Overclocked Athlon X2 4200 Doesnt seem to be running as fast as it Should

[harg311]

Hello everyone, i hope someone can help me out here.

I just bought a Athlon X2 4200 and have it overclocked to 2.75 Ghz.

My system specs are Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe, 2GB A-Data PC3200 memory, ATI Radeon X1950Pro. I have the CPU running stable at 250 X 11.

I upgraded from an Athlon 3700 and had it overclocked at the exact settings.

Ok so here is the problem...i see no difference in performance between the two. I have run some benchmarking tests like Sandra Lite and PC Mark 06 and the results have been the same as with my Athlon 3700 single core. One thing i noticed was that under PC MArk 06 it says i have 1 Physical CPU / 1 logical CPU. I do have two CPU's listed in the Device Manager though, as well as in the Bios. But i notice no changes. I scored a 4200 on Pc Mark when everyone else is 6000 or above with similar systems.

I have the HTT at 4X and my memory is running stable at 220Mhz. Like i said, the system, is stable but just not running any faster then my single core.

Any ideas what could be the issue?

Thanks

Steve

 

[SimMike2]

You should run some SuperPI tests, both before and after overclocking.

While going to dual core might not be totally obvious at first, what you will probably notice is that when running multiple applications, especially CPU intensive ones, your system won't get sluggish when you switch to the second application, or third or forth app.

Some people make the mistake of thinking a dual core is twice as fast. It isn't. It is mainly about mulit-tasking.

People that encode video and these kinds of tasks will see the improvement.

 

[geokilla]

Did you install the Dual Core Optimizer?

 

[harg311]

Thanks for the input but i noticed very little change in Sandra and no change in 3DMark 06 after i installed the Dual Core Optimizer.

I installed the optimizer and teh AMD drivers.

I knew that i wouldnt get double the performance but i at least thought i would get some sort of boost over my older 3700 single core.

I have heard a reload of Windows may help but i am nto sure this is a driver issue is it?

 

[magreen]

What speed were you running your old 3700 at?

 

[harg311]

i was running it at 2.64Ghz, my settings were 11X240

 

[betasub]

Does Task Manager show one or two trends for CPU usage?

Does Device Manager/Computer show "ACPI Uniprocessor PC" or "ACPI Multiprocessor PC" driver?

 

[harg311]

Originally posted by: betasub
Does Task Manager show one or two trends for CPU usage?

Does Device Manager/Computer show "ACPI Uniprocessor PC" or "ACPI Multiprocessor PC" driver?

I only see one trend and under Computer it says Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) PC and thats all it says. It doesnt have anything about Uniprocessor or multiprocessor.

Steve

 

[Rhoxed]

upgrade MOBO bios

 

[harg311]

Originally posted by: Rhoxed
upgrade MOBO bios

I have the most current bios other than a Beta bios that is available. I dont want to instal a Beta Bios.

 

[RallyMaster]

You should see two graphs in Task Manager if you installed the processor correctly. I didn't notice much of a speed increase when I first got this 4200+ either. That was before I reformatted and now it runs things properly.

 

[daveybrat]

A repair installation of windows xp will solve the cpu problem. You'll see 2 cpu graphs under task manager and ACPI Multiprocessor PC under device manager when you're done. Sometimes windows HAL doesn't switch to Multiprocessor when moving from a single to dual-core cpu. A repair install or format and reinstall of windows will solve it.

 

[harg311]

WooHoo i got it fixed.

Thanks for all the help you all steered me in the right direction. I had no idea what the problem was but after some more digging i found a way to update the HAL without having to do any installs / uninstalls / reformats or anything.

I found out a little about using the DevCon and command prompt and i got the HAL to update to ACPI Multiprocessor.

I ran Sandra and my CPU scores on the artithmetic test went from 9825 to 19962, the multimedia test went from 25486 to 51758. These socres smoked the standard scores they have in there for a 4800+. I ran 3Dmark again and went from 4200 to 5000. So the update worked.

So all in all i did a bios update, installed the AMD Optiomization driver and then used Devcon to update the HAL.
I am now showing two graphs in the Task Manager and all is well.

Here is the link to the site i found on using the Devcon:
http://www.ngohq.com/processor...nstalling-windows.html

Again, thanks for the help. Im really glad i didnt have to reformt, i didnt want to waste a whole day to do that.

 

[betasub]

Originally posted by: harg311
I am now showing two graphs in the Task Manager and all is well.

The single CPU trend in Task Manager is a symptom of a Uniprocessor HAL, hence my questions above (I didn't want to push you down the BIOS/HAL track until you'd checked this).

Congrats on getting it resolved so quickly. Your Sandra scores seems to confirm all is well - doubling up is neat!