System underperforming, ram letting down perhaps?

[Stearsy]

Ive been comparing some benchmark tests recently and have come to the conclusion that the average pc with similar stats are easily trampling all over my low scores. I feel this has all come down to the ram i am currently using.

Here is the information from everest about my ram

Field Value
Memory Module Properties
Module Name Micron Tech. 16VDDT12864AG335DB
Serial Number 56D95B33h
Manufacture Date Week 42 / 2004
Module Size 1024 MB (2 rows, 4 banks)
Module Type Unbuffered
Memory Type DDR SDRAM
Memory Speed PC2700 (166 MHz)
Module Width 64 bit
Module Voltage SSTL 2.5
Error Detection Method None
Refresh Rate Reduced (7.8 us), Self-Refresh

Memory Timings
@ 166 MHz 2.5-3-3-7 (CL-RCD-RP-RAS)
@ 133 MHz 2.0-3-3-6 (CL-RCD-RP-RAS)

Memory Module Features
Early RAS# Precharge Not Supported
Auto-Precharge Not Supported
Precharge All Not Supported
Write1/Read Burst Not Supported
Buffered Address/Control Inputs Not Supported
Registered Address/Control Inputs Not Supported
On-Card PLL (Clock) Not Supported
Buffered DQMB Inputs Not Supported
Registered DQMB Inputs Not Supported
Differential Clock Input Supported
Redundant Row Address Not Supported

Memory Module Manufacturer
Company Name Micron Technology, Inc.
Product Information http://www.micron.com/products/category.jsp?path=/DRAM

This is the information on my motherboard:

Field Value
Motherboard Properties
Motherboard ID 02/17/2005-MS-7025-6A61CM4DC-00
Motherboard Name MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum (MS-7025)

Front Side Bus Properties
Bus Type AMD Hammer
Real Clock 200 MHz
Effective Clock 200 MHz
HyperTransport Clock 800 MHz

Memory Bus Properties
Bus Type DDR SDRAM
Bus Width 64-bit
Real Clock 167 MHz (DDR)
Effective Clock 335 MHz
Bandwidth 2679 MB/s

Motherboard Physical Info
CPU Sockets/Slots 1 Socket 939
Expansion Slots 5 PCI, 1 AGP
RAM Slots 4 DDR DIMM
Integrated Devices Audio, Dual Gigabit LAN, IEEE-1394
Form Factor ATX
Motherboard Size 240 mm x 300 mm
Motherboard Chipset nForce3-Ultra
Extra Features CoreCell, Dynamic Overclocking Technology

Motherboard Manufacturer
Company Name Micro-Star International
Product Information http://www.msi.com.tw/program/products/mainboard/mbd/pro_mbd_list.php
BIOS Download http://www.msi.com.tw/program/support/bios/bos/spt_bos_list.php

My main question is, why cant i run the ram at 333mhz ddr speed, because then surely my performance will double? It may be the case that the ram just isnt good enough as the mobo support dual channel mode. Im looking to upgrade soon but for now i just want to try and at least sneak closer to what my pc could possibly be.

My Pc Specs:

AMD 64 bit 3200+
1 stick of 1 gig ram 2700
200gb Hard drive
Geforce 6800gt 256mb

Here are some other things i noticed in the bios that are set, i dont know exactly what they are so i thought it would be best if i let you know what they were:

Agp Aperature 256mb
Agp 3.0 speed - auto
agp fast write - off
current ddr 166 mhz
high performance mode - manual
ht frequency 4x
agp frequeny 66
Cpu Fsb Freq 200mhz
Cpu vid 1.500v
2t mem timing

Im sorry theres so much information but i really need some help, and would really appreciate assistance.

Many Thanks

Stearsy

 

[pugmug]

Real quick look because I have to go,enter your BIOS and lower your agp aperature size to 128mb,better yet 64 mb if it does not give your system a problem.I will be back when I can.

 

[Stearsy]

Right, lowered it to 64mb, running the benchmark to see if improvements, back in 10.

 

[Stearsy]

Ok the results were just the same, 2823 i keep getting on 3dmark05, compared to the other pc's with similar stats which were getting 5000/6000/7000 easy

File Name

Benchmark
Width 1024
Height 768
Anti-Aliasing None
Anti-Aliasing Quality 0
Texture Filtering Optimal
Max Anisotropy 4
VS Profile 3_0
PS Profile 3_0
Force Full Precision No
Disable DST No
Disable Post-Processing No
Force Software Vertex Shader No
Color Mipmaps No
Repeat Tests Off
Fixed Framerate Off
Comment

3DMark Score 2823 3DMarks Game Tests
GT1 - Return To Proxycon 15.0 FPS Game Tests
GT2 - Firefly Forest 7.4 FPS Game Tests
GT3 - Canyon Flight 13.0 FPS Game Tests
CPU Score 689 CPUMarks CPU Tests
CPU Test 1 0.4 FPS CPU Tests
CPU Test 2 0.5 FPS CPU Tests
Fill Rate - Single-Texturing 3773.5 MTexels/s Feature Tests
Fill Rate - Multi-Texturing 6610.7 MTexels/s Feature Tests
Pixel Shader 55.9 FPS Feature Tests
Vertex Shader - Simple 11.1 MVertices/s Feature Tests
Vertex Shader - Complex 18.3 MVertices/s Feature Tests
8 Triangles 2.0 MTriangles/s Batch Size Tests
32 Triangles 6.3 MTriangles/s Batch Size Tests
128 Triangles 13.2 MTriangles/s Batch Size Tests
512 Triangles 17.1 MTriangles/s Batch Size Tests
2048 Triangles 18.4 MTriangles/s Batch Size Tests
32768 Triangles 18.4 MTriangles/s Batch Size Tests

 

[JohnWill]

I don't see anything about the memory that would cause me to run out and buy replacement memory. Personally, I'd be more likely to suspect the MB, it can have a significant effect on performance.

 

[Stearsy]

maybe... but if my memory is running at 166mhz then surely running 2 x 512 in dual channel mode at 400mhz is surely going to raise performance....

 

[pugmug]

Turn off all programs when benching if you did not before and read this also about amd64 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Front_side_bus

 

[Stearsy]

I read the document and ran the benchmark without anything open at all, and got 2816 - which is lower ???

Still really stuck with this, is there a setting i shouldnt have on or something i need to change?? Or is it just the ram?

 

[Stearsy]

Just another update, ive found someone withy almost the exact same setup

Same graphics card
Same processor but overclocked to 2.5
Same motherboard
Better ram (1 gig corsair 400mhz)

He ranked up a score of 5472, and all that is different is the ram and the overclocked processor.

Oh and it appeared he had underclocked his core clock to 210, mine runs at 420!

His memory clock was about the same as mine

 

[JohnWill]

You have to ask yourself, even with additional memory bandwidth, how much real performance increase are you going to see. Any modern processor with a decent amount of cache gets cache hit rates in the mid to high 90% range.

 

[Triple6]

why cant i run the ram at 333mhz ddr speed

You seem to be a little confused on RAM speeds. DDR is Double Data Rate, hence the real clock for PC3200/400 DDR is 200Mhz and for PC2700/333 its 166Mhz. So your RAM is running at 333Mhz.

I think the reason you are getting a bad score is because you have the wrong memory. You have a 64 bit CPU with a real clock of 200Mhz and a system that supports Dual Channel memory. Yet you are using 166Mhz memory and using only stick(single channel).

In a Benchmark that should dramatically improve your score. In real life performance it should speed things up a little bit. Would it be worth is a question for you.

 

[Stearsy]

Thanks Triple you summed that up perfectly, turns out my ram wasnt really a problem right now. I didnt have the latest mobo drivers, and when i went onto the nvidia website and got em my benchmark doubled! All my games are running off the hook and its all down to mobo drivers, wow! lol

Thanks anyway guys!