Very poor 3DMark06 score

[Pheran]

I just got an EVGA 8800GTS 512, popped it in, loaded the nVidia 169.21 drivers, and decided to run 3DMark06 (free version) as a test. The first time around I got just under 6000, and the second time I got 6007. This seems ridiculously low. I know that my CPU isn't the fastest out there, but shouldn't I be doing better?? I've checked GPU-Z and my PCI-E slot is running at x16. Here are the rest of my system specs:

Athlon 64 X2 5200+
Gigabyte GA-M57SLI-S4 Motherboard (nForce 570)
2G PC2-6400 DDR2 RAM
Corsair VX550W Power Supply
Windows XP SP2

Any other thoughts of what to check would be welcome.

EDIT: Full 3DMark Score Info

 

[Doclife]

Did you remove the previous video driver (even if it was an Nvidia driver) before you installed the nVidia 169.21 ? If not, I suggest you remove all video drivers and reinstall the 169.21 driver. Also, if you use the EVGA supplied molex/PCIe adapter make sure that you connect both molex connectors to the PSU.

 

[Pheran]

Originally posted by: Doclife
Did you remove the previous video driver (even if it was an Nvidia driver) before you installed the nVidia 169.21 ? If not, I suggest you remove all video drivers and reinstall the 169.21 driver. Also, if you use the EVGA supplied molex/PCIe adapter make sure that you connect both molex connectors to the PSU.

No, I did not, I was upgrading from a 7900GS and I haven't had problems with old drivers in the past. But, to test this I did the following:

1. Removed the nVidia display driver via the Add/Remove Programs control panel.
2. Rebooted into safe mode, ran Driver Sweeper and removed the nVidia display driver again.
3. Rebooted and installed the 169.21 driver again.
4. Reran 3dMark06 - it scored 6013.

So that didn't work.

I forgot to include my power supply in the system specs (now updated), it's a Corsair VX550W so it has a native PCI-E power connector (which is plugged in).

Any additional suggestions?

 

[Xpoc]

Do you have latest bios, and latest Nforce drivers installed?

 

[Doclife]

Which PCIe x16 slot did you install the video card on, the first one (blue) or the second one (black) ? I think the first PCIe x16 slot is the one you should use. What 3dmark06 score did you get with the 7900GS installed in the same PCIe x16 slot ?

 

[Pheran]

Originally posted by: Xpoc
Do you have latest bios, and latest Nforce drivers installed?

I have the latest nForce drivers - version 9.16.

I was running the FD BIOS. Though the release notes did not contain any useful looking changes, I upgraded to the FF BIOS. There was no change to the 3DMark score after doing this.

 

[Pheran]

Originally posted by: Doclife
Which PCIe x16 slot did you install the video card on, the first one (blue) or the second one (black) ? I think the first PCIe x16 slot is the one you should use. What 3dmark06 score did you get with the 7900GS installed in the same PCIe x16 slot ?

The card is installed in the first (blue) PCIe slot. Gigabyte refers to this as PCIE_16_1 and recommends this slot for single card systems.

I had never bothered to run 3DMark on this system before today, but I did run it on the 7900GS right before I swapped it out. It only scored 3575, which I though was unusually low even for a 7900GS, so it is possible that there is a system problem that is not related to the video card.

 

[Doclife]

How about installing the video card in the second PCIe slot (black) and run 3DMark06 again and compare the scores ? May worth a try, make sure you configure the bios as such (i.e. boot with second PCIe instead of first PCIe).

Here's a thread of someone that has a low 3DMark06 score. It turned out that the CPU multiplier was set at x6 instead of the stock x9.

http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=2153706&enterthread=y

 

[nullpointerus]

Originally posted by: Pheran

Originally posted by: Xpoc
Do you have latest bios, and latest Nforce drivers installed?

I have the latest nForce drivers - version 9.16.

I was running the FD BIOS. Though the release notes did not contain any useful looking changes, I upgraded to the FF BIOS. There was no change to the 3DMark score after doing this.

My suggestions:

EDIT: removed suggestion to check PCI-E link width

1. Also, you might be suffering from this (rare) problem:
http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=2141003&enterthread=y

2. When you say your 3DMark '06 score is low, what are your scores on the three subcategories (i.e. SM 2.0, SM 3.0, and CPU). This information could narrow your problem down to just the video card and its drivers, if the CPU score is normal.

 

[SickBeast]

The A64X2's get horrible 3DMark scores in comparison with the C2D's. It's because of the CPU tests, plus the fact that you're CPU limited at 1024x768 and 1280x1024.

 

[Pheran]

There's some more info in this thread at EVGA if anyone cares to take a look. I will update the OP with the 3DMark link.

 

[Pheran]

Originally posted by: nullpointerus
My suggestions:

EDIT: removed suggestion to check PCI-E link width

1. Also, you might be suffering from this (rare) problem:
http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=2141003&enterthread=y

2. When you say your 3DMark '06 score is low, what are your scores on the three subcategories (i.e. SM 2.0, SM 3.0, and CPU). This information could narrow your problem down to just the video card and its drivers, if the CPU score is normal.

Well, I'm running XP, so if I had that weird power issue it should be telling me about it, at least in theory.

For #2, see the link to the 3DMark results in the updated OP.

 

[nullpointerus]

Your CPU score looks accurate (for that chip).

But the GPU numbers are way off for a G92 GTS. You should be closer to 5000 pts on each.


I'm out of suggestions at this point, unless you can try your card in a different PC or do a clean installation of Windows on an old hard drive. Those would eliminate any configuration problems (i.e. corrupted drivers, or Windows madness in general).

 

[schneiderguy]

Originally posted by: SickBeast
The A64X2's get horrible 3DMark scores in comparison with the C2D's. It's because of the CPU tests, plus the fact that you're CPU limited at 1024x768 and 1280x1024.

Even with his CPU he should be getting at least 9k. I get around 8k with the system in my sig, and my video card and CPU are slower than his.

 

[shortylickens]

I had the same issue when I moved from an EVGA 7900GTX to a XFX 8800GT. I thought I should get much better scores (compared to other people with similar systems).

I did an uninstall of the drivers and ran Driver Cleaner.
Installed the Tweakforce drivers and things improved.

 

[SniperDaws]

Personally i would go with a fresh install of Winxp just to make sure nothing in windows is causing problems.

Also give that cpu a little tweak and see if it makes a diffrence.


http://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/


also download GPU-Z and see if your pcie is in 16x mode.