HDD performance decreases as FSB increases?

[Jeff7181]

To make it easy for ya so you don't have to click the link to see my Rig, here's my specs...

XP1700 T-bred (AIUGA @ 1667, 12.5x133)
MSI KT4VL mobo
PNY PC2100 DDR (512)
WD Caviar SE
GF4 Ti4200 (oc'd to 280/540)

My problem is that when I increase the FSB, the hard drive seems to slow down. I don't know if it's a latency issue with things running out of sync or what. I had it running at 165x10.5 for a while, and my PCMark HDD scores were about 940... and when I have it set at 133x12.5 my score is in the 1080's - 1090's. My RAM doesn't like to be run at 333 Mhz at anything except CAS 3, so I thought maybe that was the problem.

Has anyone else had any similar experiences? I'd like to upgrade my RAM, but I can't afford to right now so I'm stuck using this "value" RAM right now that I got from Best Buy for $80.

 

[Jeff7181]

No takers huh?

 

[THUGSROOK]

hd performance will usually fall off after 37mhz pci.

hd and controller chip play a big role in that tho.

 

[THUGSROOK]

pc mark is garbage and should be removed from your computer ~ im serious.

for hd testing you should use HDtach v2.61

 

[Jeff7181]

Well, I don't wanna pay for a program to test my computer... I'm not that anal about it... and the unregistered version doesn't support Windows NT

 

[Technonut]

Originally posted by: Jeff7181
Well, I don't wanna pay for a program to test my computer... I'm not that anal about it... and the unregistered version doesn't support Windows NT

ATTO ExpressPro- Tools includes a disk benchmark and is free.

 

[bigpow]

Yo, got same result here.
As FSB increased, HDD performance went down. (PCMark2002).
How is your SiSoft Sandra result over FSB change? Mine stays relatively the same.

 

[Jeff7181]

Don't have it installed right now... just did a clean install a few days ago... I'll have to check it out.

 

[Budman]

You have a PM Jeff7181

 

[Jeff7181]

Well... HD Tach does show a small difference in maximum transfer rates, and a noticeable difference in average seek time... check it out...

138x12.5 DDR266 @ CAS 2.5

165x10.5 DDR333 @ CAS 2.5

 

[Budman]

58% cpu util !!!!

Are you sure DMA is on ?

 

[Budman]

If you're running XP I suggest you remove both ide controllers & let XP redetect them,there's no way dma is on with 58% cpu util.

 

[Jeff7181]

Well... it says "DMA if available" there's no way to force it that I can see. I'm gonna try removing them like you said

 

[Jeff7181]

I let Windows redetect and still the same... well, about... 54%

 

[THUGSROOK]

thats way too high ~ by comparison i use 5-9% cpu during that test.

your scores are good tho

 

[THUGSROOK]

make sure your drive is set to auto in bios

 

[dzt]

Originally posted by: Jeff7181
To make it easy for ya so you don't have to click the link to see my Rig, here's my specs...

XP1700 T-bred (AIUGA @ 1667, 12.5x133)
MSI KT4VL mobo
PNY PC2100 DDR (512)
WD Caviar SE
GF4 Ti4200 (oc'd to 280/540)

My problem is that when I increase the FSB, the hard drive seems to slow down. I don't know if it's a latency issue with things running out of sync or what. I had it running at 165x10.5 for a while, and my PCMark HDD scores were about 940... and when I have it set at 133x12.5 my score is in the 1080's - 1090's. My RAM doesn't like to be run at 333 Mhz at anything except CAS 3, so I thought maybe that was the problem.

Has anyone else had any similar experiences? I'd like to upgrade my RAM, but I can't afford to right now so I'm stuck using this "value" RAM right now that I got from Best Buy for $80.

I'll hav a try tonight

 

[Bovinicus]

I never expected that would be the case. I overclock, and I haven't noticed any performance decrease as a result, but I haven't benchmarked either. Try setting your FSB to something lower, like 145MHz or less. Maybe performance doesn't scale linearly with FSB, but there is a "breaking point."

 

[Jeff7181]

Originally posted by: THUGSROOK
make sure your drive is set to auto in bios

Yup it's set to auto... I have my DVD drive on the same channel cause of my mongaloid motherboard with the IDE ports at the bottom of the board, so maybe that's messing with it... I'm going to unplug the DVD and try it out.

 

[Dm301]

lol, mongaloid motherboard...

yeah, keeping cd/dvd drives separate from hd drives makes a huge difference.

 

[Jeff7181]

Not in this case... still 58%..... hmmmm...

(EDIT) I even set it back to 133x12.5 and still 58%... so I don't think it's a problem with it not liking my FSB and turning DMA off... maybe bad drivers???

 

[Noid]

You have to have DMA cables also ...

DMA wont take if you dont have DMA cables.

 

[Jeff7181]

I have the 40 pin, 80 wire cables if that's what you mean.

 

[Jeff7181]

Could it be cause I have anti-virus software running at the same time?

(edit) Guess not... I disabled it and tried again... same thing. Wonder what's causing this?

 

[Dm301]

do you use diskeeper?