Desperate and ready to pull my hair out

[DarkPhoenix69]

I used to run 2gb ocz ram (1033 mhz), xp 32 bit, nvidia 9600 512mb card, amd phenom 9500 2.2 quad core on xfx 750a motherboard and scored 9200 on 3dmark06. After recently upgrading to an nvidia gtx280 card, adding 4 more gigs of ram (same), windows 7 64 bit, and a 1 terabyte drive (sata), I now get 8700 and lower every time I run it! I have searched and searched but can not come up with where my bottleneck is. I do not wish to overclock, but I have tried every bios setting I can think of without going down that road. I am guessing I should be able to break the 11000 mark easily. Please, any help on this would be appreciated. All drivers are up to date and system has barely any software on it. Thank you so much for your time in this matter.

 

[theJ]

It's just a benchmark. Does your computer run noticeably better? If so, then i wouldn't even worry about it.

 

[DarkPhoenix69]

Overall, it does seem a little smoother. But in my eyes, a benchmark is the same as a dyno for a car. No one here would tell a car guy that after he dropped a new motor in his car and did all this work, that if he got less horsepower, but ran smoother, not to worry about it. No insult theJ, but something on this just doesn't feel right.

 

[vigvoodoo]

That is really low for a GTX280. My system with a single HD 4870 and only 2GB of RAM scores 14,600. With the dual HD 4870s and 8GB RAM it hits 18,000.

Run 3DMark Vantage, if that is scoring low then there is something very wrong.

 

[Lutfij]

1st - its all synthetic benchmarkings - are there any reasons you mite have for the benchmarks? Seeing these numbers translate into gaming efficiency will mean u gaining nominal gains

2nd - it can be ur heat thas being genrated in ur cpu - thas causing ur lower benchmarks. Wats ur case? Heat is considered a performance robber...so make sure ur thermal management is SOUND

3rd - since its a 750 board - its not a good choice for overclocking as it has a hell load of overclocking holes...i read it in a review and tried it myself. to get the overclocking to happen u need to go through some trial and error runs.

The overclocking is the way to tackle the bottleneck issue...so u have to look at ur board and try it patiently

 

[shortstuff_mt]

What power supply do you have? Going from a 960 to a GTX 280 is a huge leap in power consumption. It's possible the GPU isn't running correctly because it isn't getting enough power.

 

[DarkPhoenix69]

VigVoodoo, ran Vantage, came up with right around p8300. As far as case, I am using an NZXT Trinity Case, two 120mm and one 80mm fan. Display on the case temp runs anywhere from 27 to 30 degrees C. The reasons for the benchmarking is not for bragging rights, or to try and go after the 40-50k guys, just to see where I stand on my own personal level. I realize that 3dmark06 is a synthetic, but when I see an average of 15-25 frames per sec for just running tests, makes me scratch my head and say, "That should be a little better...."

 

[Lutfij]

lol, then try and see if u can get out of the bottleneck, overclock it...jus for heck of it, if it works - then BINGO! run 3DMARK !

 

[theJ]

Overall, it does seem a little smoother. But in my eyes, a benchmark is the same as a dyno for a car. No one here would tell a car guy that after he dropped a new motor in his car and did all this work, that if he got less horsepower, but ran smoother, not to worry about it. No insult theJ, but something on this just doesn't feel right.

Not insulted. I understand where you're coming from. You spent a lot of money on something that should have given you a noticeable increase in performance. I simply wondered if any of the games or programs you ran were much better than with your old hardware.

As for overclocking, it doesn't seem like that should solve anything. If the system were indeed CPU limited, you probably would have seen just a small increase in score, not a decrease.

I'll come back if i think of something else. At this point i'm a little confuzzled too.

 

[vigvoodoo]

VigVoodoo, ran Vantage, came up with right around p8300.

P8300 is great, your system is running fine.

 

[darkguset]

Are you running exactly the same version of 3dMark on both systems?

 

[DarkPhoenix69]

Yes, same version of 3dmark, except for when I tried Vantage once. Will have to install a lot more to fully assess improvement (Half Life 2, WoW, Bioshock, etc). I also got CPU-Z and rattled off the log file for that (minus memory dumps, etc.) and thought I would include that for anyone's interest. By the way, thank you again all in this matter. It is very much appreciated.


CPU-Z TXT Report
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Binaries
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

CPU-Z version 1.53.1

Processors
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Number of processors 1
Number of threads 4

APICs
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Processor 0
-- Core 0
-- Thread 0 0
-- Core 1
-- Thread 0 1
-- Core 2
-- Thread 0 2
-- Core 3
-- Thread 0 3

Processors Information
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Processor 1 ID = 0
Number of cores 4 (max 4)
Number of threads 4 (max 4)
Name AMD Phenom X4 9500
Codename Agena
Specification AMD Phenom(tm) 9500 Quad-Core Processor
Package Socket AM2+ (940)
CPUID F.2.2
Extended CPUID 10.2
Brand ID 10
Core Stepping DR-B2
Technology 65 nm
Core Speed 1100.0 MHz
Multiplier x FSB 5.5 x 200.0 MHz
HT Link speed 1799.9 MHz
Stock frequency 2200 MHz
Instructions sets MMX (+), 3DNow! (+), SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSE4A, x86-64, AMD-V
L1 Data cache 4 x 64 KBytes, 2-way set associative, 64-byte line size
L1 Instruction cache 4 x 64 KBytes, 2-way set associative, 64-byte line size
L2 cache 4 x 512 KBytes, 16-way set associative, 64-byte line size
L3 cache 2 MBytes, 32-way set associative, 64-byte line size
FID/VID Control yes
FID range 5.5x - 11.0x
Max VID 1.250 V
P-State FID 0x6 - VID 0x1C
P-State FID 0x106 - VID 0x28

Package Type 0x1
Model 95
String 1 0x2
String 2 0x0
Page 0x0
TDP Limit 95 Watts
TDC Limit 76 Amps
Attached device PCI device at bus 0, device 24, function 0
Attached device PCI device at bus 0, device 24, function 1
Attached device PCI device at bus 0, device 24, function 2
Attached device PCI device at bus 0, device 24, function 3
Attached device PCI device at bus 0, device 24, function 4


Thread dumps
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

CPU Thread 0
APIC ID 0
Topology Processor ID 0, Core ID 0, Thread ID 0
Type 02004001h
Max CPUID level 00000005h
Max CPUID ext. level 8000001Ah
Cache descriptor Level 1, I, 64 KB, 1 thread(s)
Cache descriptor Level 1, D, 64 KB, 1 thread(s)
Cache descriptor Level 2, U, 512 KB, 1 thread(s)
Cache descriptor Level 3, U, 2 MB, 4 thread(s)

CPU Thread 1
APIC ID 1
Topology Processor ID 0, Core ID 1, Thread ID 0
Type 02004001h
Max CPUID level 00000005h
Max CPUID ext. level 8000001Ah
Cache descriptor Level 1, I, 64 KB, 1 thread(s)
Cache descriptor Level 1, D, 64 KB, 1 thread(s)
Cache descriptor Level 2, U, 512 KB, 1 thread(s)
Cache descriptor Level 3, U, 2 MB, 4 thread(s)

CPU Thread 2
APIC ID 2
Topology Processor ID 0, Core ID 2, Thread ID 0
Type 02004001h
Max CPUID level 00000005h
Max CPUID ext. level 8000001Ah
Cache descriptor Level 1, I, 64 KB, 1 thread(s)
Cache descriptor Level 1, D, 64 KB, 1 thread(s)
Cache descriptor Level 2, U, 512 KB, 1 thread(s)
Cache descriptor Level 3, U, 2 MB, 4 thread(s)


CPU Thread 3
APIC ID 3
Topology Processor ID 0, Core ID 3, Thread ID 0
Type 02004001h
Max CPUID level 00000005h
Max CPUID ext. level 8000001Ah
Cache descriptor Level 1, I, 64 KB, 1 thread(s)
Cache descriptor Level 1, D, 64 KB, 1 thread(s)
Cache descriptor Level 2, U, 512 KB, 1 thread(s)
Cache descriptor Level 3, U, 2 MB, 4 thread(s)

Chipset
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Northbridge NVIDIA nForce 740a SLI rev. A2
Southbridge NVIDIA nForce 740a SLI MCP rev. A2
Graphic Interface PCI-Express
PCI-E Link Width x16
PCI-E Max Link Width x16
Memory Type DDR2
Memory Size 6144 MBytes
Channels Dual, (Unganged)
Memory Frequency 333.3 MHz (3:5)
CAS# latency (CL) 5.0
RAS# to CAS# delay (tRCD) 5
RAS# Precharge (tRP) 5
Cycle Time (tRAS) 15
Bank Cycle Time (tRC) 21
Command Rate (CR) 2T
Uncore Frequency 1799.9 MHz

Memory SPD
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

DIMM # 1
SMBus address 0x50
Memory type DDR2
Module format Regular UDIMM
Manufacturer (ID) OCZ (7F7F7F7FB0000000)
Size 2048 MBytes
Max bandwidth PC2-6400 (400 MHz)
Part number OCZ2RPR10662G
Number of banks 2
Data width 64 bits
Correction None
Nominal Voltage 1.80 Volts
EPP yes (1 profiles)
XMP no
JEDEC timings table CL-tRCD-tRP-tRAS-tRC @ frequency
JEDEC #1 3.0-4-4-10-16 @ 266 MHz
JEDEC #2 4.0-5-5-13-20 @ 333 MHz
JEDEC #3 5.0-5-5-15-24 @ 400 MHz
EPP timings table CL-tRCD-tRP-tRAS-tRC-CR @ frequency (voltage)
EPP profile #1 (full) 5.0-5-5-15-26-2T @ 533 MHz (2.100 Volts)

DIMM # 2
SMBus address 0x51
Memory type DDR2
Module format Regular UDIMM
Manufacturer (ID) OCZ (7F7F7F7FB0000000)
Size 2048 MBytes
Max bandwidth PC2-6400 (400 MHz)
Part number OCZ2RPR10662G
Number of banks 2
Data width 64 bits
Correction None
Nominal Voltage 1.80 Volts
EPP yes (1 profiles)
XMP no
JEDEC timings table CL-tRCD-tRP-tRAS-tRC @ frequency
JEDEC #1 3.0-4-4-10-16 @ 266 MHz
JEDEC #2 4.0-5-5-13-20 @ 333 MHz
JEDEC #3 5.0-5-5-15-24 @ 400 MHz
EPP timings table CL-tRCD-tRP-tRAS-tRC-CR @ frequency (voltage)
EPP profile #1 (full) 5.0-5-5-15-26-2T @ 533 MHz (2.100 Volts)

DIMM # 3
SMBus address 0x52
Memory type DDR2
Module format Regular UDIMM
Manufacturer (ID) OCZ (7F7F7F7FB0000000)
Size 1024 MBytes
Max bandwidth PC2-5300 (333 MHz)
Part number OCZ2RPR10661G
Serial number FFFFFFFF
Manufacturing date Week 165/Year 165
Number of banks 2
Data width 64 bits
Correction None
Nominal Voltage 1.80 Volts
EPP yes (1 profiles)
XMP no
JEDEC timings table CL-tRCD-tRP-tRAS-tRC @ frequency
JEDEC #1 3.0-4-4-13-15 @ 270 MHz
JEDEC #2 4.0-4-4-13-15 @ 270 MHz
JEDEC #3 5.0-5-5-15-19 @ 333 MHz
EPP timings table CL-tRCD-tRP-tRAS-tRC-CR @ frequency (voltage)
EPP profile #1 (full) 5.0-5-5-15-22-2T @ 533 MHz (2.100 Volts)

DIMM # 4
SMBus address 0x53
Memory type DDR2
Module format Regular UDIMM
Manufacturer (ID) OCZ (7F7F7F7FB0000000)
Size 1024 MBytes
Max bandwidth PC2-5300 (333 MHz)
Part number OCZ2RPR10661G
Serial number FFFFFFFF
Manufacturing date Week 165/Year 165
Number of banks 2
Data width 64 bits
Correction None
Nominal Voltage 1.80 Volts
EPP yes (1 profiles)
XMP no
JEDEC timings table CL-tRCD-tRP-tRAS-tRC @ frequency
JEDEC #1 3.0-4-4-13-15 @ 270 MHz
JEDEC #2 4.0-4-4-13-15 @ 270 MHz
JEDEC #3 5.0-5-5-15-19 @ 333 MHz
EPP timings table CL-tRCD-tRP-tRAS-tRC-CR @ frequency (voltage)
EPP profile #1 (full) 5.0-5-5-15-22-2T @ 533 MHz (2.100 Volts)

Hardware Monitors
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hardware monitor Winbond W83627EHF
Voltage 0 1.24 Volts [0x9B] (CPU VCORE)
Voltage 1 1.77 Volts [0xDD] (VIN0)
Voltage 2 3.36 Volts [0xD2] (AVCC)
Voltage 3 3.36 Volts [0xD2] (+3.3V)
Voltage 4 0.94 Volts [0x76] (VIN1)
Voltage 5 1.15 Volts [0x90] (VIN2)
Voltage 6 1.58 Volts [0xC6] (VIN3)
Voltage 7 1.30 Volts [0xA3] (VIN4)
Temperature 0 28°C (82°F) [0x1C] (SYSTIN)
Temperature 1 55°C (130°F) [0x6D] (CPUTIN)
Temperature 2 49°C (120°F) [0x62] (AUXTIN)
Fan 0 1467 RPM [0x73] (SYSFANIN)
Fan 1 2083 RPM [0x51] (CPUFANIN0)
Fan 2 1418 RPM [0x77] (AUXFANIN0)
Hardware registers
Register space LPC, base address = 0x0A10
bank 0
00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 0A 0B 0C 0D 0E 0F
00 04 FF 04 62 11 00 37 30 01 40 01 60 3C 3C 0A 0A
10 04 FF 00 00 00 01 01 3C 43 17 00 00 57 00 00 C6
20 88 DD D3 D2 77 90 C6 1C 73 51 78 DA 00 33 FF 26
30 39 FA 7A B9 77 3D B5 BB F7 7D CF 7F EB 3C DF FF
40 03 06 1F DE FF FF 00 F4 2D FF 40 C4 10 95 00 A3
50 FF FF 80 FF FF FF 00 80 A1 7F FF FF 19 05 FF 05
60 04 FF 40 00 01 01 3C FF 01 FF 01 FF FF FF FF FF
70 FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF
80 04 FF 04 62 11 00 37 30 01 40 01 60 3C 3C 0A 0A
90 04 FF 00 00 00 01 01 3C 43 17 00 00 57 00 00 CA
A0 88 DD D3 D2 77 90 C6 1C 73 51 78 DA 00 33 FF 26
B0 39 FA 7A B9 77 3D B5 BB F7 7D CF 7F EB 3C DF FF
C0 03 00 10 DE FF FF 00 F4 2D FF 40 C4 10 95 00 A3
D0 FF FF 80 FF FF FF 00 80 A1 7F FF FF 19 05 FF 05
E0 04 FF 40 00 01 01 3C FF 01 FF 01 FF FF FF FF FF
F0 FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF
bank 1
50 36 80 00 4B 00 50 00 FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF
bank 2
50 31 00 00 4B 00 50 00 FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF
bank 3
50 03 03 03 03 00 03 01 02 03 02 FF FF FF FF FF FF
bank 4
50 1B 13 FF 00 F8 F5 00 FF 74 06 1C 3B C9 FF FF FF
bank 5
50 CF C0 A4 FF 2E BE FC D3 FC EB F0 B5 FD 00 00 00

Hardware monitor AMD Phenom X4 9500
Power 0 58.80 W (Processor)
Temperature 0 33°C (90°F) [0x104] (Core #0)
Temperature 1 33°C (90°F) [0x104] (Core #1)
Temperature 2 33°C (91°F) [0x108] (Core #2)
Temperature 3 33°C (91°F) [0x108] (Core #3)

Hardware monitor NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280
Temperature 0 49°C (120°F) (GPU Core)

DMI
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

DMI BIOS
vendor American Megatrends Inc.
version 080015
date 05/30/2008

DMI System Information
manufacturer To Be Filled By O.E.M.
product To Be Filled By O.E.M.
version To Be Filled By O.E.M.
serial To Be Filled By O.E.M.
UUID 360574D6-2F2F443E-9C0C76C7-17828D17

DMI Baseboard
vendor XFX
model MD-A72P-7509
revision Ver1.1
serial To Be Filled By O.E.M.

DMI System Enclosure
manufacturer To Be Filled By O.E.M.
chassis type Desktop
chassis serial To Be Filled By O.E.M.

DMI Processor
manufacturer AMD
model AMD Phenom(tm) 9500 Quad-Core Processor
clock speed 2210.0 MHz
FSB speed 200.0 MHz
multiplier 11.0x

DMI Port Connector
designation J1A1 (internal)
designation PS2Mouse (external)
port type Mouse Port
connector PS/2

DMI Port Connector
designation J1A1 (internal)
designation Keyboard (external)
port type Keyboard Port
connector PS/2

DMI Port Connector
designation J2A2 (internal)
designation USB1 (external)
port type USB
connector Access Bus (USB)

DMI Port Connector
designation J2A2 (internal)
designation USB2 (external)
port type USB
connector Access Bus (USB)

DMI Port Connector
designation J4A1 (internal)
designation LPT 1 (external)
port type Parallel Port ECP/EPP
connector DB-25 male

DMI Port Connector
designation J2A1 (internal)
designation COM A (external)
port type Serial Port 16550A
connector DB-9 male

DMI Port Connector
designation J6A1 (internal)
designation Audio Mic In (external)
port type Audio Port
connector Mini Jack (headphones)

DMI Port Connector
designation J6A1 (internal)
designation Audio Line In (external)
port type Audio Port
connector Mini Jack (headphones)

DMI Port Connector
designation J6B1 - AUX IN (internal)
port type Audio Port
connector On Board Sound Input From CD-ROM

DMI Port Connector
designation J6B2 - CDIN (internal)
port type Audio Port
connector On Board Sound Input From CD-ROM

DMI Port Connector
designation J6J2 - PRI IDE (internal)
connector On Board IDE

DMI Port Connector
designation J6J1 - SEC IDE (internal)
connector On Board IDE

DMI Port Connector
designation J4J1 - FLOPPY (internal)
connector On Board Floppy

DMI Port Connector
designation J9H1 - FRONT PNL (internal)
connector 9 Pin Dual Inline (pin 10 cut)

DMI Port Connector
designation J1B1 - CHASSIS REAR FAN (internal)

DMI Port Connector
designation J2F1 - CPU FAN (internal)

DMI Port Connector
designation J8B4 - FRONT FAN (internal)

DMI Port Connector
designation J9G2 - FNT USB (internal)

DMI Port Connector
designation J6C3 - FP AUD (internal)

DMI Port Connector
designation J9G1 - CONFIG (internal)

DMI Port Connector
designation J8C1 - SCSI LED (internal)

DMI Port Connector
designation J9J2 - INTRUDER (internal)

DMI Port Connector
designation J9G4 - ITP (internal)

DMI Port Connector
designation J2H1 - MAIN POWER (internal)

DMI Extension Slot
designation AGP
type AGP 4x
width 32 bits
populated yes

DMI Extension Slot
designation PCI1
type PCI
width 32 bits
populated no

DMI Physical Memory Array
location Motherboard
usage System Memory
correction None
max capacity 8192 MBytes
max# of devices 4

DMI Memory Device
designation DIMM0
format DIMM
type unknown
total width 64 bits
data width 72 bits
size 2048 MBytes

DMI Memory Device
designation DIMM1
format DIMM
type unknown
total width 64 bits
data width 72 bits
size 2048 MBytes

DMI Memory Device
designation DIMM2
format DIMM
type unknown
total width 64 bits
data width 72 bits
size 1024 MBytes

DMI Memory Device
designation DIMM3
format DIMM
type unknown
total width 64 bits
data width 72 bits
size 1024 MBytes


Graphics
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Number of adapters 1

Graphic APIs
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

API NVIDIA NVAPI
API NVIDIA I/O

Display Adapters
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Display adapter 0
Manuf. API index 0
Display name \\.\DISPLAY1
Name NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280
Revision A2
Codename GT200
Technology 65 nm
Memory size 1024 MB
Memory type GDDR3
Memory bus width 512 bits
PCI device bus 2 (0x2), device 0 (0x0), function 0 (0x0)
Vendor ID 0x10DE (0x10DE)
Model ID 0x05E1 (0x0557)
Performance Level Default
Core clock 300.9 MHz
Shader clock 601.7 MHz
Memory clock 100.0 MHz
Performance Level 2D Desktop
Core clock 300.9 MHz
Shader clock 601.7 MHz
Memory clock 100.0 MHz
Performance Level 3D Applications
Core clock 300.9 MHz
Shader clock 601.7 MHz
Memory clock 100.0 MHz


Software
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Windows Version Microsoft Windows 7 (6.1) Home Premium Edition (Build 7600)
DirectX Version 11.0

 

[easyed]

hello. i have an xFx 750a mb with 8GB of low voltage (1.8v) OCZ Platinum memory. AMD 945 cpu. GTX 260 video card. What I noticed above was: the EPP profiles for memory voltage show 2.1 volts. did you buy regular reaper memory or low voltage reaper memory? as someone else mentioned, overheating will slow you down. xFx has a BIOS update to flash your motherboard; that may help if you haven't already flashed it. i think you should be getting better results too, don't pull your hair out. And you have slow memory showing. Your report states: 2 memory slots at Max bandwidth PC2-6400 (400 MHz) and 2 memory slots at Max bandwidth PC2-5300 (333 MHz). My bandwidth is all 4 slots PC2-8500 (533 MHz) and maximum bandwidth PC2-8900. With my AM3 cpu at 3GHz in the AM2+ socket the cpu memory controller is improved. So if you have regular pc2-6400 memory being overclocked to 1033 generating 2.1 volts i think that would cause your bottleneck. When adding new memory, install 1 stick only and reset the CMOS to properly register your memory. Then add the other sticks. The AMD 9500 cpu also had/has the B2 core stepping problem. Nvidia is still promoting 15.49 drivers. Guru3D has 15.52 drivers. The Nvidia control panel is enhanced. And nTune can give you detailed system information. Under the Chipset heading, your memory is only running at 333MHz. That is your problem.

 

[easyed]

At the beginning of this list you only have 2 P-States listed. I think this has to do with memory also. I have 4 P-States listed with CPU-Z report. Side-by-side comparison:

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280 GeForce GTX 260
Memory size 1024 MB 896 MB
Memory bus width 512 bits 448 bits
Performance Level Default
Core clock 300.9 MHz 300.0 MHz
Shader clock 601.7 MHz 600.0 MHz
Memory clock 100.0 MHz 100.0 MHz
Performance Level 2D Desktop
Core clock 300.9 MHz 400.0 MHz
Shader clock 601.7 MHz 800.0 MHz
Memory clock 100.0 MHz 300.0 MHz
Performance Level 3D Applications
Core clock 300.9 MHz 576.0 MHz
Shader clock 601.7 MHz 1242.0 MHz
Memory clock 100.0 MHz 999.0 MHz