The New System is Built... But Needs Help!

[fructinhit]

I've put together a new computer. It has a Core 2 Duo E6750, four gigs of Patriot DDR2 SDRAM (800mhx... PC6400), Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3R motherboard, EVGA 8800 GTS 320mb video card, and Vista HOme Premium 64-bit. My system score overall is a 5.5 (that being the processor), but I'm sure I didn't set everything up as good as it can be through windows and the bios. What can I do to set it up optimally, and how can I test it to see if it's already decent or is not performing as it should? I've made a few changes in the bios, but nothing crazy. Thank you!

 

[notherdude]

Do you see 4 gig of RAM listed in your system specs from WITHIN windows? I ask because unless your motherboard has memory remapping enabled you will probably only see about 3 gig of available RAM. I'm not sure how the GA-P35 handles that exactly but on most systems you must manually turn on memory remapping in the BIOS.

5.5 ain't bad but with a little overclocking you could reach 5.7 or higher I suspect. Not that you would do that just to score on that Windows performance rater but usually those Core 2's will overclock quite well on default settings with stock cooler, just by raisng the bus speed from within the BIOS.

If you have a custom cooler and are willing to tweak even more in the BIOS you can OC even more. My e6600 c2d went from 2.4 gigz to 3.5 gigz.

IF OC looks like an option to you we can direct you to some easy to follow OC guides. Best to read them before you start making changes.

 

[fructinhit]

Thank you. Windows does see all 4 gigs of ram. I'm not planning to overclock (unless it's really important/valuable to reach that 1:1 ratio with the memory, which I don't know how to do). I just don't know if perhaps there are some settings that are creating bottlenecks, and if there's anyway I can at least test for that?

 

[notherdude]

Right. I'm not up on tweaking that board, perhaps someone who has it can help. I think at this point there aren't really any BIOS tweaks on c2d Intel systems that will make more than a hair's difference. But I could be overlooking something of course.

If you want a good benchmark for the graphics most people are using 3dmark. If you register there you can compare your results with others who have similarly equipped systems. If you score close you are probably good to go.

The real tweaks these days are going to be in OC both the CPU and the Video card

 

[akhilles]

3dmarks tests mainly gpu. pcmarks tests everything else. you should google

cpuz

Compare these results to the boot screen. They should be the same. i.e. cpu speed, ram speed, etc. If you ram is recognized as slower like 667mhz, then you're not optmizing it.

 

[jys84]

Windows Vista overall score is basically your lowest component score. Without overclocking, 5.5 is correct, you should be scoring 5.9 for your video card and around 5.7-5.9 for memory? Without OCing, that is pretty much the score you will get.

Now, I think it is your "duty" to OC. There is no reason to get DDR2-800 ram if you aren't going to OC in my opinion. With the stock cooler, you can easily get the E6750 up to 5.7 and maybe to 5.9 in Vista.

In terms of the Vista benchmarks, since there aren't a lot of ranges, it tends to lump things together as a general measurement. It would be in your best interest to use 3dmark or pcmark to get some better reads and then compare with other people's scores to get a better idea.

At 1:1 ratio, the quick and easy OC will get your processor to 3.2 ghz, which is a 5.7 in Vista if I recall. Your temperature should still be under or around 50C full load. Read up on how to OC, make that change and you will see a good boost in performance of Vista.

edit - as a precursor to get you started on OCing, you'll need to set the CPU to Memory Ratio at 1:1. Then make sure the FSB is set at 400mhz. This will get you 8(CPU Multiplier)*400(FSB) = 3.2 ghz, where as before it was 8*333=2.66ghz(stock).

 

[Guest]

FSB = 400 Mhz, Multiplier = 9 -----> 3.6Ghz and that 1:1 ratio

 

[fructinhit]

Can I overclock with my stock cooler, just to reach the 1:1 ratio? I did run CPU-Z and it's saying that it's PC26400 (400mhz), but I think it should be 800mhz?

 

[akhilles]

How can you say it's his duty? The girl is begging for it. I mean the pc. Repeat, the girl.

Unless you built the cpu yourself, the e6750 is x8:

http://processorfinder.intel.com/details.aspx?sspec=sla9v

cpu-z is right. ram is double-rated. you multiply it by 2. 400 x 2 = 800mhz. Also, intel fsb is quad pumped. Always multiply it by 4 or divide it by 4. So 400mhz fsb x 4 = 1600. Or 333 x 4 = 1333 = your stock fsb. 333 x 8 = 2664 or 2.66ghz your stock speed.

The stock cooler can be used for mild o/c. You have to read the sticky in the o/c forum here.

 

[fructinhit]

That helps soooooooo much. I think I finally understand. Thank you!!! Would a safe overclock with the stock cooler be something like 400 x 7 = 2.8ghz? And then that way, the cpu and memory would be in a 1:1 ratio?

 

[akhilles]

Yes, 400 x 7 is fine, but you can't not read the sticky. There are other settings that must be inputted in bios. 1:1 ratio doesn't matter as long as your o/c is stable.