8600m GT low 3dmark score

I recently purchased a Dell Inspiron 1720. I noticed my gameplay was a little laggy, so I decided to check my 3dmark06 score.
My system consists of:
32 bit Vista
8600M GT 256 MB DDR2
T8300 @ 2.4 Ghz
4 GB RAM

I have tried several different drivers, and the best score I can manage is a 2380 at default settings and 1280 x 1024 resolution. I used Rivatuner to check the clockspeed of my GPU, and it is clocked normally. I set my power settings to high performance. I am concerned because I consistently see laptops with similar settings yielding 3200-3600 3dmarks without any overclocking.

I system restored to the day I purchased the laptop and ran 3dmark, yielding a similar score. I haven't tried reinstalling windows, as I can't see it helping (I may try it as a last resort anyway). The only thing odd I have noticed is that 3dmark06 basic reads my graphics card as a GeForce Go 8600 GS... but I am unfamiliar with the program and it's mobile graphic card support. It also reads the clockspeed of my GPU as 0/0, but I have heard this is a common problem in Vista. My CPU score is 512 if that helps. Is there anything obvious I am missing, or is my GPU a gimp?

 

Wait, your CPU score is 512? If that's the case, then it's downclocking terribly.

What are your temps?

 

My T7500 gets a CPU score of ~ 1820 so that's definitely the source of your low score.

 

Oh, heh, I had not considered the CPU the problem; everything else has been working fine, and I was told CPU has little to do with gaming performance. Then again, I also had no basis of comparison for my CPU only score. However, 3dmark06 registers my CPU at 2400 Mhz; any suggestions as to normalizing the problem? Thank you very much for the help.

 

Download CPU-Z to check whats really wrong with your CPU. Report back with screenshots

 

Well... it appears that my CPU is running at 1.6 GHz... Everything else reads it at 2.4. Can I simply use a CPU overclock program to bring it back?

 

It should be fluctuating. Most likely there's some form of power setting that's keeping your system from hitting your maximum clocks.

 

It never goes above 1.6 GHz according to the CPU-Z program, even when gaming. I tried setting the FSB speed in BIOS, but I think Dell/Intel has a lock on it.

 

Look for SpeedStep or something similar in the BIOS. There should be a power saving option, I would know. I use to own a Dell. :/

 

I checked the SpeedStep option, but the only choices were either to enable or disable it and the disable option stated that it will run at the lowest setting. I seem to be stuck. Every program other than CPU Z recognizes my CPU at 2.4 GHz but it's clear that my CPU is underperforming. Searching the net leaves me with the options of either upgrading my BIOS, something I've never done before, or Reinstalling Windows, something I'm not sure will help. Suggestions?

 

Upgrading BIOS is simpler than you think. Go to the Dell Website, go to drivers and type in your service code, then download the BIOS update. Run it and it will restart your computer and upgrade it automatically. Simple as pie.

 

Did you go into Power Management and turn it to "Always On"?

 

Reinstalling the BIOS has appeared to have done the trick. I got a 3305 first run after fixing the CPU, and a 4160 after an initial overclock test, which is more than good enough for me. Thanks to everyone for the the help.

 

Also make sure that in your power managment that you are using the current plan as HIGH PERFORMANCE profile or setting. When I use the POWER SAVER setting I get lower scores if you are using VISTA, right mouseclick on the battery icon on the lower right and see what it is set to. I hope this helps. God Bless.