wPrime Surprise

My new np9262 has been performing well but I decided to run wPrime this morning to check out its E6850 3.0Ghz processor. I was surprised to get a time of around 47 seconds in the 32M test, a time that is slower than most 2.0 Ghz T-series Core 2 Duo processors according to Gophn's "wPrime Hall of Fame".

Although my 3Dmark06 CPU scores seem to be OK, I can't help but wonder if this poor wPrime result indicates some sort of problem with my machine.

A couple of observations:

According to both nPrime and CPU-Z, the CPU idles at 2.0Ghz, even with the power scheme set to "always on" in Control Panel. However, when I start up wPrime, CPU-Z shows the clock going up to 3.0Ghz.

I tried the XP hotfix for multi-core operation but it didn't change the wPrime time at all. (I should note that I did not make the registry change since Microsoft claims that that is only necessary to provide a means to turn the fix on and off.)

CPU-Z shows my memory to PC2 6400, but it shows its speed to be 400Mhz. I expected it to show 800Mhz, but what do I know.

Hope someone can tell me whether I have a problem or not and how to fix it if I do. Otherwise I'll have to ask Gophn to create a "wPrime Hall of SHAME" where I can post my result.

 

its not your computer... you need to read my notes on the bottom of the wPrime thread to show you how to improve your score... and which OS gives the best results.

you'll find that many people have re-done their system's settings/configs to improve their score.

To optimize your score:
- disable resource hogs (System Restore, Antivirus, etc..)
- switch Appearance/Theme to Classic Mode

I believe the best OS for benchmark scores is now XP 32-bit (SP3)... before it was Vista x64.

 

I was in Classic Mode but all the "resource hogs" were running. Does it really make THAT MUCH of a difference?

 

Yes it does.

-System Restore... sucks up about 10-15% of resources
-Antivirus or Suite (Norton and McAffee are the worst) ... sucks up to 20-30% of resources

and so on... for anything running in the background...

I use HiJackThis (a free stand-alone EXE) to look at all the programs and services that is running in the background.

 

Not that much of a difference I'd say that your results to be cut in half.

 

He's probably referring to RAM, not CPU. But still, disable them.

 

actually for CPU as well... since services and programs use the CPU for indexing, scanning files, rendering images/graphical representations, etc...

 

I ran wPrime after a disgnostic-mode boot and my time improved by a half second to 46.5.

Doesn't that mode turn off just about everything that can possibly be disabled?

BTW, Task Manager shows both cores going to 100% while I'm running wPrime.

 

Are you sure you're running it with 2 threads?
type gui in the wPrime, then go to Advanced and set up 2 threads.

 

Did that. I get 47 seconds with 2 threads and 94 seconds with 1 thread.

 

Any comments on the fact that CPU-Z shows my memory speed to be 400Mhz?

 

do not run diagnostic mode... it does not really help.

you must disable your system restore (in System Properties), disable/uninstall Anti-virus (suite)

Other than that, you should not be too focused on scores, since most of the wPrime scores on the table were using just the bare and optimal OS... no frills.

Your score is still quite good if you are using other programs running in the background.

its not a contest... to most people anyway.

 

It's not to me either. Just thought it might tell me if my CPU was "in the ballpark". Now I don't know what it's telling me.

Thanks for the assistance, guys.

 

its in the ball park, especially if you have utilities running in the background.

as long as it not as high as 90s... you are fine.

 

Ur ram is DDR (Double Data Rate) :d i guess this is just more than enough

 

Remember when I ran it? I got a bit better scores by choosing 4 threads instead of 2. Not a whole lot of difference but from 27s to 26.5s. Just a thought also. If you kill everything not essential to running windows then run it you should have the 'cleanest' score possible. I had XPSP2 and x64Vista and my scores were identical in both. You should score similarly to me...i.e. my 2.93Ghz Core2.

 

After further experimenting I find that it doesn't much matter what I turn off or have on... I still get 47 plus/minus .5 seconds.

So, thanks for all the ideas. Now, I think I'll just give up on it.

 

This is a common question on many forums that I frequent. Here's how it breaks down:

SDR = Single Data Rate, memory is refreshed every clock cycle
DDR = Dual/Double Data Rate, memory is refreshed on the rise and on the fall of the clock cycle

Basic math on DDR rated speeds and values, see below for example:

PC2-6400 DDR2

6400 / 8 = 800mhz (which is the speed that you expected to see)

800mhz= the DDR2 data rate, so we will divide by 2 (DDR2 is rated for twice the throughput at the same operational frequency as DDR1)

800mhz / 2 = 400mhz (this is the speed that is being reported to you in CPU-Z)

This formula works for all DDR2 speeds. Example:

PC2-8500

8500 / 8 = 1062.5mhz (which is rounded up to 1066, incidentally...they do this with PC2-5300/5400)

1062.5mhz / 2 = 531.75 (which is rounded to 533)

Also, it should be noted that anything where the math gives you anything other than the normal bus speeds (read NOT A WHOLE NUMBER) is usually a community supported (and thereby, BIOS supported on enthusiast motherboards) specification. JEDEC specs are for:

PC2-4200, PC2-5300, PC2-6400

Anything else is speed binned and tested, but is a "made up" specification.

I hope that helped. It's all math, and as long as you know what to divide/multiply by, it's pretty easy stuff. I can do this...but I can't balance my checkbook, or do my own taxes...go figure!

 

Thanks... good explanation!