Low 3dmark06 score with apparently great build

[CupofCare]

Dear Hexusers,

The image will be the best description.





I expected to play Crysis on full with all the beauties, but this won't happen.

Full specs are:

Asus M2N Sli Deluxe.
Asus Radeon 5850
Amd Phenom II x720 @ stock + arctic cooling freezer pro rev.2
FSP 600W GLN
2x sata hdds,
2x ide cd/dvd roms,
1x floppy


The processor temperature gets quite high, almost 60C without load. I expect this because the fan is very close to the cables of my PSU. The same low 3dmark06 scenario happened when i had athlon 3000+ and 7900GT, they scored like 4000 marks, which was strange, but I forgot about that for some reason. Now the problem is getting more actual as I'm utilizing such a monster as the 5850 is.

Thank you very much for your time

CupofCare

[Blaineoliver]

I would say that you need a new cooler on your x3, especially if its getting that hot, incase it is throttling. did you wipe off old drivers with driver cleaner, then install new ones.

[Champman99]

Artificial Benchmarks are .... artificial. Are you seeing lower than expected frame rates in games. Futuremark benchmarks are often.... errr.. optimized for Nvidia hardware AFAIK, read into that what you will. Very latest drivers can help sometimes, although non-certified beta drivers can actually lower your score.

Also I would guess that 3dmark puts a greater weight on the CPU than you will see in real FPS in games

Anyway, I'm not really sure what reasonable scores are for that hardware, try looking on the website usually there are profiles to compare to.

I dont hold much faith in artificial benchmarks. You know what they say, the real question is...

Can it play Crysis?

[CupofCare]

Artificial Benchmarks are .... artificial. Are you seeing lower than expected frame rates in games. Futuremark benchmarks are often.... errr.. optimized for Nvidia hardware AFAIK, read into that what you will. Very latest drivers can help sometimes, although non-certified beta drivers can actually lower your score.

Also I would guess that 3dmark puts a greater weight on the CPU than you will see in real FPS in games

Anyway, I'm not really sure what reasonable scores are for that hardware, try looking on the website usually there are profiles to compare to.

I dont hold much faith in artificial benchmarks. You know what they say, the real question is...

Can it play Crysis?

In Windows 7 everything was set to Very High including AAx8 and no, it couldn't play Crysis, everything was choppy although the system should handle it with ease.

[Blaineoliver]

As i said, need to get the cpu temps sorted, and make sure drivers sorted.

[matty-hodgson]

In Windows 7 everything was set to Very High including AAx8 and no, it couldn't play Crysis, everything was choppy although the system should handle it with ease.

are you sure about that?

maybe at 800 x 600 res or something, but Very high AND 8xAA is a big ask in Crysis.

[CupofCare]

are you sure about that?

maybe at 800 x 600 res or something, but Very high AND 8xAA is a big ask in Crysis.

Hmm..I will try to switch it to 4xAA, but with 4xAA and 1280x1024 I am 100% sure it must fly.

[CupofCare]

Hmm..I will try to switch it to 4xAA, but with 4xAA and 1280x1024 I am 100% sure it must fly.

Nope, I get like 7 fps

[Jasp]

Is the benchmark tool correct in that you are running windows XP? you should be running windows 7 with that GFX card.

Tbh the score does seem a little low as my laptop will quite happily get over 8000.

Make sure you have the latest CAT drivers installed and run HWmonitor alongside a benchmark and post the max temps on each of the components.

[mac124]

What resolution you running?

Only asking as it appears from that screeny you only have 2gb of memory, hi res and high detail eats memory and causes all sorts of issues. I remember when i got my 8800gtx after they came out, i had to "make do" with 1gb of cheapo memory till my back order came through and couldn't play games with the eye candy on till i upgraded to more memory.

Not sure if this would sort the scores out in 3d06 though.

[sadbuttrue]

60c IDLE with that cooler? Is the fan spinning? I wouldn't be surprised if it hit 100c under load.

The cpu score should be at least 3000. CPU throttling due to temperature looks to be the most likely problem. This would explain the lower sm2/hdr scores, as cpu speed still has some impact on those.

[nightkhaos]

I'm not sure that 2GiBs is enough for Crysis at the settings you are trying to play. I also think part of your problem is going to be running Windows XP. The 5850 is a DX11 optimised card, it might not even work under a DX9/10 enviroment like Windows XP. Of course, if you are dual booting, which I think you are, that's probably not your issue.

I would also try and sort out your CPU temps. 60 degrees idle is WAY to hot.

[kalniel]

I also think part of your problem is going to be running Windows XP. The 5850 is a DX11 optimised card, it might not even work under a DX9/10 enviroment like Windows XP.

What are you talking about?

For starters Windows XP is not a DX10 environment, and secondly the 5850 is not a DX11 optimised card at all - it's fast in DX9 and 10 as well!

OP, try resetting BIOS back to defaults. Make sure you have the latest drivers installed, and leave all catalyst 3d settings at application controlled. Don't expect to be able to play crysis at full however.

Oh, and you did remove the plastic covering from the base of the HSF before installing it right?

[nightkhaos]

What are you talking about?

For starters Windows XP is not a DX10 environment, and secondly the 5850 is not a DX11 optimised card at all - it's fast in DX9 and 10 as well!

OP, try resetting BIOS back to defaults. Make sure you have the latest drivers installed, and leave all catalyst 3d settings at application controlled. Don't expect to be able to play crysis at full however.

Oh, and you did remove the plastic covering from the base of the HSF before installing it right?

I wasn't sure if it was DX10 capable (XP). Also, the 5850 seems to run better on Windows 7 from what I've seen. But that could be DX10 extensions coupled with the smaller perfoance footprint compated tp Vista.

[CupofCare]

I'm not sure that 2GiBs is enough for Crysis at the settings you are trying to play. I also think part of your problem is going to be running Windows XP. The 5850 is a DX11 optimised card, it might not even work under a DX9/10 enviroment like Windows XP. Of course, if you are dual booting, which I think you are, that's probably not your issue.

I would also try and sort out your CPU temps. 60 degrees idle is WAY to hot.

60c IDLE with that cooler? Is the fan spinning? I wouldn't be surprised if it hit 100c under load.

The cpu score should be at least 3000. CPU throttling due to temperature looks to be the most likely problem. This would explain the lower sm2/hdr scores, as cpu speed still has some impact on those.

I have no Idea, what the hell is wrong with the Arctic Cooling (freezer pro rev.2), the sensors show 2300 RPM (which is almost a maximum for this cooler), but when I open the case, it seems like rpms are very low.
I remember one thing happened back in 2006. Someone instead of me was installing the motherboard and they were stupid enough not to use the small metallic stands that go underneath the mobo. So they just tried to screw it directly to the case's wall, what happened after we switched the computer was a small lighting and smoke. Later I checked what had burned and it turned out to be one of q-fan transistors... but it was far from the cpu, so i'm not sure if it affects its temperature sensors.

[Jasp]

Run - http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php & http://www.cpuid.com/hwmonitor.php while running a pass on 3dmark, CPU-Z will tell you if the CPU is throttling and HWmonitor will tell you at what temp.