Why do my benchmarks suck so bad?

[xenite]

I just built a new system-- MSI P6N SLI Platinum mobo, Core 2 Duo 6600 CPU, 2G Mushkin DDR2 8500 XP ram.

By all rights this should be a fast system, yet when I run benchmarks like PerformanceTest 6.1 and 3D Mark, the perf results I see are ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE less than they should be. My CPU score is lower than that of an old P4. My memory score is in the teens. I haven't tried any fancy overclocking in the mobo. Just stock settings.

I don't even know how I can go about figuring out what went wrong. Any advice?

 

[rudder]

I would look at the RAM timings in the BIOS. I have had issues in the past with c2d and leaving those settings on auto. I had stuttering real bad in windows and when I set the timings to manual... it cleared up and the system flew. This was on an intel board however and may not be the same issue. But worth checking.

 

[xenite]

:beer:

Turns out after much pulling of hair that it was my CPU getting too hot. I noticed that the CPU was running at 80 deg C. Checked the heat sink and saw that it was not seated properly. It is now and everything is happy.

Funny thing about the problem is that the more time I spent banging my head against it, the hotter the CPU got and the worse my benchmarks got.