new computer poor performance

[jonesmaster]

new computer, first time building one.

X2 4200+
A8N SLI-deluxe
OCZ Peroformance 1GB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 433
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820146950
WD2500KS
BFG 7800GT OC

I get poor cpu marks (3700)in 3dmark05, but decent overall score. But tonight i installed bf2 and at 1200 resolution with max settings, im getting 50 fps. A friend with a 4000+ 6800ultra says he gets around 90fps at 1600res and max settings. So i ran sisoft and this is what it came up with:

http://img374.imageshack.us/my.php?image=sisoftbench2yp.jpg

everything doing well but the ram comes up crap. Spec'd timings are supposed to be 2.5-3-3-7 but in my bios they come up 2.5-3-3-6 2T@333mhz. I cant figure out why else the ram seems to be dragging my computer down. But I am a complete noob about computer hardware.

Should I RMA the ram and get something else? I plan to OC the 4200 to around 2.4-2.5ghz, is this ram enough that I should get a replacement if I RMA. Or go corsair or another model of OCZ.
I really appreciate any help.

 

[mOeeOm]

Did you update your bios to the latest version?

 

[jonesmaster]

yeah, and the chipset drivers.

 

[MobiusPizza]

Originally posted by: jonesmaster
A friend with a 4000+ 6800ultra says he gets around 90fps at 1600res and max settings. So i ran sisoft and this is what it came up with:

Your friend must be kidding
BF2 isn't too taxing in CPU department.

My GeForce 6 Ultra at 1600 max setting gets 50 fps with my o/ced 3000+
The extra performance of 4000+ can't possibly explain the 40fps gap

 

[Twistah]

Did you run memtest? If not do so.

If your ram is fine, get another stick:Have read a lot that bf2 needs 2 Gb of ram to run all out, I think your best bet is to get another stick of ram and enjoy the glory of bf2

 

[GamerExpress]

Originally posted by: Twistah
Did you run memtest? If not do so.

If your ram is fine, get another stick:Have read a lot that bf2 needs 2 Gb of ram to run all out, I think your best bet is to get another stick of ram and enjoy the glory of bf2

Well unless you are going to run on all high graphics settings 2GB isn't necesary. I have everything at 1600 res. with all the textures and settings on high in BF2 (no AA), in my case i do have 2GB's of memory. With the setting like mine you will FOR SURE need 2GB of memory otherwise the game just won't be worth playing.

 

[imported_ViLLaN262]

Do you have the latest Nvidia drivers for you 7800. You should be getting a much higher score in 3dmark and alot more frames in BF2. I run it all high settings 12x10 2xAA/4xAF with a 6800GT and maintain 60fps and only 1gb of ram.

 

[imported_hopeless]

Originally posted by: jonesmaster

everything doing well but the ram comes up crap. Spec'd timings are supposed to be 2.5-3-3-7 but in my bios they come up 2.5-3-3-6 2T@333mhz. I cant figure out why else the ram seems to be dragging my computer down. But I am a complete noob about computer hardware.

I don't know a lot about AMD, but from what I've read the 2T is a big preformance killer for AMD.

It needs to be 1T, but I'm not sure why it would default to 2T. The only reason I've read about it is because of the number of ram slots that are being used.

 

[jonesmaster]

yeah i dont know whats going on, basically think the ram sucks by the sisoft ram score.
I tried setting it to 1T last night and the computer crashed so bad that i needed to reboot using my OS disk. I dont know I just get the idea the ram is the problem, ill run memtest to be sure.

(edit) yeah latest nvidia drivers 77.77

 

[MobiusPizza]

Firstly, why is it running at 333 not 400?

DDR400 should be the default frequency

2T timing only happens if you populate all 4 slots of RAM

What's your 1GB RAM made of? 2*512MB?

 

[Pabster]

2T is not that big of a performance hit. In fact, without benching, you won't even notice it.

So that point is moot.

Memory timing is not nearly as important as bandwidth (particularly for gamers) so don't concern yourself with a particular timing.

 

[MobiusPizza]

Originally posted by: Pabster
2T is not that big of a performance hit. In fact, without benching, you won't even notice it.

So that point is moot.

Memory timing is not nearly as important as bandwidth (particularly for gamers) so don't concern yourself with a particular timing.

Nope that's not true. For AMD processors bandwidth (i.e. frequency) has less influence than timing has as long as it is running at default 400Mhz.
But I still agree that the command timing is at most only 5% and on average 1-2% performance hit

The fact that running Dual Channel doesn't yield more than 5% performance gain confirms that.

 

[jonesmaster]

Originally posted by: AnnihilatorX
Firstly, why is it running at 333 not 400?

DDR400 should be the default frequency

2T timing only happens if you populate all 4 slots of RAM

What's your 1GB RAM made of? 2*512MB?

I think thats my motherboard's default, its what comes up on boot at auto settings. I set it to 400 last night and all of a sudden my cpu was clocking at 1.9 ghz... Is this ram crap or am I just doing something wrong?

2x512mb

 

[imported_hopeless]

How did memtest turn out?

Does this mb have 4 slots for ram? If so try putting them in the other slots & check your manual to make sure which pair of slots to use.

You can also try 1 stick at a time to see if maybe 1 of them is bad.

The only other thing I can think of would be to:
Make sure your fsb is at 200, manual set it if not
Manual set your multipler for your cpu to 11 (This should put u a 2.2Ghz for cpu)
Manual set your ram back to 400
Manual set your ram voltage as close to 2.6v, according to your link this is ok for that ram
Manual set your timings a little losser, like maybe 3-3-3-7 or 4-4-4-7, with a 1T
Then if all goes ok you can slowly bring the timings back down.
Or
Just try to rma the memory because it isn't working as spec'd