3dMark score much, much lower than expected. Any ideas?

[sunking101]

Hi guys. I have a Sony VAIO laptop, model BX396XP. It has a Core 2 Duo 1.83GHz cpu with an ATI Mobility Radeon 1600XT with 256mb hypermemory graphics.

I ran 3dMark 2001 & 2003 benchmark tests and was shocked at such poor results for a relatively current machine:

2001 score - 4896
2003 score - 1486

I dare not even run an up to date 3DMark test! Anyway, I think it's understood that my machine should be scoring higher in these older tests - my question is why isn't it? Are there any settings I should be looking out for, things to perhaps adjust? I'm running XP Pro by the way.

Thanks in advance!

 

[blade85]

have u tried playing some games on it???

cause 3dmark scores can be misleading.

 

[Kurita]

Are you running the benchmarks with the laptop running on mains or battery power? Ive heard that many laptops will underclock their components if they are running on battery to preserve battery life.

Other than running on battery, have you checked the amount of system memory assigned to the mobility Radeon? It says in the specs Ive read about it "up to 256Mb", so unless you have changed it yourself its possible its running on 128 or maybe 64Mb. This should be changable in Catalyst Control Center.

Its also worth looking at the settings within 3D mark, because its possible you might have FSAA turned on or something. Also look for background applications that might be using up far too much CPU time.