4114 pts 3dmark06 on xps1530 is poor!

Ok, everyone i see doing 3dmark06 tests on the XPS 1530 seems to be getting scores of around 4300-500 3dmarks, often with lower specs than me. I am using the unregistered basic version with the hotfix.

I am running windows vista with aero on
I have a 2.6GHz T7800
4GB ram
5400rpm hard drive
the 256mb 8600M gt
1400X900 WXGA+ screen

I only got a score of 4114, why!? does everyone turn off all their background programs etc? use xp? user updated drivers? (though ive seen good ones out of the box)... Its really stressing me out, that its not running brilliantly, the CPU tests went down to 0-1 fps... maybe its really testing the computer, but still, its not getting decent enough scores.

The only game ive tested is knights of the old republic on all high settings max AA etc, but when i go outdoors (for whoevers played it) it does get a bit choppy, especially with explosions. This is a 2001 game, how can a 2001 game EVER get choppy with this on DDR3?

I have checked the other forums, sorry for starting a new thread, i cant make my way around this website easily if there was an answer somewhere. Thanks.

 

That's quite normal actually. Desktop CPUs don't get anywhere above 2fps AFAIK.

A few tips:

1) Power settings should be at MAX PERFORMANCE/HIGH PERFORMANCE or whatever similar setting you have, NOT BALANCED OR POWER SAVER or whatever similar setting you have.
2) Try laptopvideo2go.com drivers. They have pretty detailed and easy-to-follow instructions on how to install their drivers. I'd suggest the 170-ish drivers. If you're wary about trying them, try upgrading to the 'official' Dell 174.31 drivers. Go to the Dell support page and find it yourself.
3) Have you done a clean install? Bloatware might be hogging your system resources, hence the lower 3dmark score. If you're wary of doing a clean install, just try unloading/closing unnecessary programs while 3dmark is running to improve your score.

 

4114 is a great score on an XPS 1530!

 

So i will be able to run games like cod4 and oblivion and even crysis at the gfx settings others having been saying? I thought my lower score might mean something was wrong with the card.

I did do a clean install, i have my computer on high performance too, and i have the dell drivers (the ones from the XPS selection anyway)

Will using laptopvideo2go drivers void my warranty?

 

Changing your driver will not void warranty..

 

It is mostly down to drivers. When I first got my 1530 (one of the first release models) I got a 3D mark score of around 2500. With a more recent Nvidia driver I get 4500+.

If you have the latest 1530 model and twice the ram I do you will get significantly better results with different drivers.

The problem is Dell drivers are about 1-2years behind Nvidia and Nvidia do release laptop drivers. The good news is you can force your laptop to use the desktop drivers. In the past this has been dangerous as you could get major side effects. Fortunately, most recent desktop drivers come with power management and other features that make it work just fine with most notebooks. I've had no side effects from using it for the last 5months.

If you have trouble getting nvidia drivers installed then post a message and I'll give you a step by step. You could use the drivers over at laptopvideo2go. they are essentially the desktop driver with a modded INF file so laptops will accept them. I don't use them though as I have a blu-ray drive which won't play movies with modded INF to protect from illegal copying. I simply use the original Nvidia driver but tell the system manually to install it.

 

do a clean windows install and update your video drivers. KotOR will do that to u if you max out settings and AA. 8600M GT is good but not that good lol.