Q6600 to Q9550 = lower 3dmark score???

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mao mao

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First post (yay only 49 to go!)

Hopefully someone can help me with what is going on :)

Setup:
Motherboard: Abit p35 Pro
Video Card: gtx 295
Ram 4 gigs ddr2
CPU: was Q6600, upgraded to Q9550
Hard drive: 2 Seagate Barracudas for a total of 1 terrabite RAID 0

I ran 3dmark06 with the Q6600 and scores ranged between a 17,400 and 17,900

I installed my new q9550 and a went to run 3dmark, and 3dmark thinks my processor is an intel Pentium III at 2.9ghz. The test ran very poorly, and did not take up my entire screen (the cpu test took up about 1/6 of my screen): Score 14,300

I updated my BIOS, and in doing so it promoted me to install a driver for RAID (kind of strange) but I installed the driver

Went into 3dmark and it still thinks my cpu is a Pentium III at 2.9ghz: The test looked to be running normal (it took up my full screen): Score 15,600

My computer seems to know its a Q9550, but I'm very confused as to why my 3dmark score is much lower. Did I do something wrong along the way? Also I was not overclocked before, and have not tried to overclock the Q9550.

Thanks for the help!
 
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if 3dmark thinks you have a p3 then it's probably not using anything passed SSE1. That might account for some difference. Have you reinstalled 3dmark after you changed drivers?
 
Not to be an ass or anything, but who cares what 3dmark says? You use your computer for what you use your computer for. Not to benchmark it and prove that it's faster than others.

On a side note, try a newer 3dmark. 3dmark06 came out before the q9550 and it may not recognize the cpu.
 
I've seen an odd ball problem where some motherboards do not correctly support newer Quad processors and two of the cores get locked at a default multiplier of 6.0. Not very common but something doesn't seem right.

Try running RealTemp to make sure your CPU multiplier is correct at full load while doing some Prime95 stress testing. Also run a log file while doing a 3DMark bench.

Obviously something isn't right so keep testing until your figure it out. 3DMark doesn't win too many awards for processor recognition or speed recognition. Check out your Device manager and make sure all 4 cores are showing up there and CPU-Z should also show 4 cores unless there is a bios issue.
 
elite.mafia said:
Not to be an ass or anything, but who cares what 3dmark says? You use your computer for what you use your computer for. Not to benchmark it and prove that it's faster than others.

On a side note, try a newer 3dmark. 3dmark06 came out before the q9550 and it may not recognize the cpu.
Click to expand...

Because people would like to make sure they're getting the performance they paid for.

To prove that spending on a newer processor is worth it.
 
me0w0w said:
Because people would like to make sure they're getting the performance they paid for.

To prove that spending on a newer processor is worth it.
Click to expand...

I like to crank up MeGUI and run a x264 encode, or render a scene in 3DSMax, or play a game and see if the fps increased. Real life performance > synthetic benchmark
 
Helicopter said:
I like to crank up MeGUI and run a x264 encode, or render a scene in 3DSMax, or play a game and see if the fps increased. Real life performance > synthetic benchmark
Click to expand...

I can't tell the difference when I run my memory at 800mhz or 1066mhz.

Until I run my benchmarks..
 
me0w0w said:
I can't tell the difference when I run my memory at 800mhz or 1066mhz.

Until I run my benchmarks..
Click to expand...

Then maybe the difference isn't that noticable ie not taht big of a different?
 
ivandurago said:
That is about the only possible way you will notice the difference between 800 vs 1066.
Click to expand...

True.. if you are not running the RAM at 1:1.... otherwise it is easily noticeable in programs that use large amounts of RAM.
 
Not to be rude, but that's a really side-ways upgrade.


Try overclocking and running a 1:1 ratio. Plus 3DMark isn't that great to benchmark with.


Also, you may have to uninstall and re-install the cpu in windows. So it's reading the correct CPU.

Just because it changes in bios, doesn't mean windows will recognize it correctly. Uninstall the cpu drivers, and reboot. It should manually detect them and install the new drivers.
 
Thank you for the advice everyone. I'll give it all a try tonight after work and post an update :)
 
I'd use a benchmark like Resident Evil or Street Fighter 4 over 3dmark. 3dmark is shit.
 
me0w0w said:
I can't tell the difference when I run my memory at 800mhz or 1066mhz.

Until I run my benchmarks..
Click to expand...

Than I wouldn't waste any money on upgrading it. Now if there's really no difference in general use, but say when you process a photo in Photoshop it takes half thetime, then it would be worth it, however, if they only place you see an improvement is in a synthetic benchmark, than imho, it's pointless, unless the only thing you do with your computer is run benchmarks then have a blast.
 
is it the newest version of 3d mar?, older versions might not have data to know what the new intel chip is.
 
I took some time and figured this out yesterday, wanted to post what happened just in case it happens to anyone else:

The BIOS on the Abit site is actually not the most current one for e0 stepping processors, the most up to date one I can find is: here.

After flashing it's important to clear CMOS (bad habits of not doing so!).

Once in Windows uninstall all 4 processors and reboot, it was tricky doing this because they are all "unknown" processors" and after uninstalling the list order seems to change.

The computer is now running properly, seems the 3dm06 score went to 19k+ range @ 3.6GHz.
 
MrSneis said:
I took some time and figured this out yesterday, wanted to post what happened just in case it happens to anyone else:

The BIOS on the Abit site is actually not the most current one for e0 stepping processors, the most up to date one I can find is: here.

After flashing it's important to clear CMOS (bad habits of not doing so!).

Once in Windows uninstall all 4 processors and reboot, it was tricky doing this because they are all "unknown" processors" and after uninstalling the list order seems to change.

The computer is now running properly, seems the 3dm06 score went to 19k+ range @ 3.6GHz.
Click to expand...


Since you've had success, could you give me some advice?

I have a C1 revision q9450 and am planning to update my bios.

Should I use BIOS 17 from abit's site or the bios from the link you provided?
 
still your score seems low. I have a Q9550 @ 3.6ghz like you and get over 17k with a 192 gtx 260 that's not overclocked at all. You need to reformat man.
 
butterfliesrpretty said:
still your score seems low. I have a Q9550 @ 3.6ghz like you and get over 17k with a 192 gtx 260 that's not overclocked at all. You need to reformat man.
Click to expand...

I'll give the reformat a shot this week, and see if there's a difference. I do agree 19,500 is pretty low for my setup. Thanks for the advice!!
 
Alright I reformatted, it didn't do much for me though. I got an additional 200 on my 3dmark06 score
 
mao mao said:
First post (yay only 49 to go!)

Hopefully someone can help me with what is going on :)

Setup:
Motherboard: Abit p35 Pro
Video Card: gtx 295
Ram 4 gigs ddr2
CPU: was Q6600, upgraded to Q9550
Hard drive: 2 Seagate Barracudas for a total of 1 terrabite RAID 0

I ran 3dmark06 with the Q6600 and scores ranged between a 17,400 and 17,900

I installed my new q9550 and a went to run 3dmark, and 3dmark thinks my processor is an intel Pentium III at 2.9ghz. The test ran very poorly, and did not take up my entire screen (the cpu test took up about 1/6 of my screen): Score 14,300

I updated my BIOS, and in doing so it promoted me to install a driver for RAID (kind of strange) but I installed the driver

Went into 3dmark and it still thinks my cpu is a Pentium III at 2.9ghz: The test looked to be running normal (it took up my full screen): Score 15,600

My computer seems to know its a Q9550, but I'm very confused as to why my 3dmark score is much lower. Did I do something wrong along the way? Also I was not overclocked before, and have not tried to overclock the Q9550.

Thanks for the help!
Click to expand...


Was the Q6600 OC past the Q9550 speeds?
 
videodrone83 said:
whats the point of even upgrading from q6600 to q9550.... 10 fps faster?
Click to expand...

Why are you on [H]?

The difference of price for the upgrade was pretty negligable compared to getting a new i7 mobo, ram, and processor.

I have an e0 q9550 pushing 4.2 ghz on air right now; before I could only hit 3.6 on water with a g0 q6600 ~ imo it was a pretty worthwhile switch.
 
q9550 e0 is prob the best non i7 upgrade you can get for intel. good price, good overclocking. 45nm, 12mb cache, vt, 1333mhz fsb chip on a 3 year old mb, not bad.
 
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