Relative Benchmarking

[Bazango]

I have just recently tried the Sandra and PCMark2000 benchmarking software and it's pretty interesting, but I was hoping to find out if I was getting the best out of my rather old and clunky Celeron ~400 Mhz system. I have been amazed to see another computer with a slower processer run more smoothly and stable then mine which freezes up on the slightest provocation and seems to halt and read and write from the drive every time I move the mouse.

Is there some way I can compare my results with a system with a similar chipset and other features using these or other benchmarking software?

I want to move up to a better system, but not if I can't take care of the one I've got.

Any and all tips and clues would be appreciated.

[cusimar9]

Alright boss,

There's loads of things to consider here as to why his system may be faster than yours, let me run through a couple:

He may have a slower processor, but what was it? Was it overclocked? I dare say a PII 350 would be faster than a Celeron 400. Also the PII (which I had) can be clocked to at least 466Mhz with no hassle, so he might be running a faster processor after all.

What Mobo have you got? I was amazed a few months ago to find benchmarks for real games/apps/3DMark2001 comparing motherboards with the same other components. This link isn't the best example of what i'm trying to say but it does illustrate the differences in performance of different mobos.

Your system might be unstable when "provoked" - do you mean when you try and overclock it? What's your cooling like? Maybe (as it's an old computer) there's loads of dust in there clogging up the fans?

There really are 1,000,001 reasons why your computer might be slow. Don't be afraid to upgrade, just do your research before. Come and ask here if you need advice on what's a good purchase.

Hope this helps

Rick

[Andy72]

Hi Bazango

I used to have HP Pavilion 400 Celeron system and it only had 96Mb of ram. Upgrading the ram to 256 and optimazing the virtual memory with Nortons speed disk made HUGE difference with the way Windows 98 acted (and Me and XP will benefit even more).

maybe lacking memory isnt your problem at all but should it be, it's easy problem to solve.

Best of luck.


Andy

Oh almost forgot, 400 celeron was easy to overclock to 450 - didn't need to add cooling or anything although its always wise to play safe.I used little program to alter fbs - cannot recall the programs name now though

[Bazango]

I am having some luck with another benchmarking gizmo, "Performance Test". I am finding that the performance of my 2D-Bitmapping is just barely the equal of even my old DX66 computer running a Diamond Viper VLB video card. See my other thread here on that issue. What controls 2D Bitmapping and why is it so bad in this machine?

[cusimar9]

Your graphics card controls 2D bitmapping, and it's slow because you've obviously got a pants graphics card.

Graphics cards have been speeding up at a phenominal rate (compared even to processors), so if your card is more than 2/3 years old (which I suspect it is) then THATS why its ****. Does it even have 3D acceleration?

What is it you want to do exactly? Do you want to upgrade? Or do you just want to know why your computer is running so slow?

If it's the latter, then let me answer your question.... its sad but true: unlike wine, computers don't improve with age.

[Bazango]

I am running several different benchmarking software. One thing I notice is that they never seem to show the primary video card which is a 3DForce2 MX Series NVIDIA GeForce2 MX (Ver 4.12.01.0631 9/2/2000), they show the secondary card which is a Diamond Stealth II S220. I have a dual monitor setup. I wonder if the older PCI secondary video card is restricting the 2D-Bitmapping performance. Is this possible? Is this a natural liability of a multiple monitor setup?

I seriously don't think that an older video card is the problem in this case, since some even older machines with older video cards show similar or better performance in this area.

[cusimar9]

aaah now we're getting somewhere! It sounds as though the computer is trying to use your Diamond Stealth as your primary video card.

Which card occupies the AGP port? Make sure its the GeForce!

If you want to make absolutely sure, rip out your Diamond card, install the latest drivers from here, and see if the benchmarking programs pick up your GeForce.

Let me know how you get on

[Bazango]

The GeForce is Primary and AGP. I have tried disabling the Stealth card and 2D-Bitmapping performance picks up a little, but not significantly.

I am also having problems with my system locking up playing Halflife.

[Andy72]

There is one way to (usually) resolve all driver conflicts:

Clean windows install (with format)

Then, from the get go disable/get rid of your old videocard and install Geforce with newest drivers - I think you know the drill.

Sucks? Sure, but might even save time compared to hit and miss debugging..

Good luck.

Andy

[cusimar9]

I'll second that mate.

Its a real pain, but after a while every system get's clogged up with ****, no matter how careful you are. And in your case (what with you having 2 video cards and enabling/disabling etc) It's likely to happen.

Maybe try and upgrade your OS while you're at it

Good luck