Pentium 4 1.7GHz SLOW!

[ASHBURRN ®]

This is the system:

Pentium 4 1.7GHz
512MB PC800 DIMM
ABit TH7-RAID

Elsa Gladiac 511 (GeForceMX2 400)
Sound Blaster Live! Player 5.1

Windows 2000 SP2

On a fresh install, my score in SiSoft Sandra is 1553, with a PR rating of 2xxx. Memory benchmark is also slow.

In 3dMark2001, I get a rating of 1876. That is the highest I've got, with the latest drivers on the NVidia website. THe other drivers won't allow me run Direct3D in DxDiag.

When I put the GeForce2 MX 400 into my Athlon system (see my System Rig), I score 2105.

Please note that no Startup programs are loaded, and RamBooster is run before benchmarking on some tests. Also, I've tried tests on 2 fresh installs, with around the same results (little points difference).

Any ideas why this Pentium 4 1.7GHz is going so SLOW?

 

[VBboy]

And what resolution do you happen to be running the benchmark at?

 

[VBboy]

I think RamBooster does jack.

 

[Vegito]

You plug a GeForce MX into a P4 ?

Thats like plugging a 302 into a escort, it'll run but not as fast as a mustang..

BTW Which sandra are you using..

 

[ASHBURRN ®]

I had to get the GeForce2 MX 400 cos the GeForce3 was out of stock when I bought it. I'll wait a few more months for more income to come through, but at the moment ..

SiSoft Sandra 2001 Standard
And my resolution is 1024x768x32 @ 60 on both systems

I normally go 75 refresh rate but for the benchmark I set it for 60

 

[bjc112]

does the computer seem faster than the other one...

play quake 3..

if its fast and good for you.. screw benchmarks!

 

[Blayze]

<< if its fast and good for you.. screw benchmarks! >>



yeah what he said

 

[ToBeMe]

Wanna know why?????? I'll warn ya' though......It's a nightmare!--------->>>>>>>

There have been voltage supply issues that I have been told that were fixed but I have yet to see it with my own eyes. A buddy of mine called the other day and explained he had been having system troubles and slowness on his P4 and he blamed it on Win2K. I thought he was using and Intel I lent to him, but come to find out he had gone with the TH7. I told him to check the voltage to the chip and sure enough it was defaulted to 1.62 instead of the needed 1.75. You might look into this if you own one. There does not seem to be mention of it in the above review. Abit has responded that it will be addressed shortly in a bios update.

 

[knutp]

Have you installed the chipset drivers? it followed with the motherboard.

 

[Kill_Phil]

isint that about right for your video card?

 

[zephyrprime]

ToBeMe:
I'm not sure I understand you. Are your saying there is a bug in this motherboard your customer was using that caused it to supply an inadequate voltage thus causing the processor to run at a lower than normal multiplier?

 

[ASHBURRN ®]

Yup I'm using the latest BIOS from ABit, and the default voltage is 1.75 in the BIOS. I think the latest BIOS is ZG or something, and I got it from the ABit TH7 webpage a few days back.

Yes, I've installed the chipset drivers - the latest ones from Intel. INF, ATA and HPT370 drivers. I've disabled the sound, game and MIDI ports as directed in the manual as well.

killphil
The GeForce2MX runs slower on the P41.7GHz than on the Athlon 850MHz. Very strange. And the SiSoft CPU benchmarks for the P4 are way too low.

 

[ToBeMe]

OK....here's the deal.......no matter if it says it's at default Vcore or not.....go check PCHealth or MBM5 or whatever you use...........chances are it's going to show the Vcore at 1.60 - 1.65 IF you're using a 1.7 like this one was AND if you're having this problem as it seems A LOT of TH7 owners are!

 

[knutp]

Im getting around 2500 with the gf2mx card I got here at the moment. And 3000 when overclocked to 225 core, and 250 mem.

this is an athlon 1200, asus a7v-e and 256 ram. I really think that your scores should be better. Im not so familiar with the bios settings with 850 chipset's so im not so sure what to do there.

This is with winme, and 12.41 nvidia drivers as well 4.32 via 4-1 drivers.

 

[ASHBURRN ®]

I just upped the voltage to 1.85 and the scores remained the same ..

knutpWhat program are you using to overclock? PowerStrip?

Also, I hear of a program called SoftFSB that's suppose to be able to modify the FSB speed in Windows? Will that do any good and where do I get it from?

 

[ToBeMe]

You misunderstand..........the messed up settings and readings for the Vcore are only PART of the problem! 2K will seem really sluggish (as you mentioned) and you may also expierience random reboots! I talked to Abit earlier today on the phone and the guy basicly told me that if I couldn't wait for the bios update that *should* fix the problem that I should return the board to where I purchased it and he suggested waiting until Aug. before buying a new one to be sure the problem is solved! The original paragraph above was NOT mine! It was taken from Hard OCP and they have documented the problem now as well as several other sites! Here's Kyle's latest message to me about it (the TH7)


<< You will not solve the problem, I suggest you RMA the board for a new one that is fixed. honestly, I cant believe they ever releases that board. >>

 

[ASHBURRN ®]

Also, in the BIOS, my FSB speed is 100MHz, multiplier set to x17 -- so I can't change the FSB .. the P4 has a 200MHz FSB..? No?

 

[ToBeMe]

No, 100Mhz Quad Pumped.

 

[ASHBURRN ®]

what does that mean? I bet it's something to do with Quake but I don't play that game much.

 

[ToBeMe]

Hmmm.....how do I explain simply...........OK, You know how the Athlon has a 266Mhz FSB? It's 133Mhz Dual pumped OK? The PIV is just like that only at 100Mhz and Quad (4X) pumped! Better now????

 

[ASHBURRN ®]

So it's all right then?

I can't find the news coverage on HardOCP .. can I have a link, please?

 

[ToBeMe]

This is the original mention of it at HardOCP.........Flood5 found it and since then I've been talking directly with Kyle and others including, as mentioned, Abit themselves!

TH7 Problems
it's about 3/4 down the page.........

 

[ASHBURRN ®]

Got a screen shot of the Athlon benchmark from SiSoft. I didn't OC anything.

Athlon CPU Benchmark

The Pentium 1.7 GHz only scores about 1xxx. I'll get a screenshot of that as well.