650i chipset, drivers and slow speed

[jefflins]

Just built a system, and was thrilled when it posted immediately. System:

MSI p6N SLI Platinum mobo
e6600
8800GTS
3 gb (2x1gb 2x512) Patriot ddr2 800 mem
150gb raptor boot drive SATA
250 gb wd sata second drive
p180 case
Corsair 520hx psu
win xp sp2

Running stock everything now, though i plan to oc. First want to make sure my baseline is ok. Wellll...i don't think it is. Sisoft seems to thing i'm about on par with a e6400, and the e6700 benchmarks in sandra blow me away on every metric.

I don't know if i've done something wrong, or if this is just it...i have NOT loaded nTune or SMBus. Just loaded newer audio and ethernet drivers.

Network seems SLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW...IDE (just the CD) seems SLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW. Overall not impressed with the system, and I was really thinking that I don't have the basic settings down right, or that I'm missing a driver. Again, not looking to OC just yet...want this to perform like a standard 6600 should first.

Never really had issues building a system, and I've been doing it for a while, but still not too experienced, so any help would be appreciated. Particularly if there are sites that can tell me the baselines for a similar system to mine (sandra only had 6700 and 6400). Also my memory seemed slow on sisoft...i don't know...HELP!

 

[f4phantom2500]

well first things first: make sure all of your drivers are the most recent (and that sisoft is the most recent) and that the device manager doesn't say there's any problems with the hardware. also i would make sure some setting or something isn't turned off in the bios.

EDIT: oh, if i were you i would take out the 2x512mb sticks; see how it runs on the 2 gig kit.

 

[3Degree]

Which slots do you have the 1gb's and the 512's in.....? And are you running them at AUTO or have you set the timings?

 

[jefflins]

Hey, thanks for the response. Everything is stock righ out of the box. Haven't touched the timings on the memory at all. I believe fsb running at 267 ( memory at 533). I should be able to run the memory faster, but want to get things straight before I go tweaking.

Updated the bios to most recent version, 1.20. Not much else updated. Have not installed nTune, SMBus...

I'm not sure which drivers I should load...i do research before loading, and there are split opinions on so many of them.
Right now in Sandra, I look more like an e6400 than a e6700 (no e6600 in their reference benchmarks). And internet bandwidth of like 19k/sec seemed slow...I think what I need to know is what drivers to mess with...

Oh, downloaded MSI live update, which updated itslef to the newest version...and it doesn't look like it actually works...some newer stuff on the web doesn't show up via the updater....

 

[jefflins]

Ok, am running at 3.15 stable...fsb at 1400,mem at 800 and getting good cpu benchmarks. Still adjusting cooling method. Have installed SMBus and nTune. Neither did much of anything...nTune requires linked mem and fsb adjustments, which is no good, so I'm still using bios for adjustments. Oh well.

My biggest issue is network connection. It just sucks. Originally I was plugged into a switch, into a router, to my cable modem. All hard wired. Connection was awful. Went right into the router, and things got much better. Then it just stopped...couldn't connect through the router...no ping at all. Went to the switch, worked fine...but slow. Downloads don't complete and Sandra says i'm not much faster than a 56k modem. Had this problem before I o/ced, so don't think thats it. Anybody have this issue?

Other problem is that the memory/cache subsystem test in sandra (2007 version) thinks I'm a e6400l, and an e6700 is like 50% faster. With a 4mb cache i'd think i would be right there with the 6700, not the 6400...anybody have any ideas?

 

[Hauk]

I had a similar setup. I'd not get too hung up on Sandra. They use the word "synthetic" for a reason. You've already accomplished what most would recommend... finding a good overclock for the cpu and memory. The E6600 at stock is like a corvette being driven by a grandpa, a waste of good horsepower.

I'd be thinking better than stock cooling for sure. You've already installed the mobo. A push-pin installed cooler like this one would be fairly painless at this point. Choice of cooler, a whole other topic.

Does your memory config allow 5-5-5 2T @ 800? Adjust timings to tightest possible. Memtest is how to test timings.

Ditch ntune. It's bloated. Use the bios to make adjustments. Use ATItools or Rivatuner if you want to OC your GTS.

As far as network issues, nothing sounds like it's mobo related. Post in networking for help.