Video performance drops 40% on new rig

[oinky]

I just upgraded from an Athlon XP to a C2D E4300, keeping my AGP Radeon 9600XT and 1GB DDR1 ram in use on a ASRock 4CoreDual-VSTA motherboard. PCMark 06 gave my old system a 513, but the new benchmarks only produce a 316. The processor benchmarks go up as predicted, but PCMark 3D and SM2.0 both drop around 40%. I've switched video drivers to EDMark's recommended set and updated the motherboard's drivers and BIOS with no change. Is this a benchmarking anomoly or a real performance drop? Subjectively, Supreme Commander feels about the same as it did on the old system. Any ideas?
Thanks,
-O

 

[yh125d]

yowza. A e4300 at stock speeds get an ~1500 score with 1gb or ddr2. theres something horribly, horribly wrong there. wish I knew what :roll:

 

[oinky]

To clarify, the CPU score is at 1583, and up to 2235 with some basic overclocking. It's just the overall 3DMark score that's at 316 now.

What marks should I expect with this card? I realize it's the weak link in the system right now, maybe it's time for a cheap upgrade.

 

[Zstream]

Just buy a cheap 1650xt or 7600gt and you will be set.

 

[swtethan]

cpu upgrade will not give your more fps on a game if your video card is a 9600xt and 1gb of ram on supreme commander.

 

[nitromullet]

If you upgrade the video card, you should just go ahead and go with PCIe, get some DDR2, and return/exchange that motherboard for a real PCIe platform. IIRC, that board didn't play so well with some PCIe cards, and besides it's a VIA chipset which hasn't been a good thing for years now.

I would take this motherboard over that one any day...

If you still have a 20-pin PSU, that isn't necessarily an issue either provided you aren't upgrading to a high power video card... I am running a Sempron 3000+ with an AIW X800XL off of a 350W Enermax PSU with a 20-pin mobo connector with no issues.

 

[Arkaign]

Your AGP slot is basically emulated, which is your problem. Grab a PCIe card and all will be well.

This will easily triple your 9600XT performance for $59 :

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130026

Happy fragging!

And if you can afford more $$ :

$100ish = 7600GT
$125ish = 7800/7900 Recert
$150ish = X1950Pro
$200ish = X1950XT
$250ish = 8800GTS 320

etc.. For supreme commander I'd recommend busting out a couple benjamins and grab the X1950, along with a case of beer and two pizzas

 

[tcsenter]

Originally posted by: Arkaign
Your AGP slot is basically emulated, which is your problem. Grab a PCIe card and all will be well.

The PT880 has as 'real' of an AGP controller as any other chipset. Emulated? lol!

This will easily triple your 9600XT performance for $59 :

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130026

That is a crippled 64-bit memory interface with only 128MB. I think you meant this one for $10 more:

GeForce 7300GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16

Not sure why the score went down using the same graphics card, unless there is a configuration problem somewhere. Many people are posting very respectable scores using AGP cards on this motherboard. AGP isn't the problem.

 

[SonicIce]

a 6600GT is faster than the 7300 GT. 525mhz core over 350, 1050mhz memory over 666, gddr3 instead of gddr2, same number of pipes. it's cheaper after mail in rebate if you dont mind.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814143084

Theres always the 7600 GT for about 100 bucks thats twice as fast again.