GeForce 8600M GT - only 1500 points @ 3dmark06 ?!

Hi everyone,
yesterday I received my MSI GX600 model 047PL (Core 2 Duo T7500 2,2GHz; 2GB RAM; GF 8600M GT 512MB; MS Vista Home Premium).
To test it I immediately installed 3Dmark 06 and my GX600 scored only 1431 points at 1280x1024 (default settings)!
Today I installed 169.09 drivers + Rivatuner 2.06 (OC: core 475@620, mem 400@490) and with TURBO mode on it scored only 1594 points.

Why my notebook can't score 3500-4000 points like everyone else? Maybe that’s Vista's fault?
Does somebody know what's wrong with my laptop? I'm appreciated if someone can give me some clues. Thanks so much!

Masch, Poland

 

did you do this test on battery or with ac adapter connected ?

if you had these testresults with ac adapter plugged in, your driver installation might be messed up. try cleaning all nvidia driver related software and settings and reinstall the new driver.

 

Do you have anti-aliasing or any other IQ options enabled?

 

Yes, i had my AC adapter connected all the time. I don't think it's new nvidia drivers issue because notebook had low performance even at default factory drivers.
Anyway, which drivers do you suggest for GeForce 8600M GT and Vista Home Premium?

 

Did you set the power option to High Performance(unde vista) or Always On(under XP) in the power adapter icon ?

 

the driver you have chosen is already quite good. but it seems rather strange that your notebook performs that bad. If you had such a bad performance already when your laptop arrived it might not be "only" a driver problem.

have you tried a fresh install of vista already ? if you have not, maybe you should consider this step. you could then even get rid of some bloatware.

anyway, if you try a fresh install, and yourcard is performing as bad as it is now, you should consider contacting msi.

 

I would make sure the power settings aren't on Power Saver even if you have it plugged in. I know Vista on my laptop defaults to Power Saver every time it boots whether it's plugged in or not. This is something I always forget about when I start up a game and wonder why it's so laggy.

The only other thing I could think of is checking the temperature to make sure it isn't underclocking because of heating issues.

 

Also make sure nvidia powermizer is turned off. I've read instances of it showing bad performance when turned on.

 

You're right, power settings were on Power saving (I feel like a fool )
Now I set it to High performace and 3Dmark scored at last: 3410
BTW. Don't you think it's not so good for 169.09 drivers?

Below are my CPU-Z and GPU-Z stats (without OC, AA or other ). Maybe you can see something odd in my configuration? I wonder why pixel/texture fillrate are so low...


THANKS!

 

So yeah, let's summarize:

1) Be sure you're plugged in/AC power, NOT battery power.
2) Check your power management settings and be sure it's on Max Performance/whatever is the equivalent in your lappy.
3) See if you've installed the driver correctly.
4) Turn off PowerMizer [if applicable; I think this doesn't apply to Vista?]
5) Uninstall bloatware. Remove unnecessary startup programs. Etc.

Also, I wouldn't expect ~4000's, seeing as you have the DDR2 version of 8600M GT AND you're testing on 1280x1024. Should be around the low-mid ~3000's with better drivers [169.04, 169.09]. Are you sure you didn't get a really crippled version of the GPU?

Good luck!

EDIT: oops, I see you've already solved your problem. Congrats and happy gaming!

 

Is that the OC score? I remember hitting 3700 at 620/400 with xp.... So I think it normal since you're using vista....

 

It's normal.

Oops, linky doesn't have those specs. But yeah I can assure you it's normal because I have the same card, albeit the 256 MB version.

Probably because he's testing at 1280x1024, hence the lower score?

 

I did all my tests on Vista Home Premium and at 1280x1024. I scored 3410 without OC and TURBO mode. With TURBO mode on I hit 3454 points. TURBO mode (unique for MSI gaming series) overclocks core and memory bus so it has rather small influence on 3Dmark result.

 

With my previous 8600m GT 512mb DDR2, which is the same as yours, i scored around 3.4k with a slightly faster CPU, more or less 3,440 on the last run, your doing good.

 

Also, make sure to check that you're NOT in power save mode on your computer. Make sure to put it into High performance. To do this, just click on the battery symbol in the tool bar area where the time is, and set it to high performance. When i first tried the 3dmark, i got like 1900. lol, and it was all due to that power save mode.

EDIT: Lol, sorry, I didn't read the thread, but my idea was already posted, sorry.

 

^ Both tests were done with what resolution? 1280x1024? If that's so, then it's fine.

Because I get around ~3700 [can't remember exact number] in 3DMark06, but it's at 1280x800 res.

 

Yes, at 1280x1024. If I run my e6600 at 2.7 ~ 2.9 I score closer to 3.7k with the video card at stock.