Cpu usage and cpu speed question.

il3dsm · 7th Nov 2007, 06:57 AM

Hello everybody, I have a problem I can't solve, my system specs:
GA-8PE800 series motherboard (GA-8PE800-rs rev 2.0) to be exact,
1.5 GB RAM (1024 MB + 512 MB, pc3200, running at 175.4MHZ with 2.5/3/3/7 timings)
Sapphire ATI Radeon 9600XT 500/324
Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM, ~200GB total disk space
Intel Celeron 330, 2.66 GHZ, 533 FSB stock running at 3.5 GHZ 700FSB.
Windows XP SP2 Build 2600 with everything but essential processes turned off.

Now for the question: For some reason, my cpu is working abnormally slow, it calculates 1M for 1 minute 0 seconds in superpi at 3.5 GHZ. On the other hand, if I leave my computer on for some time and then run the superpi again, it will calculate in about 45 seconds, then jump back up after a short amount of time. Same settings, everything except for essential services is turned off. What could be causing this, and how can I force it into working faster?
Second question: if I open the task manager, it always shows cpu usage at 2-5%, rarely at 0 while the System Idle Process is at 99% at that time. What sucks up so much cpu in windows XP? My other computer's cpu usage is always at 0-2% when idle, never above that. My Windows XP is freshly installed so there are no viruses or spyware, guaranteed.

Thanks for your time, IL3DSM.

Adrian Wong · 7th Nov 2007, 10:14 AM

If you ignore the SuperPi results, does your CPU perform normally?

It's normal for the CPU usage to be around 2-5% even at idle. There are background tasks running, like your anti-virus software, for example. Or Windows' own disk caching function.. or even virtual memory allocation.

Your other computer... What specs does it have??

peaz · 7th Nov 2007, 10:41 AM

Hmm sounds quite normal to me imho. could be any of the internal processes and services running at the time you ran superpi for the 1st time.

il3dsm · 8th Nov 2007, 02:06 AM

My other computer is a Pentium 4 3.2 Ghz with HTT, Asus P4P800 series mobo, not sure which one, Sapphire ATI Radeon x1600 pro and 2 GB pc3200 ram.

What I find weird, is that based on the x-bitlabs test results I was supposed to even out with p4 2.8GHZ which my friend has, but his super pi score is 45 seconds, as well as he is getting a lot more fps in team fortress 2, not to mention he can run at directX 9.0 while I have to go back to Dx 8.0, although he only has 1GB ram and ATI Radeon 9200 series video card, no idea which mobo though.
Any ideas why my pc is so inferior compared to his, and why overclocking doesn't seem to do anything noticeable. May be because of a mother board?

Edit: I've ran AquaMark 3 and got a cpu score of 6.6k with overclock, while x-bit labs testing machine with my cpu got 7.1k, on default settings! This is ridiculous.

Chai · 8th Nov 2007, 07:09 PM

Motherboard, and CPU overheating could be the reason.

Adrian Wong · 9th Nov 2007, 12:29 AM

Yeah, take a look at your CPU temperature. Your processor will insert idle cycles to keep the temperature at an acceptable level.

il3dsm · 9th Nov 2007, 12:59 AM

Already checked that, cpu temp stays below 58C on full load, while throttling starts at about 70-75C (I've read that somewhere) so it doesn't throttle.

Adrian Wong · 9th Nov 2007, 01:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by il3dsm

Already checked that, cpu temp stays below 58C on full load, while throttling starts at about 70-75C (I've read that somewhere) so it doesn't throttle.

What did you use to measure the CPU temperature?

goldfries · 9th Nov 2007, 05:38 AM

il3dsm, you mentioned 2 computer setups here.

Let's go one at a time. which one would you prefer to get settled first?

for your first setup, 60 second vs 45 second on the same specs is weird. It shouldn't have that much a variance.

how you about trying Super PI 5 - 10 times within an hour and take note of any drop in performance.

during the time you're running Super PI, open your Windows Task Manager, click on PROCESSES, then sort by CPU.

This way, you'll see what other resources are running when Super PI is running.

il3dsm · 9th Nov 2007, 08:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Adrian Wong

What did you use to measure the CPU temperature?

I've used speedfan.

Quote:

Originally Posted by goldfries

il3dsm, you mentioned 2 computer setups here.

Let's go one at a time. which one would you prefer to get settled first?

for your first setup, 60 second vs 45 second on the same specs is weird. It shouldn't have that much a variance.

how you about trying Super PI 5 - 10 times within an hour and take note of any drop in performance.

during the time you're running Super PI, open your Windows Task Manager, click on PROCESSES, then sort by CPU.

This way, you'll see what other resources are running when Super PI is running.

I want to know about the 2.66 GHz Celeron d 330 setup, it is "supposed" to run a lot faster based on x-bit labs testing, which is found here: (~7.1K not overclocked, if you don't want to click) X-bit labs - Intel Celeron D CPU: Budget Processors from Intel Acquire Prescott Core (page 8)
while my actual cpu score is this: (6.8k)

3.5Ghz (~900 mhz overclock) with 2.5/3/3/6 ram timings and most processes disabled.
It just bothers me how they've gotten such high scores with my cpu, I have already overclocked to the max and still can't reach their "factory settings" score, let alone the unbelievable "it runs almost as well as Pentium 4 3.2E ghz at 3.8Ghz", with the cpu score of over 9.3k in aquamark3.

Did they fake the results or is there something terribly wrong with my system?
By the way the superpi score is consistent, and there are no other processes who use cpu.

7th Nov 2007, 06:57 AM	#1 (permalink)
il3dsm Newbie Join Date: 7 Nov 2007 Posts: 7 Reputation: 0 Rep Power: 0	Cpu usage and cpu speed question. Hello everybody, I have a problem I can't solve, my system specs: GA-8PE800 series motherboard (GA-8PE800-rs rev 2.0) to be exact, 1.5 GB RAM (1024 MB + 512 MB, pc3200, running at 175.4MHZ with 2.5/3/3/7 timings) Sapphire ATI Radeon 9600XT 500/324 Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM, ~200GB total disk space Intel Celeron 330, 2.66 GHZ, 533 FSB stock running at 3.5 GHZ 700FSB. Windows XP SP2 Build 2600 with everything but essential processes turned off. Now for the question: For some reason, my cpu is working abnormally slow, it calculates 1M for 1 minute 0 seconds in superpi at 3.5 GHZ. On the other hand, if I leave my computer on for some time and then run the superpi again, it will calculate in about 45 seconds, then jump back up after a short amount of time. Same settings, everything except for essential services is turned off. What could be causing this, and how can I force it into working faster? Second question: if I open the task manager, it always shows cpu usage at 2-5%, rarely at 0 while the System Idle Process is at 99% at that time. What sucks up so much cpu in windows XP? My other computer's cpu usage is always at 0-2% when idle, never above that. My Windows XP is freshly installed so there are no viruses or spyware, guaranteed. Thanks for your time, IL3DSM.

7th Nov 2007, 10:14 AM	#2 (permalink)
Adrian Wong Da Boss Join Date: 10 Oct 2002 Location: In front of my BenQ Joybook 7000 notebook! Posts: 29,678 Reputation: 2878 Rep Power: 64	If you ignore the SuperPi results, does your CPU perform normally? It's normal for the CPU usage to be around 2-5% even at idle. There are background tasks running, like your anti-virus software, for example. Or Windows' own disk caching function.. or even virtual memory allocation. Your other computer... What specs does it have?? __________________ Dr. Adrian Wong Tech ARP \| Blog @ Tech ARP \| The Free Trade Zone DYKT : The only offshore account I have is at the sand bank? Keep Tech ARP free! Visit our sponsors! We need PROGRAMMERS and TECHNICAL WRITERS! Contact us if you are a hot shot programmer or technical writer! My items for sale : 50x SD Card \| Memory Stick PRO \| Cyclone Energy Saver \| Seiko SS watch \| Tiger/Carlsberg beer jugs \| Travel Speakers \| Motorola V600 \| Nokia N90 SOLD! \| New Lowepro Mini Trekker AW Other items for sale @ the FTZ : Zalman CNPS9500 LED @ $20 \| Zalman CNPS7700 Cu @ $20 \| Zalman CNPS7000 Cu @ $20 \| Swarovski bracelet watches \| Dell 17" LCD \| Hi-Fi speakers \| English DIVX movies \| HP LaserJet toners! \| Office chairs

7th Nov 2007, 10:41 AM	#3 (permalink)
peaz ARP Webmaster Join Date: 13 Oct 2002 Location: http://atpeaz.placidthoughts.com/ Posts: 8,499 Reputation: 1633 Rep Power: 30	Hmm sounds quite normal to me imho. could be any of the internal processes and services running at the time you ran superpi for the 1st time. __________________ Ken Ng Tech ARP Visit my web gallery - Ken's Digital Canvas Shoot and Earn Money from Stock Photography Sterling@PJ Community Forums

8th Nov 2007, 02:06 AM	#4 (permalink)
il3dsm Newbie Join Date: 7 Nov 2007 Posts: 7 Reputation: 0 Rep Power: 0	My other computer is a Pentium 4 3.2 Ghz with HTT, Asus P4P800 series mobo, not sure which one, Sapphire ATI Radeon x1600 pro and 2 GB pc3200 ram. What I find weird, is that based on the x-bitlabs test results I was supposed to even out with p4 2.8GHZ which my friend has, but his super pi score is 45 seconds, as well as he is getting a lot more fps in team fortress 2, not to mention he can run at directX 9.0 while I have to go back to Dx 8.0, although he only has 1GB ram and ATI Radeon 9200 series video card, no idea which mobo though. Any ideas why my pc is so inferior compared to his, and why overclocking doesn't seem to do anything noticeable. May be because of a mother board? Edit: I've ran AquaMark 3 and got a cpu score of 6.6k with overclock, while x-bit labs testing machine with my cpu got 7.1k, on default settings! This is ridiculous. Last edited by il3dsm : 8th Nov 2007 at 02:46 AM.

8th Nov 2007, 07:09 PM	#5 (permalink)
Chai Administrator Join Date: 6 Oct 2002 Location: Maranello Posts: 26,272 Reputation: 3862 Rep Power: 71	Motherboard, and CPU overheating could be the reason. __________________ Chai (Contributor & Forum Admin) http://www.techarp.com/

9th Nov 2007, 12:29 AM	#6 (permalink)
Adrian Wong Da Boss Join Date: 10 Oct 2002 Location: In front of my BenQ Joybook 7000 notebook! Posts: 29,678 Reputation: 2878 Rep Power: 64	Yeah, take a look at your CPU temperature. Your processor will insert idle cycles to keep the temperature at an acceptable level. __________________ Dr. Adrian Wong Tech ARP \| Blog @ Tech ARP \| The Free Trade Zone DYKT : The only offshore account I have is at the sand bank? Keep Tech ARP free! Visit our sponsors! We need PROGRAMMERS and TECHNICAL WRITERS! Contact us if you are a hot shot programmer or technical writer! My items for sale : 50x SD Card \| Memory Stick PRO \| Cyclone Energy Saver \| Seiko SS watch \| Tiger/Carlsberg beer jugs \| Travel Speakers \| Motorola V600 \| Nokia N90 SOLD! \| New Lowepro Mini Trekker AW Other items for sale @ the FTZ : Zalman CNPS9500 LED @ $20 \| Zalman CNPS7700 Cu @ $20 \| Zalman CNPS7000 Cu @ $20 \| Swarovski bracelet watches \| Dell 17" LCD \| Hi-Fi speakers \| English DIVX movies \| HP LaserJet toners! \| Office chairs

9th Nov 2007, 12:59 AM	#7 (permalink)
il3dsm Newbie Join Date: 7 Nov 2007 Posts: 7 Reputation: 0 Rep Power: 0	Already checked that, cpu temp stays below 58C on full load, while throttling starts at about 70-75C (I've read that somewhere) so it doesn't throttle.

9th Nov 2007, 05:38 AM	#9 (permalink)
goldfries More Than Meets The Eye Join Date: 22 Jan 2003 Location: KL/PJ Malaysia Posts: 7,861 Reputation: 539 Rep Power: 18	il3dsm, you mentioned 2 computer setups here. Let's go one at a time. which one would you prefer to get settled first? for your first setup, 60 second vs 45 second on the same specs is weird. It shouldn't have that much a variance. how you about trying Super PI 5 - 10 times within an hour and take note of any drop in performance. during the time you're running Super PI, open your Windows Task Manager, click on PROCESSES, then sort by CPU. This way, you'll see what other resources are running when Super PI is running. __________________ no computer specs \| no photography gear list \| no userbars \| no quotes