Nick3318

Hey guys. So I built this pc a few months ago and since then I've always kind of had less then desirable performance. But I ignored it.

..That is until I built a PC with slightly inferior parts for a friend of mine and watched it perform a lot better than mine. (Mostly noticeable in games like WoW where CPU speed is important)


System Specs:

Intel Core http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Core 2 Extreme QX9650 @ stock speeds (3.0 GHZ)

EVGA http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EVGA 8800 GTS 512 MB (g92)

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SDRAM DDR2 1000 (PC2 8000) RAM

ASUS Maximus Formula Motherboard http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motherboard

AuzenTech Auzen X-Fi Prelude 7.1 Sound Card http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_card

2 x 150 GB Western Digital Raptor's running in RAID 0

CORSAIR corsair CMPSU-620HX 620W ATX12V v2.2 and EPS12V 2.91 Power Supply

I also have a Killer NIC M1 network card installed but im not using it right now. I need to take it out.



All of this seems to run cool as well. My CPU keeps at good temperatures and everything.



Here are some benchmark scores:

3Dmark 06 score: 11402
SM 2.0 Score: 4368
SM 3.0 Score: 5091
CPU Score: 3213

Sandra Benchmarks:

Arithmatic Benchmark Results
Dhrystone ALU : 39.66GIPS
Whetstone iSSE3 : 33.95GFLOPS

Multimedia Benchmark Results
Multi-Media Int x8 iSSE4.1 : 85.54MPixel/s
Multi-Media Float x4 iSSE2 : 47.95MPixel/s
Multi-Media Double x2 iSSE2 : 24.27MPixel/s

Multicore Efficiency Benchmark Results
Inter-Core Bandwidth : 12.63GB/s
Inter-Core Latency : 80ns


Any ideas? I've tried different RAM, flashing the bios, and other stuff but I can't figure it out.

Here's a thread I posted on a different forum for reference purposes:

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/25...nderperforming

Cobracon

All I can offer is a similar experience, I think.

My set-up:

GA-P35-DS3R Mobo
q6700 @ 3.33GHz CPU
XMS2 '1066' (2 x 1GB) RAM
320GB SATA II HDD
Corsair TX650W PSU
GTX 260 SSC GPU
XP Pro

System ran fine for months (original card was 8600GTS SSC), the 3DMark scores were on the low side, but not too bad. Like you, some of my friends with lesser hardware were kicking my hindend. One day the whole system slowed down even more. I defrag on a regular basis, keep drivers up to date, run Kaspersky, etc., etc.

Several causes crossed my mind, but I used the problem as an excuse to buy a GTX 260 SSC; the 3DMark06 score was 8,200. Not good....

As a 'test' I removed the CPU, RAM, PSU, HDD, GPU and installed them in my other computer which has a GA-P35-S3G board. Using the 'S3G' HDD first (without doing a repair install of XP) I got over 16,000 3DMarks in 3DMark06. Not too bad for DirectX 9c. Subbing in the 'slow' system's HDD gave me about the same score.

Moral of the story: Bad motherboard, and so far Gigabyte agrees since there's nothing else left to blame it on. I'm waiting on an email with RMA info since there's a 3 year warranty.

3DMark06

16,279 3DMarks
SM 2.0: 6526
SM 3.0: 6805
CPU Score: 5171

Nick3318

Looks like you could be partly right. I found a hardware interrupt using 23 percent of my processing power. Trying to figure out what it could be, I hope its not the motherboard as that would be the second time I RMA'd the sucker.

Cobracon

Out of curiosity, how long did your RMA process take?? Gigabyte is talking 2 - 3 weeks, which means a month in layman's terms.

I'll probably buy another board and keep the DS3R as a spare after it's repaired/replaced. Seems like with the pi$$ poor quality coming out of China you need 2 of everything, or you don't 'compute'.

I've had my share of computers, but my old standby runs 24/7/260 @ 80% CPU-O/S load. It's a dedicated Folding@Home workhorse. Athlon 64 3200+ @ 2.75GHz (25% overclock) Socket 754. Knock-on-wood, it runs like a Swiss watch.

Nick3318

Pretty sure I RMA'd it through newegg, so it didn't take very long. Also, the interrupt was being caused by that extra network card i wasnt using. huh. CPU benchmarks are looking normal again, but performance in games still could be better..

stressfreesoul

Learn how to overclock then. You could get some really substantial gains in speed with the hardware you have. Read through the OC forums to learn more. This one is good, straight to the point too.

Cobracon

My board has been discontinued (updated to 'P45'), so I have to go straight to Gigabyte or endure an extra week or two for turnaround time.

Just for kicks, which video card driver (version) are you using??

Nick3318

178.13

Cobracon

If you're registered with EVGA you can download 'EVGA Precision' to control/monitor your video card, ie: overclock. The program came with my GTX 260, but works with my 8600GTS too. I haven't plugged in an older 7300GS to see if it's compatable.

As for your video driver, I had an idea you'd be up to date but just had to check.

stressfreesoul

Or Rivatuner. Im using it right now. presently a 22% overclock of my 8400GS. Under OC it runs two large 1080 screens at full resolution without a hitch. Powerful program when you couple it with the correct forceware.

Cobracon

Good advice. I run RivaTuner on my Athlon 64 Socket 754 "Folding@Home" computer. It's good, but doesn't hold a candle to EVGA Precision which works with virtually all nVidia 6xxx, 7xxx, 8xxx, 9xxx, and 2xx video cards.

stressfreesoul

I'll give it a try. Maybe I'll be able to get more out of this card. Im wondering wether its volt moddable. It'll need more power if I take it any further. Ive heard OCing is better with the GDDR3 cards. I think I'll still keep this card though. Its solid for a low profile (crammed a Zalman on!!)