Video card is running INCREDIBLY slow

[Guest ipunek01]

I am having trouble with my video card, its performance is terrible,

I ran a benchmark- Futuremark 3DMark2001 SE Build 330 and got a score of about 3000

this card on this system is supposed to score around 7700 (http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=insp_general&message.id=153227)

My card has not always been running so slow, it used to run great,

however I had the motherboard replaced because the computer was turning off randomly and the fan replaced because it was overheating.

Now, however, the computer runs at normal CPU idle levels and normal temperatures, but the video card is running EXTREMELY slow,

For instance, Battlefield 1942 used to run amazingly smoothly at the highest settings, but now it runs unplayably slow at the lowest settings.

What could be causing this problem? I have run an antivirus and removed all spyware using adaware and spybot, also tried using different drivers, and disabling all startup programs and services, but am still getting scores around 3000.

[LSudlow]

I've got the same laptop and haven't ever actually achieved 7000 in the 2001 3DBench. Almost, but not quite.

That said, and assuming you have your 3D settings at thier fastest (no antiliasing, anisotropic filtering or vertical sync, and Image Setting set on High Performance), there are several possibities: Make sure your CPU is at its fastest by using the "Always On" power profile. Make sure the machine isn't throttling down due to heat. (Use compressed air to blow out the heat sink in on the rear panel.) And finally, make sure they didn't swap your 64MB card for a 32MB version. The performance you're seeing is just about right for the 32MB FX Go5200.

[®®®]

» Your Windows XP laptop runs slower than expected?

When you start your Windows XP laptop using battery power, the processor speed may be slower than the manufacturer rated speed.

To view the processor speed, look at the General tab of the System applet in Control Panel.

This behavior occurs because most manufacturers run the processor at a slower speed when the computer is running on battery power, to reduce the heat and conserve battery power.

NOTE: This behavior may be configurable in your computer's BIOS.

When the computer starts, the processor speed is written to the ~MHz Value Name, a REG_DWORD data type, at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\HARDWARE\DESCRIPTION\System\CentralProcessor\<Processor Number>, where <Processor Number> starts at 0.

[Teraphy]

ipunek01, according to your System Information you're using drivers from Dell. That might explain it. Tried Pieter's modified files?

[aye29]

ipunek01, according to your System Information you're using drivers from Dell. That might explain it. Tried Pieter's modified files?

That would mean that upgrading to modded drivers would yield an approximately 100% performance increase. I agree that upgrading driver will help his performance but I don't think changing to modded drivers would make that great a difference. I would check the clock frequencies of the graphics card. Make sure that it is not running in power saving mode or 2D mode even though you are running a 3D application.