New 5760 performance issues

Help!

I just received my new 5760 from Power Notebooks on Thursday. I've been fighting with it ever since. Four XP Pro SP2 installs and various tweaks and such.

Here's what I have:
Sager NP5760 SUPRA
- 17" WSXGA+
- GeForce Go 7950 GTX w/512MB
- Core 2 Duo T7600 2.33GHz Processor w/4M L2 Cache
- 2GB DDR2/667 Dual Channel Memory
- 100GB SATA/150 Hard Drive @ 7200 RPM
- 160GB SATA/150 Hard Drive @ 5400 RPM (Modular Bay)
- Combo 8x8x6x4x Dual Layer DVD +/-R/RW 5x DVD-RAM 24x CD-R/RW Drive
- Built-in TV Tuner w/Remote
- Built-in Intel PRO/Wireless 3945 802.11a/b/g
- Built-in Bluetooth Wireless

Ordered it with no O/S. Installed in the following order:
XP Pro SP2
Intel Chipset (v8.1.1.1010 from Intel's site once, v7.2.2.1006 from CD)
Video (v86.54 from Sager's site once, v86.14 from CD)
Audio (v5.10.0.5265 from CD)
Modem (v7.23.00.00 from CD)
LAN (v5.621.0304.2005 from CD)
TouchPad (v5.0.1.9 from CD)
PCMCIA (v2.0.0.6 from CD)
AP-Key Hot-Key (v8.16 from Sager's site once, unknown version from CD)
Auto Mail (v1.33 from Sager's site once, unknown version from CD)
Bison Camera (v2.6.0.62 from Clevo's site once, unknown version from CD)
Intel Pro a/b/g (v10.5.2.0 from Intel's site once, v10.1.1.13 from CD)
Bluetooth (v2.0.10.0 Clevo's site once, v2.0.0.0 from CD)
TV Tuner (Unknown version from Sager's site, unknown version from CD)

All of the installs I did manually (not using the Autoplay front end). All of the BIOS settings are at defaults. All driver/display settings are at defaults.

Problem is my 3dMark05 score (only benchmark I'm using at the moment). I see that the 5760 I've got configured should post around 8500-10000. Min'es hitting 5100-6400 depending on the drivers I've got loaded. Everything works, no BSODs, no lockups, nothing unusual.

What am I missing????

 

i would use 3DMark06 since its recommended for a multi-core system, 3DMark05 does not put that into account on most systems.

your score for 3Dmark06 should fall within 5000-5200 area.

remember to disable things that will kill performance, like:
- System Restore
- Antivirus

and trying the WinXP Multi-Core hotfix wont hurt either.

 

Have you checked to see if your card is in low power mode in the Nvidia control console?

 

TwilightVamp gives a good point as well, the Powermizer in the nVidia Control Panel should be set to Max Performance.

 

I applied the multi-core patch (had done it before a time or two, but not this latest build). Restore is turned off and I don't have it on the network yet, so no AV or FW.

3DMark06 score (using all defaults) = 3280
Details:
SM2.0: 1313
- GT1 13.769 FPS
- GT2 8.116 FPS
HDR/SM3.0: 1162
- HDR1 9.669 FPS
- HDR2 13.566 FPS
CPU: 1989
- CPU1 0.628 FPS
- CPU2 1.008 FPS

The power mode is set to max performance (on AC power right now too).

Belarc and CPU-Z (1.38) both say I have the T7600 like I'm supposed to...

I know it's a lot better than what I had (P4 2.8, 1GB RAM, 9800Pro), but I feel like there should be so much more performance that I'm not getting....

 

That confirms that your CPU is not the culprit of your relatively low scores; 1900 - 2000 points is what the T7600 gets in the CPU tests.

What drivers were you using? Try the Driver Update guide.

 

That's a big relief on the CPU front...

In the current build, all the drivers are the default that come on the CD. For video, they are the 86.14 from Sager on the CD. I tried the 86.54 from Sager's site earlier too...

I updated to the "XTreme-G MobileForce XP 97.44 G3" drivers (uninstalling old ones first) and selecting the "Tweaked" version during install.

Now 3dMark06 craps out and doesn't run. Problem says it's in module si3.dll...

 

The 97.xx drivers are optimized for the 8800 series GPUs, so my advice would be to stay away from them. Try the 91.21 drivers, they worked perfectly with the Clevo M570U I tested.

 

wow. nice CPU score, definitely not that.

I am thinking that it might be a driver issue

 

In the XTremeG drivers? I can only find down to 91.47 from August 28, 2006. Did you mean the release prior to current (92.91 G2) from October 14, 2006?

I'm also about to pop the base off and make sure the HSF is seated well on the GPU.

 

I was using the LaptopVideo2Go drivers, sorry for not specifying that. They are trickier to install than the XtremeG drivers so follow the guide. If the 91.21 drivers are not available for download, then just use another version of the 91.xx drivers. See if that helps and let us know how it works out.

 

I'm getting ready for work today (dang it!) and will be working on it again this evening, but I remembered something else...

One of the first attempts of loading the system, I used the Official nVidia Forceware for the GeForce Go series v84.63. However, when I tried installing them, it reported that there was no supported hardware found. Is that right?? I've got the GeForce Go 7950 GTX.

Or maybe I just got a lemon? Maybe just return this one and buy another?

I'll report back tonight with more. Thanks for all the help people!

BTW: I'm not just a rookie/noob. Been in computers for 22 years and building my own for about 15 of them. I can be found with the same handle, SickPup404, on the TechIMO forums (from the original SysOpt days), FatWallet, etc. This however, really has me stumped. It's my first personal laptop - used them for work before this.

 

Forceware 84.63's INF file doesn't list the Go 7950 GTX as a recognisable device, so it's not because you got a lemon. I suppose you could install 84.63 after modding the INF file to include the device string for your card, but I have never successfully tried it.

 

84.63 drivers, only supports up to 7900 Go GTX.... NOT 7950 GTX

you must get a driver set higher than 84.63 to get the proper driver support.

 

YAY PEEPS!!!!!!

Re-seated the RAM, CPU, GPU, and installed the LaptopVideo2Go 91.63 drivers. Results:

3DMark06 score (using all defaults) = 5476
Details:
SM2.0: 2247
- GT1 18.109 FPS
- GT2 19.344 FPS
HDR/SM3.0: 2204
- HDR1 19.747 FPS
- HDR2 24.337 FPS
CPU: 2010
- CPU1 0.644 FPS
- CPU2 1.003 FPS

Many thanks to all!!!!!!

 

wow, you gotta make a review of your notebook for us. Its probably going to take top prize in benchmark scores.

 

Seriously? All I did was drop a little over $3k, cry to you guys, and viola!

BTW: I did NO tweaking on the LaptopVideo2Go 91.63 drivers. All settings at whatever defaults are loaded. The rest of the drivers are exactly what came on the CD with the system.

Just for grins, I ran 3dMark05 as well (all default settings) and here are the results:

3DMark05: 9829
- GT1: 43.0 FPS
- GT2: 30.1 FPS
- GT3: 47.0 FPS
CPU: 7922
- CPU Test 1: 4.0 FPS
- CPU Test 2: 7.0 FPS