Win7 Pro 64-bit running disappointingly slow on high-end gaming rig.

[Calabiyau]

Mmkay so:

CPU: AMD Phenom II X6 1100T 33.7Ghz

Memory: Ripjaw 16GB (4x4) DDR3 2000Mhz

GPU: ATI Radeon 5870 2GB GDDR5


Needless to say I have a machine that should be able to handle everything. I intend to use it for developing, programming, graphic design, etc etc etc, a jack of all trades. I installed Windows 7 64-bit seeing as a 32-bit OS would obviously not do it justice, and also 64-bit XP has terrible support for service packs etc. There is also a dilemma in installing other operating systems because their default drivers are too outdated to detect the GPU, thus I never get a display. I would revert to 64-bit XP if I thought it would help, but unfortunately I do not think it will.

I am severely frustrated at the boot up time (which takes about two minutes), the overall performance, and despite tweaking with the bios, voltages, etc, which solved the initial lock-ups, it seems the OS itself is unable to handle my specs to its' fullest potential. I have tried using Ubuntu, however there is a severe handicap when it comes to playing games and so it is useless to me. However I did notice that Ubuntu booted up within seconds, and this pleased me.

I have run Crysis, Oblivion, and several other graphic-intensive games, have done stress tests (which resulted in a shocking 11fps), and I should never see anything lower than 60fps, however it fluctuates and goes down to 40fps at times and does not remain consistent. This is unacceptable and I would like to hear your advice and an idea as to what you think is happening. Help very much appreciated.

 

[Hawkeye22]

My rig is a few years old and it sounds like it runs win7 x64 better than your rig. I'd say something is amiss with your hardware.

Have you run the usual stress tests - memtest86, prime95/orthos on each core, and possibly others. 16gig of ram has got to put a lot of stress on the memory controller. At least it's 4x4Gb and not 8x2Gb.

I don't think a 2 minute boot time is excessive for a standard hard drive. Turning off the bios's memory test will speed it up. Some list it as fast boot or quick boot.

Crysis has always been stressful on hardware. I think part of it is that it's not optimized well.

Make sure your PSU is up to snuff too.

 

[13thmonkey]

what HDD are you using? latest drivers for everything? don't worry about the stress tests, they are designed to be... stressfull.

Can you see what happens with only 1x4GB stick in and rotate them round?

have you installed the chipset drivers?

 

[mcnumpty23]

can i please have one of those 33.7ghz cpus

whats the rest of the specs? psu -- motherboard etc

 

[shanky887614]

there is a tweak a lot of people dont know about

start+run

msconfig

boot

advanced options, choice number of processors and select the number of cores you have

this really speed's your pc up


install smart defrag 2

it has an option to fully optimise your bootup and system, i found it really made my old pc and stepdad's new i5 laptop run a lot quicker


(windows likes to load a lot more files when you log in from the desktop so where the bootup is quicker than xp because a lot more files loaded then)

 

[13thmonkey]

there is a tweak a lot of people dont know about

start+run

msconfig

boot

advanced options, choice number of processors and select the number of cores you have

this really speed's your pc up


install smart defrag 2

it has an option to fully optimise your bootup and system, i found it really made my old pc and stepdad's new i5 laptop run a lot quicker


(windows likes to load a lot more files when you log in from the desktop so where the bootup is quicker than xp because a lot more files loaded then)

It shouldn't be needed, it does make me think however, OP did you do a clean install?

OP what is it like doing a safe-mode boot?

 

[mcnumpty23]

the set number of cores is reckoned to be a pc myth that it speeds up boot times--a lot of people actually have trouble booting if they do this

and if he has a ssd hard drive then you dont defrag them

 

[Hawkeye22]

what HDD are you using? latest drivers for everything? don't worry about the stress tests, they are designed to be... stressfull.

Can you see what happens with only 1x4GB stick in and rotate them round?

have you installed the chipset drivers?

Yes, but stress tests will show deficencies in hardware. The ram is especially important as bad ram will lead to blue screens and corrupt (system) files.

 

[mavroxur]

You need to look at your system's event log first, and see if anything stands out there.

 

[Mu33rto]

Thats odd. I just built a rig using Amd Phenom 2 x4 980 BE OC to 4.2Ghz. To run only raster image processing, photoshop, video editing, etc some gaming too. And I was able to cut down from 30m to 5m on RIP jobs.So you shouldn't have a problem running amd chips for heavy lifting. I would check ur motherboard first, upgrade BIOS. Make sure to check that motherboard. I once had a problem where 3 identical mothers didn't work right. Had to return then and finally got a different brand and type of mobo. If using sata 600 HDD make sure you have the right cables. If IDE then change the cable they may be ripped or torn which may cause loading issues.Make sure the GPU is sitted in the right expantion slot.Since ubuntu is working good try upgrading the kernel and run benchmark and check and see where youre system is compared to the same type of rigs.That way you can determined if its just windows os or just youre system. You can also use amd overdrive to OC youre cpu a bit to give you a little extra juice if you need it.

 

[Calabiyau]

there is a tweak a lot of people dont know about

start+run

msconfig

boot

advanced options, choice number of processors and select the number of cores you have

this really speed's your pc up


install smart defrag 2

it has an option to fully optimise your bootup and system, i found it really made my old pc and stepdad's new i5 laptop run a lot quicker


(windows likes to load a lot more files when you log in from the desktop so where the bootup is quicker than xp because a lot more files loaded then)

Did not know this! Thank you very much for that, hopefully it will help.

As for the other responses I appreciate those as well, I have done memory and gpu stress tests, I am using a Seagate e-SATA HD that is supposed to read/write at 6Gb/s. In control panel it does say the hardware scores a 7.6 while the HD scores a 5.2, so I do know the HD is bottlenecking it (I just think it shouldn't be slowing it down as much as it seems to be). I get strange moments where the desktop will freeze up, the mouse is still movable but Firefox or IE or whatever else is running at the time will cease to respond, seems to be entirely software related rather than hardware.

All drivers are up to date and installed properly. PSU is Thermaltake 950V, more than enough for the CPU/GPU/Memory requirements, also tweaked according to the overall clock speeds. No hardware has been overclocked and no extra cores have been activated.

The mainboard is AsysTek M4A88TD-V EVO/USB3
Memory is 9-9-9-28.
No overheating, well ventilated.

Sorry for not responding sooner.

 

[Hawkeye22]

6Gb/s is a sata3 drive. It should score higher than 5.2. I have 250G (sata2) drives that I purchased in 2006 that score 5.4. Try updating your bios or possibly your chipset drivers if you haven't already. i know you said you have all updated drivers, but some people forget the chipset drivers.

 

[William Longstreet]

the set number of cores is reckoned to be a pc myth that it speeds up boot times--a lot of people actually have trouble booting if they do this

and if he has a ssd hard drive then you dont defrag them

LOLOLOLOLOLOL
SSD HARD DRIVE
LOLOLOLOLOL