e7200 3dmark06 issue

[50bmg]

I last ran 3dmark06 in july. The system scored 16900 with a cpu score of 3400. CCC 8.10.

I ran it today, the system scored 12400, with a cpu score of 2200. CCC 8.12 beta.

specs:
gigabyte ga-ex38-ds4, rev 1, bios f6a
e7200 @ 3.8Ghz, 400mhz fsb, 1.32v
2x2G(4G) patriot ddr2 pc6400 @ 800mhz, 2.0v
2 x 3870 CF, visiontek OC edition, 800/1170
win xp 32 sp3
bios - both speedsteps enabled

bios, CPUz, HWmonitor, 3dmark06 and control panel-system all show 3.8Ghz.

CCC crossfire enabled, catalyst AI enabled.
GPUz and 3dmark06 show both cards are enabled and full x16 2.0.
both have power, both fans spin, both crossfire bridges are installed

all seems to be running fine. I have noticed a drop in cod4, but farcry2 is running great.

what would make my cpu score so low? I ran it twice, same score. It is about the same score the e7200 gets at stock speeds. Could this be a speed step problem?

 

[Belinda]

Installed junk and processes running in the background.
Six months of use with installs and uninstalls leaves a lot of junk. I like to wipe the drive and reinstall once or twice a year.

 

[orangegator]

Are you sure your system is still overclocked? My guess is that it was unstable and reverted to stock. Check with cpuz. Be sure it is stable by running prime95 small ffts for at least 12h.

 

[customisbetter]

^That makes no sense.

Make sure that Speedstep is disabled in your bios. look for EIST or C1E in your BIOS settings and disable it. That will leave your CPU at full speed.
ALSO! Never run more than 23 or so processes when benchmarking. Anything other than windows essentials will destroy your CPU score. Anti virus software is usually the biggest culprit of this.

Good luck!

 

[50bmg]

in the first post i mentioned that the bios, cpuz, hwmonitor and 3dmark06 have it at 3.8Ghz.

I will see what processes are running and turn some off.

I did turn off all speed steps. No luck, same 3dmark06 cpu score.

thanks all, i will do some more testing and get back to you.

 

[WR]

Especially for older graphics cards, newer drivers are not always better. If nothing else works, "downgrade" drivers. Catalyst used to be very stable but lately has had increasing issues.

 

[50bmg]

I just tried 3dmark06 with CCC 8.10. same score. well, actually lower.

i ran the Intel process identification utility. It see the cpu at 3.8G. the OC is good. I ran spybot S&D, no spyware running.

 

[50bmg]

after 10 hours of prime95, no warnings, no errors.

cpu never exceeded 43c and the cores never exceeded 62c.

 

[customisbetter]

Ctrl+alt+del and take a screenshot of the processes tab and post it.

 

[50bmg]

 

[customisbetter]

AH HA!!

Uninstall AVG NOW. I had it for a while and it DESTROYED my benchmark scores just like yours.

 

[50bmg]

ok, i uninstalled AVG. still only scored 12000.

What is funny is i reset my bios and ran 3dmark06 at stock speeds and it scored 12500.

 

[50bmg]

any other ideas. it is still at 12000.

 

[customisbetter]

Errr... That was my best guess guy.

Is your RAM actually at 2.0 Volts?

 

[50bmg]

1.98v

 

[Kari]

why it's showing 'system idle process' at 99% and at the same time 'cpu usage: 33%'

 

[customisbetter]

99% of 33%. System idle process does that all the time.

 

[50bmg]

i have been wondering the same thing. I have been monitoring the cpu usage over the last day. The cpu is at 25-33% consistantly.

could i have a trojan or rootkit, etc.

I ran spybot s&d, it found nothing.

any other anti spyware i could run?

 

[customisbetter]

That is a vital windows process. It is supposed to be there. Your CPU will only hit 0-1%if you are running 21 processes. 22 and up you have crap running in the background.

 

[50bmg]

ok i read up on system idle process.

I am still concerned what is using 30% plus of my cpu with nothing running but the OS.

 

[Kari]

yeah I know what system idle process is but the math doesn't work like that. If it reports idle at 99%, cpu usage should be 1%, it all should add up to 100%. Theres something wierd going on...

it could be something driver related as well, mobo/chipset drivers etc...
If you boot windows into safe mode, is it still doing it?

 

[50bmg]

same thing in safe mode. 20-30% cpu usage.

may be time for an OS reinstall.

 

[50bmg]

Ok, i ran process explorer. It is showing the 20-30% cpu usage as hardware interrupts.

Does this mean i have a conflict between hardware?

 

[50bmg]

NM. I am going to start a fresh thread regarding 25% of cpu usages from hardware interrupts.

thanks guys

 

[WR]

The process list of the task manager does not count kernel time, only free time available for applications/services. If you turn to the performance tab and select View - Show Kernel Times, you should notice red bars at 1/3 height.

High kernel times at idle signify a device or driver problem.

You can download a free program to monitor kernel activity:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=d6e95259-8d9d-4c22-89c4-fad382eddcd1&displaylang=en

Run and extract that to the Desktop (default folder Krview), then install to the default location with setup.exe. When done, open cmd.exe from the Start menu. Run the krview utility by typing its full address, the default of which is:

"C:\Program Files\KrView\Kernrates\kernrate_i386_xp.exe"

Include the quotes at the command prompt, and change the C drive to whatever is your main system drive. When the utility starts, it prompts you to press Ctrl-C to stop data collection. About 10-20 seconds after you see that message, press Ctrl-C. At the bottom of the report is a list of kernel-interrupting processes. The top of that list, with by far the most # of hits, should be the offending driver. You can disconnect that device or reinstall/upgrade its drivers. If you have problems tracing the process to a device, take a screenshot of the list in the command prompt window (Alt-PrintScreen) and post it back here.