CPU Performance decrease

[Hooche]

Hey I was hoping I could get some help, gardually my CPU has begun to decrease in performance even though it is running at the same speeds. On december 7th i ran 3dmark05 with my AMD 3700+ (san diego) overclocked to 2685 MHz and got a result of 5153 CPUMarks. On december 15th i ran 3dmark05 agaon with the processor overclocked, again, to 2685 MHz but i received 4581 CPUMarks, and finally on janurary 29th i ran the test again but with my cpu overclocked to 2707 MHz and i recieved a score of 4462 CPUMarks. this review http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=1815&page=5 shows that without being overclocked the cpu should get 5800 CPUMarks so wtf is up wth my processor. I had no major changes in hardware and this is what else i have in the system:
10, 000rpm WD raptor (74 gigs and is almost full now)
2 gig of PC3200 ram (4x 512)
x800 gto2 graphics card (unlocked)
ASUS A8N-E Mobo
nForce 4 chipset

Please help ><

 

[chuckshissle]

Deleting programs that your are not using and disabling background task that are not useful would increase the performance. How many background task are you running while testing with the benchmark?

 

[Hooche]

Im not running any background apps, I boot up the system close everything on taskbar then run test.

 

[endyen]

Have you done a spyware sweep?
What anti-virus are you using, is it updated?, and do you disable before benchmarking?

 

[Vascular]

I think most will agree. Windows hurts it's self, everytime it edits its registry. This causes windows to get confused and then starts to slow down till it dies. I have to reinstall windows about every nine months. If I dont it becomes the very slow and unstable.

 

[slvr_phoenix]

I think most will agree. Windows hurts it's self, everytime it edits its registry. This causes windows to get confused and then starts to slow down till it dies. I have to reinstall windows about every nine months. If I dont it becomes the very slow and unstable.

I don't think that I can agree with that at all. I don't know what you're talking about. With Win9x that was true, but I haven't seen that be a problem since the NT5 kernel. And I'm a software developer that's constantly installing development tools and updates. I've never had to reinstall NT5 for anything even remotely performance related. The only time I have ever had to reinstall was Win2K once when my PC totally flaked, and that was completely a hardware issue at fault.

Nor have I ever seen the NT5 kernel "unstable". I leave my PCs on 24/7 and they'll run for months and months without needing a reboot.

Maybe your problem is not Windows, but whatever other software you're installing.

 

[sylvez]

I think most will agree. Windows hurts it's self, everytime it edits its registry. This causes windows to get confused and then starts to slow down till it dies. I have to reinstall windows about every nine months. If I dont it becomes the very slow and unstable.

I don't think that I can agree with that at all. I don't know what you're talking about. With Win9x that was true, but I haven't seen that be a problem since the NT5 kernel. And I'm a software developer that's constantly installing development tools and updates. I've never had to reinstall NT5 for anything even remotely performance related. The only time I have ever had to reinstall was Win2K once when my PC totally flaked, and that was completely a hardware issue at fault.

Nor have I ever seen the NT5 kernel "unstable". I leave my PCs on 24/7 and they'll run for months and months without needing a reboot.

Maybe your problem is not Windows, but whatever other software you're installing.

ditto

i have a win2k system never had to reinstall the OS for 2 years. maybe the program u installed screwed up the registry?

 

[sturm]

I have had an install of xp pro running just fine now for almost 2 years. Not one single reinstall, problem or anything. I do run spyware and adware cleaners and clean the registry about once a month.
If you want to do a reinstall and rebench it I would just to see if it is a windows problem. Keep track of what you install. When your benchmarks start dropping check to see what you installed.
Other than spyware and such the only other thing I can think of is a fragmented hard drive.
What do you get if you run the bench mark twice in a row?

 

[joset]

a. Have you already tried to set everything back to stock speeds (CPU, GPU,...)?

b. An "almost full" fast HDD can hinder the PC's overall performance (do not forget that ALL the software is 'INSIDE' the disk);

c. Checked CPU/GPU temps? Cooling?

d. Never mind the review (usually done with 'fresh' Hard/Soft in [almost] ideal conditions; a plain user doesn't operate in [almost] ideal conditions). Free 15% disk space (if you can), check ALL the hardware before getting into the 'soft' part of the prob.


Cheers!

 

[Vascular]

Well it must be me and bad luck then.
I have an Intel 2.4, 850, 512, and a ti4200. Win Xp sp1
Only running quickbooks and not connected to the net or even on a network. Has been running for about 2 years and is slower than a snail now. This computer sole purpose is quickbooks and is the only thing installed. Everything takes sooo long to load, windows boots up takes mintues. So I do not disagree you guys have your systems running smooth and reliable. But this is not the only system going and have the same problems starting after about 9 months almost like clock work. My other system I use as a work station / gaming (which is updated to sp2) computer and experience the same problems. I should ship this computer to you so you can see the blue screens and the sluggishness of it.

 

[pat]

Hey I was hoping I could get some help, gardually my CPU has begun to decrease in performance even though it is running at the same speeds. On december 7th i ran 3dmark05 with my AMD 3700+ (san diego) overclocked to 2685 MHz and got a result of 5153 CPUMarks. On december 15th i ran 3dmark05 agaon with the processor overclocked, again, to 2685 MHz but i received 4581 CPUMarks, and finally on janurary 29th i ran the test again but with my cpu overclocked to 2707 MHz and i recieved a score of 4462 CPUMarks. this review http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=1815&page=5 shows that without being overclocked the cpu should get 5800 CPUMarks so wtf is up wth my processor. I had no major changes in hardware and this is what else i have in the system:
10, 000rpm WD raptor (74 gigs and is almost full now)
2 gig of PC3200 ram (4x 512)
x800 gto2 graphics card (unlocked)
ASUS A8N-E Mobo
nForce 4 chipset

Please help ><

You have to understand that, the more you OC the CPU, the more latency you are creating. You decrease memory bus, HTT link..

Then I see that you have 4 memory stick, which induce different memory timing than 2.

So, my guess is, you first benchmark it a 1T with 2 memory stick. Then you add 2 other memory stick, and the timing was put at 333(maybe) and 2T. so the difference in the second benchmark.

Then you pushed the OC, relaxing the timing, adding latency and slowing down the HTT bus. Hence teh third score.

Just redo a benchmark with 2 memory stick just to see..

 

[Hooche]

I havent changed my RAM at all nor did i change the overclock setting between the first 2 benchmarks. I have run adaware and spybot (and I do twice a week.) I am running AVG control center. I have tried it with no overclock and i got like 3700 as a score. How do I "clean up" the registry. Also, can i reinstall windows without reformatting the HD? If so, how?

And thanks so much for the help guys!

 

[slvr_phoenix]

Well it must be me and bad luck then.
I have an Intel 2.4, 850, 512, and a ti4200. Win Xp sp1
Only running quickbooks and not connected to the net or even on a network. Has been running for about 2 years and is slower than a snail now. This computer sole purpose is quickbooks and is the only thing installed.

Then how can you possibly blame it on the registry? Sorry, but you're not even remotely making sense there. If you haven't installed anything other than quickbooks, then your registry hasn't grown any.

Everything takes sooo long to load, windows boots up takes mintues.

...

But this is not the only system going and have the same problems starting after about 9 months almost like clock work.

Do you regularly defrag your hard drive? Have you done any error checking on the hard drive? How much free space is on your hard drive? Are all of your drivers up to date? Have you cleaned the dust out of the PC regularly? Why haven't you installed SP2?

You talk about having to reload Windows, but you haven't mentioned any of the very basic fundamentals of keeping a PC running reliably.

My other system I use as a work station / gaming (which is updated to sp2) computer and experience the same problems. I should ship this computer to you so you can see the blue screens and the sluggishness of it.

That strongly indicates that your problems are hardware or firmware. Is this other system using the same hardware? And besides all of the former questions for your quickbooks system, are you able to monitor your temps and voltages? Have you run anything like Memtest86?

 

[Vascular]

Then how can you possibly blame it on the registry? Sorry, but you're not even remotely making sense there. If you haven't installed anything other than quickbooks, then your registry hasn't grown any.

Well I didnt tell the whole truth I use ms office on it as well.

Do you regularly defrag your hard drive? Have you done any error checking on the hard drive? How much free space is on your hard drive? Are all of your drivers up to date? Have you cleaned the dust out of the PC regularly? Why haven't you installed SP2?

You talk about having to reload Windows, but you haven't mentioned any of the very basic fundamentals of keeping a PC running reliably.

Yes on the defrag. Drive Fitness Test (v4.05). 40Gb on a 60Gb drive. Why update drives if I never install any thing? 4 months ago not very dusty. Again why update the security features when it does not access anything? If you say windows is fine and stable why would I need to update any thing if it works fine before. It does happen to be a dell if that helps.

That strongly indicates that your problems are hardware or firmware. Is this other system using the same hardware? And besides all of the former questions for your quickbooks system, are you able to monitor your temps and voltages? Have you run anything like Memtest86?

Before you start in again this is also a dell. Yes I have memtest86 on a bootable cd. This one is up to date, latest bios, video drivers, chipset. No I am not able to monitor temps.
I have had a couple of computers built with the same problems. More than likely its me and freaking computers.

 

[slvr_phoenix]

Why update drives if I never install any thing?

Because the initial drivers shipped with hardware often contain bugs that are later fixed in driver updates. If your firmware is buggy it can make Windows BSOD or otherwise act strange pretty easily. Windows isn't protected from bad drivers nearly as well as it is from bad applications. Motherboard chipset drivers can especially be troublesome, but any drivers really can cause hell if they're bad.

Again why update the security features when it does not access anything?

Because SP2 wasn't just security fixes. It also fixes kernel bugs.

It does happen to be a dell if that helps.

...

I have had a couple of computers built with the same problems. More than likely its me and freaking computers.

Actually, more than likely it's that you're buying computers from major OEMs. They cut corners like mad. The hardware quality is typically rock bottom and the drivers aren't usually any better. I don't know how OEMs have gotten away with it for as long as they have.

 

[utaka95]

I have personally seen Dell pc's and a Hitachi hard drive of my own do this. I put it down to slowly failing hard drives. A new 8 meg HDD replacement and fresh windoze install will probably make it relatively quick again(worked for me!).

 

[Vascular]

utaka95 thats what Im saying. If I reinstall window it works perfect, like the day I got it. How ever its not only hitachi, I have a samsung, wd, old IBM's same thing everytime.

 

[306maxi]

Hey I was hoping I could get some help, gardually my CPU has begun to decrease in performance even though it is running at the same speeds. On december 7th i ran 3dmark05 with my AMD 3700+ (san diego) overclocked to 2685 MHz and got a result of 5153 CPUMarks. On december 15th i ran 3dmark05 agaon with the processor overclocked, again, to 2685 MHz but i received 4581 CPUMarks, and finally on janurary 29th i ran the test again but with my cpu overclocked to 2707 MHz and i recieved a score of 4462 CPUMarks. this review http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=1815&page=5 shows that without being overclocked the cpu should get 5800 CPUMarks so wtf is up wth my processor. I had no major changes in hardware and this is what else i have in the system:
10, 000rpm WD raptor (74 gigs and is almost full now)
2 gig of PC3200 ram (4x 512)
x800 gto2 graphics card (unlocked)
ASUS A8N-E Mobo
nForce 4 chipset

Please help ><

Firstly - Buy another hard drive and take as much off the Raptor as possible. I have a 36 gig Raptor and try to keep as clean as possible and it runs well.

Secondly - Reinstall XP, update it. I usually have to reinstall XP every 6-9 months to keep it running well. When you reinstall it will be almost like you have a brand new PC

 

[vcv1122]

What psu are you running?

 

[Vascular]

Anyways if you are telling me there are no problems with the NT5 kennel why would you need to update it in a service pack???
Also i thought winxp was NT6/NT5.1?
I keep every other pc I own up todate bios, video, chipset, sound etc.etc. I have had brand name items gigabyte, asus, msi to name a few and same reasonable problems. I disagree again why would the computer ship working perfectly and then develop problems. Nothing new installed nothing updated to cause new conflicts just the same. See I have tried both routes and have had equal problems.
I aggree major oems do not use the highest quality parts.
I will say winxp pro is a huge improvement over win98 but it still has problems.


And to ever created this thread I apologize for high jacking part of it 😀

 

[slvr_phoenix]

Here's a wild thought. Windows has a System Restore feature. If that's turned on (and god knows why anyone would want it on) then it could very well be recording every file change and slowing things down badly. Could that be it?

 

[FlyGuy]

A hard disk that doesn't have at least 15% free space is definitely going to slow down by a noticeable amount. Go with a two drive system as mentioned, Raptor for OS and installs with a second drive for all data. Uninstall anything you aren't using.

With more files on the drive there are more files to index and (as mentioned before) more for system restore to track if it's enabled. Try some of the things mentioned here:

http://majorgeeks.com/page.php?id=12

And I didn't see if the question was answered or not, but while it is possible to re-install XP without losing existing data I don't think there's really a benefit to doing so if you aren't experience any crashes or errors, IMHO.