New i7 underperforming, HELP!

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texastomek

n00b
Joined
Dec 15, 2008
Messages
37
I just put together a new system with the following components:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136260
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116488
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151173
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227368
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131346
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130398
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115202
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171023
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129043

Summary:

i7 920 CPU
P6T x58 Mobo
1600mhz 3gig RAM
Nvidia GTX 260 core 216
Velociraptor 300gig HDD
Antec 1200 Case
650Watt PSU

I have never put a system together, so I had a friend help me out and we whipped it out in a couple of hours. I started running some benchmarks on it, and I'm a bit disappointed with the results.

3DMark Vantage gives me an overall performance score of around P11000-12000.
GPU ~ 10000
CPU ~ 17000 (Physx off), 40000 (physx on, doesn't affect overall score much)

The thing that hurts the most is FSX performance. The reason I put this computer together was to run FSX smoothly... When I load a big city aiport (ex: dallas-ft worth intl), on all settings maxed out, the frame rates dips below 10fps :( After doing a little internet research, I know I should be cranking out much better FSX performance on this system! The performance does increase dramatically in a non-busy situation, up to 70+ fps but this is to be expected.

I'm not very experienced with computer tinkering, and nothing is OC'ed except for the memory - which is set to run at its advertised speed (1600mhz). I'm running at this speed by using one of the pre-defined bios memory profiles.

Someone please help me in troubleshooting the slow performance of my system! Where should I start? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!!
 
I would suggest playing some actual games, and then see if you need to complain about the performance. Benchmarks are no indication of real world gaming.

Fire up your favorite game and see if it plays good. If it does, then you got no worries :)
 
-=PESTILENCE=- said:
I would suggest playing some actual games, and then see if you need to complain about the performance. Benchmarks are no indication of real world gaming.

Fire up your favorite game and see if it plays good. If it does, then you got no worries :)
Click to expand...

FTW...

sythetic benchmarks are crap and mean nothing.
 
I don't particularly care about the benchmark. The performance i get in microsoft flight simulator X (FSX) is what worries me. I really don't think that i should be seeing 7fps...
 
My fault - new to the forum. Any chance my PSU is too weak and choking the system somehow? I was under the impression that if the PSU isn't adequate, then computer doesn't work very well. My system works fine w/ no problems other than poor FSX performance :(
 
When I recently rebuilt with a E8500, ASUS P5Q Pro, and 4GB G. Skill DDR2-1000, I wanted to run a bench on it... After some thought, I said to hell with it...let's just see how it games. Needless to say, I love it.
 
texastomek said:
I don't particularly care about the benchmark. The performance i get in microsoft flight simulator X (FSX) is what worries me. I really don't think that i should be seeing 7fps...
Click to expand...
Your system is geared towards playing at low resolutions, you know that right?
 
How is it geared for low resolution??? No SLI? Low RAM? On that note, I play FSX on 1680x1050x32...cranking the resolution down doesn't speed up my performance, which is weird.
 
So I just noticed you also posted this in the video card forum.. and probably more places. Your shit works with playing video games but not a synthetic benchmarking tool. I don't see the problem. You did buy this stuff to play games right?
 
It's possible it's just a bug with NVidia's latest drivers in FSX. Try searching around and see if that's the case. I noticed in your other thread, you said you can crank Farcry 2 to ultra settings just fine. I don't think you are having performance issues, other than some weird behavior in FSX.
 
texastomek said:
How is it geared for low resolution??? No SLI? Low RAM? On that note, I play FSX on 1680x1050x32...cranking the resolution down doesn't speed up my performance, which is weird.
Click to expand...
Seems like a legitimate resolution for that build. Do you have AA on?
 
texastomek said:
My fault - new to the forum. Any chance my PSU is too weak and choking the system somehow? I was under the impression that if the PSU isn't adequate, then computer doesn't work very well. My system works fine w/ no problems other than poor FSX performance :(
Click to expand...

Read the first sentence.

-=PESTILENCE=-, I've tried a couple of Nvidia drivers with similar results :(
 
bigdogchris said:
If you pay any attention at all to benchmark spreads, faster cpu with lower gpu nets better results than fast gpu and slow cpu, at lower resolutions 1680<.
Click to expand...

Uh? That isn't a slow CPU by any means and is probably better then his GPU to be honest.
 
bigdogchris said:
If you pay any attention at all to benchmark spreads, faster cpu with lower gpu nets better results than fast gpu and slow cpu, at lower resolutions 1680<.
Click to expand...

Quit while your ahead,1680x1050 with his card is a hell of a match up.
 
texastomek said:
I have AA on along w/ most other options
Click to expand...
Try knocking off AA to off, try again, then lower resolution one setting, see which is better for you. I thought I remember reading there was AA issues with FSX? FSX might be just to big for that gpu, even though it came out awhile ago.
 
Climber said:
Uh? That isn't a slow CPU by any means and is probably better then his GPU to be honest.
Click to expand...
I know, the point I'm making is at that resolution, his CPU should be amazing and making great FPS, GPU will have less effect.

Sphere said:
Quit while your ahead,1680x1050 with his card is a hell of a match up.
Click to expand...
You must of completely forgot to read the quote where I said that's a legitimate resolution for that card. Nice try. :rolleyes:
 
you running vista 64? If so its possible you could use some more ram, isnt fsx a ram/system resource hog?
 
I personally would not run less than 4gb with vista 64, and since its i7 no less than 6gb for triple channel.
 
what temp is your cpu getting to, get prime95 and core temp and see what your temps are getting to.
 
texastomek said:
Am I who the what?!
Click to expand...

I didn't say anything about you; I'm asking about your machine.

Modern CPUs monitor their temperature. If it gets high, they slow down their clocks and throttle themselves to take less power and generate less heat. If they get really hot, even after throttling, they'll turn off.

Laptops chip do it all the time. Desktop chips do it, too. You can get a tool like ThrottleWatch to see how much you're throttling, and when.
 
Hmm, I'll download that and give it a try. What am I looking for in the results it gives me and how can I apply that to speeding up my CPU?
 
texastomek said:
Hmm, I'll download that and give it a try. What am I looking for in the results it gives me and how can I apply that to speeding up my CPU?
Click to expand...

You can disable the throttling in your bios and thus consequently getting more speed.
 
I downloaded it and tried to run it and it's telling me i don't have admin rights on my machine... This is the 2nd program that's telling me this. Any thoughts why this could be??? Obviously, it's my computer - i built it.
 
texastomek said:
Hmm, I'll download that and give it a try. What am I looking for in the results it gives me and how can I apply that to speeding up my CPU?
Click to expand...
It'll show you a graph of how much you're throttling. If you're throttling at all, even if only under load, you've got a cooling problem.

tisb0b said:
You can disable the throttling in your bios and thus consequently getting more speed.
Click to expand...
This is the kind of irresponsible advice that makes people destroy parts. If you've got a thermal problem, fix it by fixing the thermal problem instead of disabling the safeguard that prevents the thermal problem from destroying your chip. If you're throttling with a CPU that's not overclocked, then you've incorrectly installed your HSF and need to fix it. Too much or too little thermal paste, a bubble in paste that's too thick, a stuck fan, a broken fan, a cracked heat sink base, bad heat pipes, and so on ...

texastomek said:
I downloaded it and tried to run it and it's telling me i don't have admin rights on my machine... This is the 2nd program that's telling me this. Any thoughts why this could be??? Obviously, it's my computer - i built it.
Click to expand...
Sounds like you need to disable UAC.
 
bigdogchris said:
Your system is geared towards playing at low resolutions, you know that right?
Click to expand...

...if you consider 1920*1200 a "low" resolution, then yes you're absolutely right.

Compare real game benchmarks to readily available benchmarks on the Internet.

Synthetic benchmarking is pointless.
 
texastomek said:
I downloaded it and tried to run it and it's telling me i don't have admin rights on my machine... This is the 2nd program that's telling me this. Any thoughts why this could be??? Obviously, it's my computer - i built it.
Click to expand...

lol. Easy fix, it is annoying as most ppl have no idea how to turn it off. That feature in Vista sux. Basically, it runs everything as user versus admin to protect your pc.

Hit WIndows Key +R
type in msconfig
In the popup window go to tools
then find DISABLE UAC and hit launch.
Reboot
Profit.
 
I wouldn't disable UAC if I were you. Sounds like you don't really know what's going on with computers.

/Puts on UAC flame suit.
 
Looks like there is a service pack 1 download for FSX.

http://www.microsoft.com/games/flightsimulatorx/downloads.html

Did you try that?

Flight Simulator X Service Pack 1

Aspiring aviators can now prepare to fly higher and faster, as Microsoft Game Studios is happy to announce that the first service pack for the AIAS award-winning Flight Simulator X is now available. Service Pack 1 will:

* Provide a 20 to 50 percent performance increase
* Optimize for multi-core CPUs and improve draw times for faster loading
* Address multiplayer and backwards compatibility issues
* Offer improved realism of key geographical locations, landmarks and airports
Click to expand...
 
texastomek said:
I downloaded it and tried to run it and it's telling me i don't have admin rights on my machine... This is the 2nd program that's telling me this. Any thoughts why this could be??? Obviously, it's my computer - i built it.
Click to expand...
Right Click it and choose Run as Admin. You could also try uninstalling it and reinstalling making sure the UAC prompt pops up when you attempt to install the program.

I doubt the CPU is throttling unless you have very poor intake air flow or have the case sitting in a poor airflow space.
A more likely problem is GPU throttling. Use either RivaTuner or EVGA Precision to monitor the clock speeds on your 260. If throttling at moderate temps during actual game play, try another video driver version or RivaTuner can be used to force constant 3D clocks.
 
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