Is my 4770 held back by my CPU?

[happy medium]

Installed memory (RAM): 4.00 GB (3.25 usable)

Right under memory it says system type. Mine says 64 bit operating system. Whats yours say?

 

[CuriousMike]

 

[AzN]

There should be an option on your motherboard for 64 bit operating system to see all the ram. I forget what it's called.

What is your CPU score in your windows index? Mine is 6.5.

 

[evolucion8]

Check in the BIOS for a 64-Bit option, in Asus motherboard there's is an option called Mapped Memory something, I don't remember the name which says to map devices beyond 4GB which will allow you to see the whole 4GB of RAM.

 

[CuriousMike]

This motherboard is uber-basic; there is nothing for mapping memory.
This is ... a $50 mobo I bought because I wanted to try a Hackintosh. ( That lasted about a month.)

 

[AzN]

Your processor score seems about right.

My memory bandwidth score is 6.5.

Graphics 7.2

Gaming 7.2

Is there an option for you to change the memory divider on your motherboard? It might be holding back your processor some. My ram is running 960mhz same as my FSB. You could virtually run it higher speeds if you have memory divider. Your memory is running under spec I suspect. 508mhz probably when its capable of 800mhz or more.

It looks like your motherboard is capable. It would be called system memory multiplier under frequency voltage control. It's relatively safe to run over 800mhz with a little bit of voltage. 2.1 - 2.2 volts should be your limit.

I really think it's a software issue. Completely wiping out Nvidia drivers with driver cleaner might do the trick or not. You can always try reinstalling windows if you have a back up hard drive or don't care for the data.

 

[CuriousMike]

Your memory is running under spec I suspect. 508mhz probably when its capable of 800mhz or more.

Interesting.
I downloaded "CPU-Z" ( seems like GPU-Z) and I *think* you might be right.

My CPU speed goes up and down ( like CoolNQuiet I think ), but I never saw my memory speed go up or down, and it seems low. Is it?

In particular,

 

[dguy6789]

Your system memory doesn't look slow at all from those screenshots. Consider disabling Speedstep to keep your processor at maximum performance and see if that changes your benchmark numbers. I don't like Speedstep. If a program is using a good percentage of a single core, but the rest of the cores are idle, it will keep the CPU underclocked, hurting single threaded performance.

 

[CuriousMike]

CPUZ says 425mhz, my bios says 850 (exactly twice ???)

 

[AzN]

That looks right but your bandwidth scores are low considering amount of bandwidth.

I really think it's a software/driver issue. You should be getting in the 50's in Dirt 2 not 30's.

 

[dguy6789]

CPUZ says 425mhz, my bios says 850 (exactly twice ???)

That's because you are using DDR ram. CPU Z is reporting the actual speed, the bios is reporting the effective speed. It's the same thing, nothing is wrong with your ram.

 

[CuriousMike]

Thanks for the clarification guys.
I used both of the "NVIDIA" cleanup programs suggested, and they did not seem to have any impact.

I'll try disabling Speedstep later tonight.

 

[AzN]

Speedstep isn't going to anything. I have speedstep, enhanced halt state, enabled and still get same results as turning it off.

 

[Arkaign]

Anyone else have an E1000/E2000 series processor to try this on? Perhaps Dirt just hates having limited L2.

 

[AzN]

Anyone else have an E1000/E2000 series processor to try this on? Perhaps Dirt just hates having limited L2.

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2028929

I've already made a thread about posting numbers for dirt 2.

Some results closest to his system or not:

1GB 4670 @ 800/1860
1680x1050 max, no AA
30.7 max
23.3 min

athlon x2 240@3604
sapphire 4830@700/1100

1440x900 8xmsaa all other settings maxed out

avg. 41.4
min. 33.1

i was surprised it ran smooth i was expecting a slide show

 

[Arkaign]

Interesting, well going by those numbers the OP is probably getting about what he should, the 4770 is slower than a 4870, and probably right around the same speed as the now-unavailable (EOL?) 4830.

 

[AzN]

Well the guy is using 8xMSAA on his 512mb card that could off set vram limitation but in case of OP he's getting 30's in lower resolution.

 

[Arkaign]

Hmm, what do you make of this :

http://www.pcgameshardware.com/aid,...1-Phenom-doing-well-quad-cores-rule/Practice/

It looks to me like OP might gain some performance with his 4770 by either reaching a higher CPU clock or by replacing the CPU entirely with a more robust performer.

EDIT : Hmm, after a bit more research here, it appears that Dirt 2 is *severely* CPU limited. The game just wants a bear of a CPU to run smoothly for whatever reason.

 

[AzN]

He should at least be getting in the 40's average at the least with settings cranked which should be more than playable. I still think it's a software issue.

 

[Arkaign]

Check that link, the E6600 can barely manage 40fps average with a Radeon 5870.

Conversely, the site also has GPU-limited scaling benches, and although the 4770 isn't listed explicitly, it would most likely be unlikely to hit 40fps average given that a 4850 can barely hit it when combined with a 3.5ghz i7.

http://www.pcgameshardware.com/aid,...DX-11-Update-Radeon-HD-5970-results/Practice/

Those benches above seem to show that the OP's situation is slightly CPU limited, but even with an extreme CPU upgrade, he would quickly run into a performance wall with the 4770. It also seems to confirm that his system is performing about as well as it can, his results seem accurate when compared to that huge stockpile of bench results.

 

[CuriousMike]

It's actually some consolation that my CPU and GPU are "in the ballpark" in terms of matching each other for performance.

I'm actually happy if I can maintain 30FPS in the games I play; not being a hardcore gamer (but appreciating eye-candy), I'm close enough to good.

 

[AzN]

Check that link, the E6600 can barely manage 40fps average with a Radeon 5870.

Conversely, the site also has GPU-limited scaling benches, and although the 4770 isn't listed explicitly, it would most likely be unlikely to hit 40fps average given that a 4850 can barely hit it when combined with a 3.5ghz i7.

http://www.pcgameshardware.com/aid,...DX-11-Update-Radeon-HD-5970-results/Practice/

Those benches above seem to show that the OP's situation is slightly CPU limited, but even with an extreme CPU upgrade, he would quickly run into a performance wall with the 4770. It also seems to confirm that his system is performing about as well as it can, his results seem accurate when compared to that huge stockpile of bench results.

I have no idea why they got that low of frame with 2.4 ghz 4 meg cache cpu. As in this same thread I did the benchmark @ 2.5ghz 2meg cache and got an average of little bit over 50fps.

 

[Arkaign]

Hmm, perhaps it's older/unoptimized drivers

 

[toyota]

if it matters here is what I got in the benchmark. I figured my cpu at 2.33 would equal or maybe beat an E6300 at 2.5 or E2200 at 2.8. I didnt want to run it any lower and have complaints though so I didnt. I was surprised the min only when down 3fps from dropping my cpu from 3.16 to 2.33 though.


1920x1080 highest settings and 8x AA

E8500 @ 3.16 GTX260 @ 666/1392/2200
avg 64.1
min 46.8

E8500 @ 2.33 GTX260 @ 666/1392/2200
avg 59.4
min 43.9