I recently upgraded my (almost extinct) socket 939 Athlon64 3700+ (2.20ghz) processor to a hard to find Athlon X2 Dual Core 4200+ (2.20ghz) processor. Before upgrading, I ran PC-Mark05 with all tests enabled and got the following results:

PCMark Score - 3188
CPU Score - 3187
Memory Score - 2944
Graphics Score - 5728
HDD Score - 5111


After upgrading, but keeping all other hardware except the CPU the same, I got the following results:

PCMark Score - 4192
CPU Score - 4466
Memory Score - 2938
Graphics Score - 2685
HDD Score - 5130

As you can see, the new cpu has given me a boost in general performance, but practically halved my graphics performance. What I want to know is, why has my graphics performance dropped so much, and what sort of effect will this have on gaming/video applications etc?

My system is as follows:

Asus a8v-mx motherboard,
1gb 400mhz Samsung DDR ram,
Inno3d 256mb 7600GS AGP video card,
250gb seagate ide hdd,
running TinyXP

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.
Thankyou

It's likely that a BIOS update or CMOS reset will fix that problem. I've seen plenty of single-core to dual-core upgrades that appear to slow the system down.

But seriously, PCMark05? :p After you check out the BIOS/CMOS situation, you might want to test using a real graphical benchmarking program, like 3DMark06!

Hi Saphalline, according to the asus website, I have the latest bios update. I will try a cmos reset though. What is the best way to do that, using a jumper on the m/b or taking the m/b battery out, or perhaps both?

As for 3dmark06, I did run it after the upgrade, but unfortunately hadnt run it BEFORE the upgrade aswell so I didnt have anything to compare it to. The scores were as follows though, perhaps someone here might have a better idea of whether they match what my hardware should be giving me...

1885 3DMarks
SM2.0 Score: 674
HDR/SM3.0 Score: 706
CPU Score: 1590

Thanks again,
glenb83

To reset CMOS you MUST remove the battery as well as jumping it. Make sure your computer is removed from all power, and also you need to drain the mobo by holding down the power button.

To reset CMOS you MUST remove the battery as well as jumping it. Make sure your computer is removed from all power, and also you need to drain the mobo by holding down the power button.

Thanks for that odannyboy, I will give it a try tonight and let you know how it goes.