Performance Help !

[profJim]

Re: Performance Help !

The low 12 volt displayed value is probably a bug in HWMonitor.
Your system can't run with only 1 - 2 volts output on the 12 volt line.
Download and try HWiNFO, HWiNFO32 & HWiNFO64 - Hardware Information and Analysis Tools freeware instead of HWMonitor.

Clean out the dust bunnies in your system.
The Intel cooling fan might not have all four mounting legs fully attached and secure.
Cleaning off the old TIM and reapplying new TIM should help somewhat with your cpu temperatures.
You'll get better gaming performance if you you overclock your cpu and gpu.
You will probably need to buy a decent cpu cooler/fan for about $25 to overclock your cpu.

Download and install GPU-z so that you can post a screen-shot for your video card details.
Downloads | techPowerUp - GPU-z

[profJim]

Re: Performance Help !

Are you running win7 32-bit? 64-bit?
If you're running 64-bit, run the 64-bit version of HWINFO.
Select Sensors Only when you start HWINFO.

[rcasats]

Re: Performance Help !

Hi ProfJim, so the new memory arrived and its installed. (as you mentioned changing the voltage to what it said on the sticker... It says 1.8-1.9V so I wasn't sure what to set it at.. Just left it at auto.)

I cleaned out some dust (barely any) from my cpu fan and changed the thermal paste.. I hope it helps. (any reason why 1 core would be hotter than the other, should they be about same) Maybe the paste did apply universally ?

So here are some screen shots, maybe you can look over and see if everything looks ok with the new parts installed.

Also to answer a previous question of your.. its only W7-32bit, But I am upgrading to a 64 bit version later this week. Right now it see's my 4GB of Ram but says only 3.25 is usable.







** Is the DRAM Freq. below correct at 400mhz (runs at half what it says.. ie Dual Ch. = 800mhz ? ) **

[profJim]

Re: Performance Help !

HWINFO shows that 12V = 12.366 and DIMM voltage = 1.902
CPU-z shows DRAM Frequency = 400MHz which means that your double data rate memory is running at 800MHz.
With 4GB of physical memory and running a 32-bit operating system, it's normal to only have about 3.2GB of total memory available.
Differences in cpu core temperatures might be due to "stuck" cpu sensors at idle.
Under load, you should see that core temperatures will usually be similar.

Your video card performance in post #10 might be due to running win7 32-bit with only 2GB of physical memory.
See if the game performance is better with ~3.2GB of available physical memory.
It looks like your GTX 260 might be able to overclock to about 700MHz or slightly more.
When you overclock your gpu, you will need to increase gpu voltage slightly as you go higher.
If you get screen artifacts or you get the video driver stops responding message, your voltage is probably too low.

There was a huge difference in performance when I replaced my 7600GT video card with my N460GTX Hawk video card with win7 x64.
Is your cpu running at 2.50GHz when your system is under load?
Running CPU-z, CoreTemp or RealTemp will show your cpu speed while you run different applications.

[rcasats]

Re: Performance Help !

I have noticed more of a performance increase installing the new RAM over installing the VIDEO CARD.. So I hope upgrading to 64Bit will give me that much more since it should recognize the rest of the 4GB from the 3.2GB that it sees now and also with it being a fresh install maybe will be an advantage as well.

I will take your advice and try to OC my CPU and GTX260, But I dont have any exp doing that.. I see you have recommended MSI Afterburner/Kombuster for the GTX260.. Do you of any guides or walkthroughs using these programs I can follow, as even where you said I may have to raise the voltage a bit =/ I wouldn't know how much or where to start

Also, Is there a program / guide to OC the CPU >? Or is this only done in the BIOS ?

In my BIOS there is an option to run at 2.4 or 2.5GHz so i selected the 2.5 but I'm not sure if thats under load or not.. I will check that out as well.

Thx

[profJim]

Re: Performance Help !

Make sure that you download the AfterBurner user manual on the same page as the software download.
With AfterBurner you can save up to 5 different overclock profiles.
GPU overclocking is much simpler than overclocking your cpu and memory.

1. Use AfterBurner to increase the gpu speed 25MHz and apply the setting.
2. Stress test the new setting by running the most demanding Kombustor tests for 15 - 30 minutes.
3. If there are no artifacts or "driver stopped responding" issues, play your favorite game to see if there are any problems.

Repeat these steps until a gpu problem arises, where you will need to increase the gpu voltage the smallest amount possible, probably +0.10 volts.
Go as far as you can with your gpu o/c and then take a similar approach to overclocking your memory. As stated earlier, it looks like you should be able to o/c up to about 700MHz on your gpu. I don't know how high the memory can overclock.

Your saved GPU o/c settings will only be applied when you start AfterBurner and load a saved profile. There's no reason to apply your gpu o/c settings unless you're gaming or doing video encoding. You should be able to find more information by searching the web for GTX 260 overclock sites.

I think that your cpu overclocking will be very limited because of heat. If you buy a lower cost cpu cooler such as the Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro (rev 2) you will have much better cooling. I had decent cooling with my overclocked E6550 and E6300 (R0) processors to 3.50GHz using the Freezer 7 cpu cooler.You will need to read reviews and make sure that the cooler you buy will fit in your case. Tower type coolers usually offer the best cooling compared with down draft coolers.
Newegg.ca - Computer Hardware, Fans & Heatsinks, CPU Fans & Heatsinks, $25 - $50

If your bios has C1E and EIST enabled, your cpu speed will fluctuate depending on the system load. My system varies between 3.50GHz (8 x 438MHz) and 2.63GHz (6 x 438MHz). Your G41 motherboard is not a good overclocker, but we won't know how high it can go unless you have a better cpu cooler. Hopefully you will be able to o/c to 3.0GHz but your cpu core temperatures are already on the high side with the stock Intel Cooler.

http://forums.tweaktown.com/gigabyte...ing-guide.html is a good o/c guide. Read it to understand the overall basics, and don't get hung up on the details.

All cpu/memory overclocking will be done in the bios.

[rcasats]

Re: Performance Help !

Hi Jim, I noticed with the new Ram when my PC starts it says "Memory runs at Dual Channel Interleaved" I posted screenshot of CPUID... Is my memory not running correctly and if not do yo know how to fix this problem ?

[profJim]

Re: Performance Help !

Your memory is probably OK with the "Memory runs at Dual Channel Interleaved" message.
The screen-shot you included only provides the programmed memory settings, manufacturer, model number and size of one specific memory module.
You should update your PC Specs with this information and the total installed memory size, such as 2 x 2GB.

The attached screen-shot provides useful information about a system.
Copy the screen-shot into an image editor program and zoom in to better read the details.

• The Cpu-z SPD and Memset SPD screens show similar information but Memset provides additional memory timings information.
• Cpu-z Memory and the main Memset window show how much memory is installed, the memory timings that are currently used and the FSB/DRAM ratio aka System Memory Multiplier. This information is what we need to know.
• The information in the red box in the Cpu-z CPU window will fluctuate if you have energy savings enabled in the bios and in windows.
• The Cpu-z Mainboard window shows your motherboard model and bios version, but it does not display the revision number of the board. The rev number is found in the lower left rear corner of the motherboard and will look like rev: 1.0 or have a different number. The rev # should be included in your PC Specs.
• The Cpu-z About window lets you create a very useful report when you click on the Save Report (TXT) button. This report contains a lot of useful information about your system and its settings. You can upload this report as an attachment in a post.

Have you made any progress with overclocking your video card?

[rcasats]

Re: Performance Help !

Hey Jim, Just updated my specs thanks.

I have not had a chance on to overclock my video card yet, I might take a stab at that tonight.. But I did however play around with overclocking my CPU/RAM. I currently my have CPU at 3.33Ghz [12.5 x 266], which I believe changed my Ram settings, as its now at 444mhz. I ran Prime95 and the temps maxed out around 60C. I still have stock cooler installed but I will be taking your advise and picking up the Arctic Freezer 7 Pro, I seen one at local computer store a couple days ago and it was $25 I think.

I have attached the screenshots as you suggested, Have a look. Thanks.

[profJim]

Re: Performance Help !

Not too shabby.
Which Prime95 test did you run and how long did you let it run.
I like to see a 6 hour (or longer) test while overclocking and an 8 - 12 hour test when you've reached your final o/c goal.
For my final stress tests, I run each Prime95 test separately (Small FFT, Large FFT, & Blend) for 8 -12 hours.
I demand that my system is more stable than I am.

My E6300 (R0) @ 3.50GHz Prime95 cpu core temperatures were ~ 52^O C when my room temperature was 20^O C.
The Freezer Pro 7 (rev 2) is a decent cpu cooler with an excellent 92mm fan.
Buying a more expensive cooler/fan setup for your system would be overkill.

Download MaxxMem² to benchmark your memory settings.
You show me yours and I'll show you mine.
After you post your MaxxMem² screen-shot, you can lower your Static tRead Value (aka Performance Level or tRD) for better memory performance.
I'll provide you with a small range of values that should be stable.
Naturally you need to repeat your stress tests each time you tweak your system.

With Memset, press the ">>" button to display the memory timings for both memory channels, A and B.

[rcasats]

Re: Performance Help !

ok I'll start running tests now.. Ive read several posts that ppl were getting around [core 670 & mem 1190] Or somewhere in around there.. and some ppl got more so is it a good idea to start at that mark or a bit under ? Or should I just start right from stock ?

This may be a dumb question, but if run Kombustor for several hours, how do I know if my card passed or not.. does it give a report or something ?

[profJim]

Re: Performance Help !

Starting at the high end of your video card's setting probably won't work.
You'll learn a lot more increasing your gpu frequency in 25MHz increments and increase gpu voltage as required.
I covered this briefly in post #19.
If you increase gpu and memory frequency at the same time, you won't know which one caused the problem if you get screen artifacts or video driver problems.
Your biggest performance gains will probably be with higher gpu speeds, not with increasing video memory speeds.

1/2 hour of Kombuster should be enough to determine if your settings are stable (no driver crashes) and that there are no screen artifacts.
It's best to use the most demanding Kombustor OPTIONAL settings where your screen display runs without being jerky.
Take detailed notes about your video card settings and the results, good or bad for each test.
You should note the maximum gpu temperatures during each test once everything heats up.

Happy testing!!

[rcasats]

Re: Performance Help !

ok well I started the tests before I got to read your post = ( So for about an hour and a half now I have been running Kombustor with my settings at - Core 666 / Mem 1188. There have been no issues at all and GPU temp topped out at 65C but was for the most part around 58-60. So I can reset setting back to stock and start from there if you think that is best.. or just continue from where I'm already at ? and not sure how to view the actual results in Kombustor.. I know from visually watching it, it ran quite smooth and there were no problems/glitches on the screen at all while it was testing, but how can I actually look at the results ?

[profJim]

Re: Performance Help !

Continue from your current video card settings.
It's been a while since I last tested with Kombustor.
Do a web search using: kombustor user manual and follow the suggestions in the links.
If you are not using "moderate" optional settings, you probably aren't stressing your card enough.

Another good test is to play your most demanding video games with your new settings.
It's a tough job but someone's gotta do it.