Low 3DMark06 Scores

[dviz]

I recently decided to test my system's performance, so I ran 3DMark06 and compared my results to those in the GPU Charts. I am kind of surprised with my results because I thought my comp was pretty decent. I'm kind of new to system building, but I had an experienced friend help me pick out some of the components. I have considered OCing, but I feel that with this low score I should iron out my stock problems first. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

My scores:
3DMark06: 13931
SM 2.0: 5318
SM 3.0: 6685
CPU: 3966

GPU Chart:
3DMark06: 19305
SM 2.0: 7949
SM 3.0: 7944


ASUS P5Q SE/R
Intel Q9400
ZALMAN CNPS9700
MSI HD Radeon R3870X2
8GB Crucial Ballistix DDR2-800
600W OCZ StealthXStream
Vista 64-bit

 

[OvrClkr]

Not sure if you are talking about this card or not but I googled it and this is what I found.....

http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=2317&page=6

 

[OvrClkr]

Your score should be around the 17k mark.....

Have you checked your ram timings and voltage?

Use CPU-z to make sure your ram is running at it's rated speed. You can also check your CPU clock as well.....

 

[dviz]

yes that is my card...

CPU


Memory


SPD


like I said I am new to this and trying to learn as much as I can...but in order to change my mem timings, do I have to OC my CPU?

 

[OvrClkr]

You do NOT have to overclock anything when you change your RAM timings....

You can see on the 3rd CPU screenshot your timings table, if you are at 400Mhz (800Mhz) then your timings should be at 5-5-5-18-23 (1.8v) or 4-4-4-12-24 (2.0v)

Right now your ram is at 5-5-5-18-52 and who knows what voltage it is running at, maybe 1.8v by default but you have to go into the bios and make sure your timings are correct in order for you to have a stable system....

Another reason your score is low is due to the fact that your CPU is running at 2Ghz.... Once your ram is stable you can go ahead and overclock the CPU a bit....

 

[dviz]

my cpu speed drops to 2GHz idle...but with programs open the multiplier increases to 8x bringing the cpu speed to 2.6GHz

about the RAM, can I adjust the timings directly from my BIOS? if so, how do I then determine if its stable? should I run prime95 or something like that?

 

[OvrClkr]

The first thing you need to do is go into the bios and fix your timings and voltage...

After that is done you should run prime95 for at least a couple of hours just to make sure your system is stable....

 

[theblade]

That score ir Ok for your computer, if you want to get a better score OC yor CPU, but first solve any unstablility problems you have now.

 

[OvrClkr]

yea, im not familiar with Core 2 Quads...... never have used one and don't think I ever will.....

 

[dviz]

I cant for the life of me figure out why you would be 3dmarking your pc and complaining of a low score when at the same time you say its completely unstable and bsod's..............

I know...this is my first build and I've been looking around for whatever help I can find to improve my comp. Obviously stability is most important, but if you read my posts (and I send you a PM, btw) its not a frequent problem with BSOD's...it happens maybe once a week at most, and I play games on it several hours a day, so it doesn't seem as bad as you're making it sound...although its not a good thing by any means...

I digress. The reason I was using 3DMark was to get some sort of idea of my computer's overall performance. If you have a better way to test it I would be more than happy to try it.

 

[OvrClkr]

Try pcmark or vantage (Note : Vantage requires Vista or Win 7)

http://www.futuremark.com/products/pcmark05/

 

[dviz]

I set the memory to 4-4-4-12 @ 2.0V as per the manufacturer spec.

My tRFC is set to 52...is this the same value as listed in the SPD of CPU-z labeled 'tRC'. If so, I need to figure out how to change this value in my BIOS because it is spec'd to run at 24.

 

[OvrClkr]

just go and look below the TRC value and you should see the TRFC, change it to 24, save and boot.....

 

[dviz]

I tried to set tRC to 24, but the lowest value I could go was 25 and when I did this my computer would turn on, but the monitor wouldn't turn on and the fans seemed to be going very slow. After manually restarting I checked the settings in BIOS and all timings were reset. I'm guessing that 25 is a little too low for my memory to handle...