodah]

Prices are all messed up right now on RAM. Demand of DDR2 is on the rise and DDR is on the way out, so things are FAR from stable. The kit you recommend is sold for $239 here in the states and is currently a good deal. Six months ago you could find a better kit for closer to $150. Seems just about every dual channel kit I'd recommend is out of stock or costs more now than it did then. Corsair, Crucial, OCZ, PQI, and G.skill, all tend to have decent products, but each can be picky in its own way. What motherboard are you running?

Edit: Mushkin makes good stuff, too.

a 25% overclock is pretty easy on the vast majority of 90nm AMD cpu's.

 

[inquisitor03]

FYI, i currently run AMD X2 4800+ and Cosair XMS 3500LL Pro.
Default clock and memory speeds i get 3dMark 05 CPU score: 6028.

Since this i have overclocked my system to:
CPU: 2.64Ghz
FSB: 240Mhz (HT x 4 - 960Mhz)
Memory Timings: 2.5 - 2,3,2,6 1T

With this overclock i get 7247 on the CPU score on 3dMark 05 and 11250 total score.

I have the latest AMD Driver 1.3.2.16, AMD Dual Core optimiser and the Microsoft Dual Core Patch installed.

Hope this helps! Let me know if you need to know anything else!


SPECS:
AMD 4800+ X2 @ 2.64Ghz
2x 1gb Cosair XMS 3500LL Pro @ 240Mhz - CAS2.5 - 2,3,2,6. 1T)
Asus A8N32 SLI Deluxe
XFX Geforce 7900 GTX @ GPU 675mhz, MEM 1700mhz
Creative Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro
2 x WD 80gb SATA2 HDD (RAID 0)
1 x Seagate 320gb HDD
1 x WD 80gb SATA2 HDD

 

[Mousemonkey]

Dude £176 to get a few more points and no bragging right's cos you're still gonna get owned by the C2D crew I'm sorry but the old fart in me has to pipe up "come on , save the money in your piggy bank get some more over the next few months (years) then build a screamingly fast AM3 rig & kick some Conroe botty" :twisted:

 

[inquisitor03]

Mousemonkey is right. theres no point buying anything at the moment. You might as well start saving your cash now and wait for this whole Vista/Directx10, Dual CPU/GPU fiasco to settle down and then get something that kicks butt ! !

 

[derek101700]

who cares man live with it, those ppl that test have better stuff than u, and you dont have exact what they have

 

[MU_Engineer]

I've seen that too. Heck, even the 2x1GB Corsair value series stuff (3-3-3-8) that I paid $145 for in February costs $215 now. Do you think that DDR 400 will ever come down in price?

 

[johnrambo]

Hi there,

I would like to thank everyone for their advice on this matter, it is greatly appreciated.

I decided to invest in the corsiar xms 3500ll pro and am very pleased with the performance. I rerun the benchmark and now get a 6247 CPMark with no overclock so i am happy now