Low 3DMark06 scores!

[kdargie]

I recently have been getting an irritable sense that my computer is under-performing for the hardware that I have. And I get this feeling because the fact that I play Counter-Strike Source all the time and I can never get a FPS change except making it go down. No matter what resolution I set it at - windowed mode and non-windowed mode - or whether I turn off all the settings in video options or turn them all on high, I never have an increase in performance. I get on average about 70 FPS. Please don't pester me about my FPS being playable, because I understand that it is. But after usually playing with 140+ FPS and going to that, I can notice it on screen. Throughout my searching, I did find out that CSS is a CPU intensive game which made me believe that my CPU is not performing right. Well I recently took a look at the settings in the BIOS and found that my CPU, which is suppose to be 2.2GHz, was only performing at 1.2GHz because of the multiplier being at 6x. Besides the point here I'm still getting relatively low FPS in most games.

My hardware includes (tower only):

PSU: Rosewill RP600V2-S-SL 600W ATX12V v2.01

Motherboard: ASUS P5N-E SLI LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 650i

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 Allendale 2.2GHz

Memory: 3x A-DATA 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) *In total I have 3GB*

HDD: Western Digital Caviar SE WD3200AAJS 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s

GPU: PNY GeForce 9800GT 1GB 256-bit GDDR3

**I run at 1920x1200 resolution on my 24" monitor and I also run all my games full screen at that res**


--3DMark06 Scores--

3DMark Score: 9446

SM 2.0 Score: 4320

SM 3.0 Score: 4733

CPU Score: 1951

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Someone please let me know if I need an upgrade with anything. I have so many different thoughts about which hardware it could be doing this. Mainly my CPU and PSU. BTW, my CPU is 800 MHz FSB, actual is 200 MHz of course, and my mobo FSB is 1066/1333.

EDIT.......

Forgot to mention that my OS is Windows XP Professional x86 with Service Pack 3.0

 

[caniba]

First when you see your CPU running at a lower freq it is because of Intel's speed step which reduces power when it is not needed. When gaming your CPU is being used to its fullest.

Second your 3DMark06 scores look fine to me for the system that you have. You can overclock your cpu to improve its performance. It is easy, just make sure you have an after market heat sink fan.

One last thing, don't get to crazy without upgrading that PSU first. get a corsair or antec. That rosewill will kill all your other parts.

 

[orangegator]

^ yeah, what he said.

 

[boulard83]

agree, OC this low speed proco !

 

[delluser1]

I've got a similar system ( wifes machine )
P5N-E SLI
E4300 (1.8)
2x1 Ballistix
2 x 80g HD's
8800 GTS 512 OC
1x 120mm exhaust
1 x 80mm side intake ( blows directly at cpu cooler )
1 x 80mm front intake
Stock Intel cpu cooler

Does 10,200 in 3Dmark with the cpu at 2.4

Here's an overclocking guide that helped me when I got my first board
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=29&threadid=1972653&frmKeyword=&STARTPAGE=92&FTVAR_FORUMVIEWTMP=Linear

As long as you have decent system cooling don't worry to much about the psu, even with overclocking you'll be under a 50% load on it, the system above peaks at about 280 watts running Prime and Furmark which together put more of a load on the psu than CSS could ever do.