Benchmarking reveals possible computer problem

[Captain Maxx Power]

Seeing as how my foray into YahooAnswers has come up with a string of "upgrd ur pc noob, lol" type response, I felt it necessary to head somewhere where I know people who have at least half a brain live. Not I'm suggesting any of you possess less than a full brain... :D

Anyways, I've been trying to pin down why my system seemed to have problems rendering some games. To this end I downloaded a 3D Benchmark program (specficially 3DMark2006) to test it up against any changes I made. One reinstalled/cleaned drivers, flashed BIOS, defragmented drive and "zomg there's TWO power cables on my video card?" moment later, and I'd only seen a small benchmark boost of maybe a couple of points.

Stricken, I decided to compare my results to others on the interwebs as the realisation that perhaps it was upgrade time was dawning on me. On checking my results I soon found out that something was very wrong. Alongside rigs that were identical or close to identical (perhaps like .03 extra Ghz on the processor, really very minor stuff) my system is underperforming - drastically. My score was around 2400; theirs was nearer 3800. ohmy.gif

The weaker link seems to be my CPU. On doing a CPU test my score was a paultry 360. Compared to my other results (around about 1700 for one video test, 1800 for another) it seems remarakbly low. When observing the tests I noticed that the CPU test seemed to chug quite spectactularly (20 frames of animation taking three minutes to render).

So, here's what I've got installed;

Radeon X1950 Pro 256Mb
1Gb DDR2 RAM (two sticks)
Intel 4 3.00Ghz
SATA HD w/ 2Gb Page File and 25% disk space free
P5GDC ASUS motherboard
450W PSU (it may be worth mentioning it has a habit of buzzing sometimes, though there's no real pattern to it. Something like HL2 and it'll be fine, but load up D2 and it goes bonkers)

Now before anyone suggests anything, this is what I've tried so far;

Driver wipe/update
Windows update
BIOS update
Cleaning components (as in shoving a hover down there)
Removing Spyware/Adware/Viruses
Removing obsolete registry entries
Removing unnecessary services/boot-up programs

Tomorrow I'm going to be going to pick up a new HD regardless since I'm always running out of space on my current HD. I'd really like to be able to pick up something, if only to test and see what's going on. Bare in mind that I have no money whatsoever to spend on components; the government's been jolly nice and given me sod all to live off of for university for the next year, and I don't currently work. In other words, I needs that money for food. I'd rather go hungry than upgrade. So really I'm looking more for technologically based advice rather than simple "go upgrade" comments.

Thanks in advanced for any and all help given. :cool:

[Odaisé Gaelach]

Download and run CPU-Z (http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php) on your computer. Take screenshots of the CPU, Cache, Mainboard and Memory tabs, then post them up here. :)

...Sorry for what I'm about to say next, but:

LIEK, OMG! N00B roflcopter! lolz

[Captain Maxx Power]

Go go paint! That's actually quite a useful little program. For the sake of completion I also included the information on the SPD tab.

http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/8597/systemdetailsrt1.jpg

[Odaisé Gaelach]

Just roughly how old is the computer?

[Captain Maxx Power]

Erm, which part? :S It's a ramshackle put together of different components bought at different times. At a stretch I'd say the CPU is four years old, the motherboard, RAM and HD are three, and the graphics card is about nine months old.

[Odaisé Gaelach]

*scratches head*

I'd say upgrade the processor. Socket 775LGAs are outdated, I think, but you should be able to pick up something from eBay, I'd imagine.

Probably see about replacing that PSU as well. I'd actually put that on a higher priority than upgrading the CPU.

Still, I'm not very reliable when it comes to hardware. Let's hear what the rest of the lads have to say. :)

...n00b...

EDIT: Actually, why don't you run PCMark? It might give a better indication of all-round PC performance, as opposed to graphics performance that 3DMark goes for.

[Rostum]

Socket 775LGAs are outdated

Well they are still used even for Core 2 Duo processors, but some motherboards with 775LGA aren't compatible with newer processors, but you can easily check that on the box.

If your PSU is making weird noises, you could either try and clean out all the dust (with a can of compressed air maybe, or is that bad? I know it's bad for some parts of the computer). Or replace it with something like a CoolMaster 430W V2, which is what I recently bought and it is awesome. Or iGreen or something.

[o_O]

You mentioned that you're getting poor framerates in games. Unfortunately a slow CPU will seriously bottleneck a decent GPU. The rest of the machine is probably fine, but you aren't going to get good graphics performance out of a slow CPU. :p

[Captain Maxx Power]

Since getting a new CPU is looking increasingly likely does anyone have any recommendations for one that can slot nicely into my current motherboard? Cheap and cheerful is the order of the day.

[Namelessfengir]

try and clean out all the dust (with a can of compressed air maybe, or is that bad?

no air is good... vacuum cleaner very bad!!!!

the thing with compressed air is to never shake it or tilt it on the side while spraying in the machine. this will cause it to spew liquid that can fry everything.

never use a vacuum cleaner this can create static than can really fuck things up.

[Odaisé Gaelach]

never use a vacuum cleaner this can create static than can really smurf things up.

Really? I never knew that. How does it? :confused:

[rubah]

I just use my dad's air compressor at his shop :D

If you run those programs and get an empty value returned for the voltage on your CPU, does that mean your processor runs off the power of Love?

[Odaisé Gaelach]

If you run those programs and get an empty value returned for the voltage on your CPU, does that mean your processor runs off the power of Love?

:love:

Once I tried to power my processor with love. My lips got caught in the fan... :(

At least I learned my lesson before I tried taking the relationship all the way.

Or the program is incapable of detecting your CPU voltage. CPU-Z (http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php) usually works.

[Captain Maxx Power]

I'll ask the same question here that I asked elsewhere; it is worth it cutting my losses and just getting a brand new system? I'd hate to lose the RAM and vid card but judging from the ever-increasing shopping list (Motherboard, CPU, PSU, HD) it's looking like the more viable option.

[Odaisé Gaelach]

First do some research and find out how much it would roughly cost to buy a PSU, hard drive, motherboard and CPU. You've already got some pretty good parts with the video card and the RAM - it would be a shame to buy a new PC when you've already got them.

Like I said, see how much it would cost to replace the CPU, hard drive, motherboard and PSU. I'd give it €350 - €500. But that could be well off. When you know how much, you'd be able to make a good decision on whether to get a new PC or not. :)

[Namelessfengir]

never use a vacuum cleaner this can create static than can really smurf things up.

Really? I never knew that. How does it? :confused:

what i mean is that you should never shove anything into the computer that isn't grounded because if its not the static discharges can destroy all the more critical parts. the various stages of discharge can range from being able to be felt, heard, or seen. if you can hear it thats more then enough to fry.

you should only use the compressed air can.

[Odaisé Gaelach]

Oh, I see. Sorry, I thought you meant that there was something special about hoovers that made them more prone to static than anything else. My bad. :)

[Rostum]

Core 2 Duo's have come down in price by a fair bit. I recently got a 2.13GHZ Core 2 Duo 4mb cache, and it's awesome.



you should only use the compressed air can.

That's what I was talking about.