Question RAM performing way under expectations (18th percentile)

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Apr 29, 2022
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Hi, I'm having trouble with my RAM. After running a benchmark using UserBenchmark it says that my RAM and my HDD is performing way under expectations. Also it says my 2070 SUPER is performing at the 35th percentile as well. I've had issues with games like Rust dipping below 40fps and constantly freezing. Here's the results of the test:

UserBenchmarks: Game 98%, Desk 86%, Work 102%
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 3700X - 85.3%
GPU: Nvidia RTX 2070S (Super) - 115.3%
SSD: WD Green 240GB (2018) - 47.4%
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 2TB (2018) - 65.2%
RAM: Adata DDR4 3000 2x8GB - 68%
MBD: MSI B450M Gaming

I'm not sure why my system would be underperforming. I went into the BIOS and ensured that dual channel XMP was enabled. I'm not sure how to help it, any suggestions? Let me know if you need more information as well, thank you!
 
Install CPU-Z. Take screenshots of both the memory and SPD tabs. You'll need to select each DIMM slot on the SPD tab to populate the fields with the information for that DIMM, so two pics for the SPD tab.

But for the record, userbenchmarks is a joke. It's really only useful as a metric when something is REALLY off. In this case I'm guessing MAYBE your memory is not all showing up OR maybe not keeping it's XMP configuration and defaulting to a lower speed. For the HDD, it's a HDD, not an SSD. It's always going to show a lower metric for storage performance because it's a mechanical drive. Your SSD however, seems really poor in terms of performance if that's at all accurate.

I'd download Crystaldiskinfo or ASSSD, run them and take screenshots of the results.



 
Does your board have four DIMM slots? Because I'm seeing two versions of the B450M Gaming, one with only two and one with four, which makes no sense and I'm thinking that there is a discrepancy there somewhere. And if you have four, you are certain they are in the second and fourth slots over from the CPU socket, with the fourth slot being the one closest to the edge of the motherboard and SHOULD be the red slots?
 
Everything looks right on the memory. I think userbenchmark is full of crap.

Have you installed all the relevant drivers from the MSI product page for your motherboard? Relevant generally being the chipset (.inf), network adapters, audio chipset. Or you riding on the Microsoft supplied motherboard drivers?
 
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Apr 29, 2022
13
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Does your board have four DIMM slots? Because I'm seeing two versions of the B450M Gaming, one with only two and one with four, which makes no sense and I'm thinking that there is a discrepancy there somewhere. And if you have four, you are certain they are in the second and fourth slots over from the CPU socket, with the fourth slot being the one closest to the edge of the motherboard and SHOULD be the red slots?
My computer does have four DIMM slots and yes they are in slots #2 and #4, with the last stick of RAM being closest to the edge of the motherboard.
 
Apr 29, 2022
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Everything looks right on the memory. I think userbenchmark is full of crap.

Have you installed all the relevant drivers from the MSI product page for your motherboard? Relevant generally being the chipset (.inf), network adapters, audio chipset.
Oh lol I didn't know that userbenchmark wasn't good, and no I haven't installed the relevant drivers, I didn't think about that. How could I navigate obtaining those? Thanks!
 
Did you build this system?

Did you do the Windows installation?

Did you do a CLEAN install of Windows?

Are you on the MOST CURRENT Windows build release? (Type winver in the search or run box on the start menu and hit enter. Post the build version)

WHEN you did the installation, if you did, did you disconnect the HDD while installing or was it connected?

DID you EVER previously have Windows installed on the HDD at any time prior to getting the SSD?
 
Apr 29, 2022
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Did you build this system?

Did you do the Windows installation?

Did you do a CLEAN install of Windows?

Are you on the MOST CURRENT Windows build release? (Type winver in the search or run box on the start menu and hit enter. Post the build version)

WHEN you did the installation, if you did, did you disconnect the HDD while installing or was it connected?

DID you EVER previously have Windows installed on the HDD at any time prior to getting the SSD?

I did not build this system, I purchased it off of Best Buy last year.

Umm I'm not exactly sure if I did the windows installation or not, I'll say probably no lol.

I'm not sure what you mean by a clean installation.

I'm on this version of Windows: Version 21H1 (OS Build 19043.1165)

I don't believe I did the installation.

No, I had the SSD and the HDD at the same time and it was always installed on the SSD.

Sorry for the lack of information, I'm not too terribly tech savvy!
 
So the whole system was a prebuilt system and you have not ever done a clean install of Windows since purchasing it? A clean install is where you back up all your important personal information on the main drive where Windows is installed, then disconnect your HDD where you likely have personal files and games stored (With the power off of course) and then you do a fresh installation of the latest Windows version during which you remove ALL existing partitions on the drive and then install Windows to the unpartitioned space. Windows will create the necessary partitions and perform any necessary formatting. You will of course have to reinstall your applications and game launchers as well as reconfigure your Windows preferences, after installation.

On prebuilt systems they often come with poorly configured and installed Windows OS configurations, tons of bloat and crapware and in some cases even the Windows EFI and boot partitions installed on the wrong drive.

I'd probably FIRST start by updating to Windows 10 version 21H2 to see if that helps at all. Then, if that makes no change, we can make sure you have all the latest, correct drivers installed. And if none of that helps I'd then recommend you do a clean install which I can walk you through if you decide to do so.

 
Apr 29, 2022
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So the whole system was a prebuilt system and you have not ever done a clean install of Windows since purchasing it? A clean install is where you back up all your important personal information on the main drive where Windows is installed, then disconnect your HDD where you likely have personal files and games stored (With the power off of course) and then you do a fresh installation of the latest Windows version during which you remove ALL existing partitions on the drive and then install Windows to the unpartitioned space. Windows will create the necessary partitions and perform any necessary formatting. You will of course have to reinstall your applications and game launchers as well as reconfigure your Windows preferences, after installation.

On prebuilt systems they often come with poorly configured and installed Windows OS configurations, tons of bloat and crapware and in some cases even the Windows EFI and boot partitions installed on the wrong drive.

I'd probably FIRST start by updating to Windows 10 version 21H2 to see if that helps at all. Then, if that makes no change, we can make sure you have all the latest, correct drivers installed. And if none of that helps I'd then recommend you do a clean install which I can walk you through if you decide to do so.


Alright I will try updating my Windows, I'll run a benchmark after the update and post the results here. Thanks for your help by the way. :)
 

Karadjgne

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The root is most likely your ram. It's 3000MHz and is using jedec tabled settings of 16-20-20-38. My 3600 uses 16-19-19-39. And you are on a Ryzen.

Pretty much guaranteed that the other users in UBM have tightened their timings down, or even tried bumping to 3200MHz, which gives better performance when compared on a stock to stock basis you look at.

That's a big part of the reason UBM is a joke, it doesn't read any OC other than XMP/DOCP settings, so it's comparing OC'd ram or cpu etc to yours, and you'll come up short every time.
 
So I would recommend that you use my guide to do a clean install. Be sure to read through it SEVERAL times until you are 100% sure you understand the process and what you need to do BEFORE you start installing it and that you follow EVERY step as outlined in the tutorial. There ARE a few windows that will likely look a little different, but 95% of them will be very similar to my guide which was created using a slightly older release version of the Windows 10 installer.

If you want to do the clean install, here is the guide to do so.



But before you try that, it might be worth trying to simply update using the Windows update assistant (And if that doesn't work we can try using the media creation tool as well, which I can walk you through later if the update assistant doesn't work, and then if that doesn't work the last resort will be to do a clean install. Or you can simply do a clean install from the start, that's up to you, but just updating first to see if it helps at all is usually a better first step) by clicking on update now here:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

Before doing ANY of this though, make sure you have any important personal files like application documents, any important program file backups, browser favorites and settings, movies, music, pictures, etc., that are not already backed up elsewhere, to another location so that they are not lost if a problem occurs during the update.
 
The root is most likely your ram. It's 3000MHz and is using jedec tabled settings of 16-20-20-38. My 3600 uses 16-19-19-39. And you are on a Ryzen.

Pretty much guaranteed that the other users in UBM have tightened their timings down, or even tried bumping to 3200MHz, which gives better performance when compared on a stock to stock basis you look at.

That's a big part of the reason UBM is a joke, it doesn't read any OC other than XMP/DOCP settings, so it's comparing OC'd ram or cpu etc to yours, and you'll come up short every time.
That wouldn't have anything to do with the errors seen in Windows update. There is an OS problem of some kind. Problems with the OS can absolutely have an effect on hardware and driver performance, as you well know.
 
Apr 29, 2022
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But before you try that, it might be worth trying to simply update using the Windows update assistant (And if that doesn't work we can try using the media creation tool as well, which I can walk you through later if the update assistant doesn't work, and then if that doesn't work the last resort will be to do a clean install. Or you can simply do a clean install from the start, that's up to you, but just updating first to see if it helps at all is usually a better first step) by clicking on update now here:

Sure, I'd love to try any option before having to do a clean install of Windows, how could we update using the Windows update assistant? :)
 
Oh here you go, i ran another benchmark after rebooting and here's an updated look on the percentile
https://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/52284314
But like you said, UserBenchmark isn't good so it's probably just skewed results.
UBM does not like background stuff running the numbers come out wonky.
You show 5%.

Try this.
Reboot and wait a few mins then run UBM with the browser closed.
Post a link to the results.
 
UBM does not like background stuff running the numbers come out wonky.
You show 5%.

Try this.
Reboot and wait a few mins then run UBM with the browser closed.
Post a link to the results.
This has nothing to do with the errors seen in Windows update, which are 100% because there is an existing problem with the OS installation. It shows that it cannot update to critical 21H1 updates nor to 21H2 because of errors.
 
Apr 29, 2022
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Okay, I was able to update my windows with the Windows Update Assistant and I did the UBM test again for consistencies sake to see if we had any improvement, here are the results after the update.
https://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/52289110
I'll also give you my stats from CPUz:

I'm still not sure if that helped much or not, I'll have to test playing Rust again to see if there was any improvement on the stuttering and frame lag.
 
Run Windows update again and see if you are still not able to do updates or not? If updates are working, make sure to update all the available updates INCLUDING any optional driver updates that might be available.

Then, I'd recommend that you do this as well.

If there are any steps listed here that you have not already done, it would be advisable to do so if for no other reason than to be able to say you've already done it and eliminate that possibility.



First,

Make sure your motherboard has the MOST recent BIOS version installed. If it does not, then update. This solves a high number of issues even in cases where the release that is newer than yours makes no mention of improving graphics card or other hardware compatibility. They do not list every change they have made when they post a new BIOS release.

Second,

Go to the product page for your motherboard on the manufacturer website. Download and install the latest driver versions for the chipset, storage controllers, audio and network adapters. Do not skip installing a newer driver just because you think it is not relevant to the problem you are having. The drivers for one device can often affect ALL other devices and a questionable driver release can cause instability in the OS itself. They don't release new drivers just for fun. If there is a new driver release for a component, there is a good reason for it. The same goes for BIOS updates. When it comes to the chipset drivers, if your motherboard manufacturer lists a chipset driver that is newer than what the chipset developer (Intel or AMD, for our purposes) lists, then use that one. If Intel (Or AMD) shows a chipset driver version that is newer than what is available from the motherboard product page, then use that one. Always use the newest chipset driver that you can get and always use ONLY the chipset drivers available from either the motherboard manufacturer, AMD or Intel.


IF you have other hardware installed or attached to the system that are not a part of the systems covered by the motherboard drivers, then go to the support page for THAT component and check to see if there are newer drivers available for that as well. If there are, install them.


Third,

Make sure your memory is running at the correct advertised speed in the BIOS. This may require that you set the memory to run at the XMP profile settings. Also, make sure you have the memory installed in the correct slots and that they are running in dual channel which you can check by installing CPU-Z and checking the Memory and SPD tabs. For all modern motherboards that are dual channel memory architectures, from the last ten years at least, if you have two sticks installed they should be in the A2 (Called DDR4_1 on some boards) or B2 (Called DDR4_2 on some boards) which are ALWAYS the SECOND and FOURTH slots over from the CPU socket, counting TOWARDS the edge of the motherboard EXCEPT on boards that only have two memory slots total. In that case, if you have two modules it's not rocket science, but if you have only one, then install it in the A1 or DDR4_1 slot.



Fourth (And often tied for most important along with an up-to-date motherboard BIOS),

A clean install of the graphics card drivers. Regardless of whether you "already installed the newest drivers" for your graphics card or not, it is OFTEN a good idea to do a CLEAN install of the graphics card drivers. Just installing over the old drivers OR trying to use what Nvidia and AMD consider a clean install is not good enough and does not usually give the same result as using the Display Driver Uninstaller utility. This has a very high success rate and is always worth a shot.


If you have had both Nvidia and AMD cards installed at any point on that operating system then you will want to run the DDU twice. Once for the old card drivers (ie, Nvidia or AMD) and again for the currently installed graphics card drivers (ie, AMD or Nvidia). So if you had an Nvidia card at some point in the past, run it first for Nvidia and then after that is complete, run it again for AMD if you currently have an AMD card installed.


Graphics card driver CLEAN install guide using the Wagnard tools DDU



And last, but not least, if you have never done a CLEAN install of Windows, or have upgraded from an older version to Windows 10, or have been through several spring or fall major Windows updates, it might be a very good idea to consider doing a clean install of Windows if none of these other solutions has helped. IF you are using a Windows installation from a previous system and you didn't do a clean install of Windows after building the new system, then it's 99.99% likely that you NEED to do a CLEAN install before trying any other solutions.


How to do a CLEAN installation of Windows 10, the RIGHT way
 
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