I don't get it....

[neilt]

A few weeks ago, I had posted the specs on a computer I was going to build for my dad. I've done that, and was running some benchmarks tonight, hoping to be impressed. But my almost 2 year old machine beat his in all but one benchmark!

Here are his main specs:
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600
Motherboard: Asus P5K
Memory: 2GB Corsair XMS2 PC2 5400, dual channel
Case: Antec Sonata 3
Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 320GB, Sata2, 3gb/sec, 16mb cache
Video Card: Asus Geforce 7600GS (the passively cooled one).
Sound: Soundblaster XFI
Operating System: XP pro

Here are my specs:
CPU: P4 640 (prescott) 3.2ghz (you know, the one that runs as hot as the sun)
Motherboard: Asus P5LD2
Memory: 2GB Corsair Value Select PC4200, dual channel
Case: Thermaltake Soprano w/ Antec TPII 550W
Hard Drives: 2 WD 740 Raptor drives in Raid 0
Video Card: EVGA 6800GS
Sound: M-audio Audiophile 2496
Operating System: XP pro

3Dmark 06: Mine was 2365, his was 2272
3Dmark 03: Mine 11623, his 9643
3dmark 01: Mine 23384, his 30151 (that makes more sense)

So what's with these numbers? Is it because of the graphics card? I figured the E6600 would kill mine 10 times over.

Neil

[odannyboy000]

Have you updated everything? Make sure you update all drivers.

[neilt]

I checked, and found I was able to update a few drivers, but it actually scored a little lower. The only conclusion I can think of is it's a very budget 7600GS. I had a copy of Sandra2004 kicking around, so I ran the multimedia benchmark. Here are the results:
Integer: 23100 (P4) and 63536 (e6600)
Floating Point: 30675 (p4) and 71404 (e6600)

Not sure what those mean, but it shows the Core2 Duo is quite a bit faster. I'm still disappointed in the results with the 3Dmark tests. I don't think he'll notice, though.

[jlreich]

Yes it should score higher. If you have any games with a built in benchmark try comparing the game on both systems. And/or run fraps. I would bet the 7600GS will score higher and get better FPS in a real world test.

3DMark and other benchmarks are not as valid as they used to be.... if they ever really were valid.

[rond36]

CPU: P4 640 (prescott) 3.2ghz (you know, the one that runs as hot as the sun)

I have a Pentium 4 640 in my laptop(HP/Compaq NX9600) and have never had temp problems.