Acer e360 amd athlon 64 x2 4200+ 2.2 ghz

[Mocrovitch]

Hi there,

I just recently bought a new comp and i have some questions about it.
Specs comp :

Acer aspire e360 91.92E6S.T73
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ / 2.2 GHz - 64-bits ( Dual-Core ) NVIDIA nForce4 chipset
2 GB DDR SDRAM 400 MHZ PC3200
ATI RADEON X700 SE 256 MB PCI Express x16
Soundcard integrated 7.1 channel surround
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
harddisk 320 GB

When i bought this pc i was told that it could easilly run every game, but this isn't the case. Games don't play that well , the picture sometimes freezes and it just doesn't run smooth. I installed directx 9a , newest videodriver.
Maybe that xp home is the problem still have to change this to xp pro because i was told that pro handles dualcore systems better. When i do a benchmark of 3dmark2006 i get a score of 600 .Videocard too slow? Or maybe a configuration issue? Should this desktop run almost every game smoothless? I hope that some can help me out cause im getting worried that i wasted my money.

Thx in advance

 

[Grimmy]

Home Edition supports dual core cpu.

XP pro just has more security features.

Might help others to understand your situation better if you list the games that are giving you problems.

Another thing, temps of your CPU and GPU if you could provide them when your game is running.

Also, if the HAL is installed correctly, you should see 2 CPU usuage meters on your task manager (performance tab) for your 4200.

 

[Mocrovitch]

Thx for your quick anwser.
I tried several games. One of them is oblivion ( not the easiest one ) and the other one i ghost recon advanced warfighter.
I would like to anwser your second question concerning the temps but i really dont have a clue how i could check this.

 

[Anoobis]

Your Radeon X700SE is the cause of all your woes.

 

[Grimmy]

Speed fan would be a good temp utility to use:

Speed fan

You would have to run the game window mode to be able to see how hot your CPU maybe running.

The GPU, I'm guessing there is already something that tells you the temps going on for ATI drivers. I'm on Nvidia so I'm not sure how you can bring up your GPU temps while the game is running.

Other questions come to mind, are you on SP2? and do you see 2 core meters in the task manager?

Yes the x700 would be causing game play, with everything turned on.

Not sure if that could be help, except being replaced, or turning off all eye candy.

 

[SidVicious]

That X700SE is low-end, don't expect stellar performances out of it, especially with hogs like Oblivion and GRAW.

Here are a few tricks to make sure that your OS can use that Dual Core CPU properly.

 

[Mocrovitch]

I'm on SP2 and i do see 2 meters in the taskmanager.
Can also see 2 cpu's in systemmanager.I'm going to monitor the temp
of the games and will post my results.

Ps:
I already thought that this videocard was crap , but still i did expect something more about this card.

 

[Mocrovitch]

I did the test with speedfan and gives me the following results ( don't know if i did it correctly ).

When im doing nothing it gives me this :
Temp1 :-117 C/-118 C
Temp2 :40 C
Temp 3:21 C
Local :46 C
Remote: 39 C
HD0: 37 C

When i turn the speeds up to 100 %:
Temp1 :-117 C/-118 C
Temp2 :40 C
Temp 3:17 / 21 / 40 / it even jumped to 51 ( with a little flame and bounced back to 20)
Local :38 C
Remote: 36 C
HD0: 37 C


When playing oblivion :
Temp1 :--118 C
Temp2 :39 C
Temp 3:19 C / 1C / 40 C
Local :39 C
Remote: 37 C
HD0: 37 C

Don't know how accurate this is , i never overclocked something. I'm not a really diehard gamer , just like to run things smooth because it gets on my nerves , thats also the reason that i changed from a P4 1,5 ghz to this one.

Sidvicious :
Do you recommend me to following the steps on this page :
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=81429

 

[Anoobis]

Your processor is not the problem. The two games you mentioned are rough on video cards. Oblivion will bring X1900s to their knees. Imagine how it will task your X700.

I would also recommend installing DirectX 9c but you're still going to have to turn down the effects quite a bit in those games to make them playable with that card.

You didn't waste your money. Your system is quite decent, except for that X700. If it is really troubling you, get a new card and eBay the X700.

 

[Grimmy]

I did the test with speedfan and gives me the following results ( don't know if i did it correctly ).

When im doing nothing it gives me this :
Temp1 :-117 C/-118 C
Temp2 :40 C
Temp 3:21 C
Local :46 C
Remote: 39 C
HD0: 37 C

When i turn the speeds up to 100 %:
Temp1 :-117 C/-118 C
Temp2 :40 C
Temp 3:17 / 21 / 40 / it even jumped to 51 ( with a little flame and bounced back to 20)
Local :38 C
Remote: 36 C
HD0: 37 C


When playing oblivion :
Temp1 :--118 C
Temp2 :39 C
Temp 3:19 C / 1C / 40 C
Local :39 C
Remote: 37 C
HD0: 37 C

Don't know how accurate this is , i never overclocked something. I'm not a really diehard gamer , just like to run things smooth because it gets on my nerves , thats also the reason that i changed from a P4 1,5 ghz to this one.

Sidvicious :
Do you recommend me to following the steps on this page :
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=81429

Temps certainly look alright, CPU wise.

Sidvicious only gave that link if your XP wasn't showing 2 cores. Usually that happens when people have a system with 1 core, and upgrade to dual.

I suppose your system was already built with dual core when XP was installed so you should be okay there.

If you want your games to run smoother, might want to do some shopping on a video card replacement.

So I agree with Anoobis.

I think most people would recommend the 1900 XT for oblivion from what I remember. 7900 GT should work fine as well, but the 1900 XT seems to have the upper hand on that game.

edit:

I remember when the 1900 XT were in the 500 dollar zone.

NewEgg has the PowerColor brand for ATI at 359.00

1900 XT - PowerColor

 

[Mocrovitch]

First of all :
Big thumbs up!!! This board really helps out, thanks for that !
I guess i have to save me some money to buy a new graphics card.

One last question:
Before enabling the hotfix and installing the new amd driver systemproperties showed the following:
Core processor 4200 +
Clockspeed 933 Ghz , 2.00 GB

After enabling:
Core processor 4200 +
Clockspeed 1.81 Ghz , 2.00 GB

Did just noticed it. Big improvement. But still not a 2.2 Ghz. Or is this normal?

 

[Anoobis]

Sounds like you might have Cool 'n' Quiet enabled.

Check to see if "Minimal Power Management" is selected as the "Power Scheme" under "Power Options Properties" in the "Control Panel". Set it to "Home/Office Desk" if it is and see if that changes it.