New Workstation But Disappointing eVGA performance

[Vocalpoint]

Hello,

First some backgrounder - I built the following new workstation for digital audio production.

1 - Intel Core™2 Quad Processor Q6600

1 - Intel Desktop Board DP35DP

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1 - eVGA e-GeForce 8600 GT (Superclocked) 256MB PCI-E

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1 - Corsair XMS2 DHX TWIN2X4096-6400C5DHX

1 - OD LG Multi-Writer DVD (PATA)

1 - HD - System: (SATA) Seagate 160 GB Barracuda 7200.10 SATA II

1 - HD - Recording: (SATA) Seagate 250GB Barracuda 7200.10 SATA II

1 - HD - Samples: (SATA) Seagate 500GB Barracuda 7200.10 SATA II

1 - ANTEC P182 Advanced Super Mid Tower Case

1 - ANTEC TruePower Trio 650W Power Supply w/ Triple +12V

After overcoming a number of ugly scenarios (and doing some good learning) with the Intel DP35DP - I finally managed to get Windows XP onto the box. My biggest concerns however - are with the eVGA 8600GT. On paper - this is by far the best graphics display adapter I have ever owned. It should be a power house and run smooth in Windows XP SP2.

After a completely clean install - this card is exhibiting all sorts of strange glitches and sluggish performance. Examples - when logging onto to Windows - I see numerous screen redraws. Opening Windows Explorer seems to feel like molasses on screen. When I open a series of network folders and hold down the Shift key and click the Close icon - on screen it feels like a slow stack of dominos falling as each folder painfully closes. If the screensaver is on - and I give the mouse a shake....the entire screen takes like a second to "repaint" itself.

Of course - I first thought drivers. I have reinstalled Windows XP 32bit 6 times using the drivers that shipped with the card...the latest for nVidia...some older ones from nVidia and the latest from the eVGA site. Each of these driver sets exhibit some form of sluggishness. The newer the driver - the worse it seemed to get. The best performers were the driver that came with the card - some beta release (100.35 or so) from April 2007.

So - then I thought OS. For kicks I rolled out my Windows XP x64 edition and installed that. It was like night and day. The 8600GT was super responsive and was virtually instant on screen when clicking on anything. For my workflow - x64 is superb - but I still am missing some key audio drivers - so it's not an option for full time use.

Then I thought - maybe motherboard or something else - so I took the 8600 out and popped in a Quadro FX 560. The Quadro was even more responsive in this board - like it's in another league for 2D performance (much like my trusty Matrox cards from years gone by).

So any thoughts? Anyone seen anything like this? Again - I am not a gamer and bought this card solely for 2D digital editing. The price was excellent and the build quality looks first rate. But considering the power of the card and the workstation that it's in - I am very disappointed in the sluggish performance under XP 32bit. I would think that the XP 32bit drivers would be the most mature and easiest to get up to speed. I am considering just returning the product.

Any tips on things that I may be missing would be appreciated.

Cheers!

VP

[nmX.Memnoch]

First and foremost...did you install the Intel chipset drivers?

[Vocalpoint]

First and foremost...did you install the Intel chipset drivers?

Most certainly. latest chipset...latest BIOS...latest everything....been going at this since last Friday night. The fact that this rig works so good with x64 (what an ironic statement that is) tells me that the hardware is pretty sound - given the right environment/circumstances. But the graphics are a disappointment...at least in XP 32 bit.

Cheers!

VP

[puntoMX]

1 - Corsair XMS2 DHX TWIN2X4096-6400C5DHX

Hmmm, could this have something to do with the 4GB and how it’s installed? Do you use dual channel? I don’t think it’s the video card performance, more likely it’s the motherboard/RAM in combination with the OS…

[Vocalpoint]

1 - Corsair XMS2 DHX TWIN2X4096-6400C5DHX

Hmmm, could this have something to do with the 4GB and how it’s installed? Do you use dual channel? I don’t think it’s the video card performance, more likely it’s the motherboard/RAM in combination with the OS…

Well - you may be onto something. I posted this on a few other boards - including eVGA's forums and several folks have reported back about the memory when used with the XP. Frustrating part is - I can't find anything on this via google or checking out a ton of other forums/posts.

Yes - the Corsair RAM is a matched pair of 2GB modules running in dual channel mode. Next up - I am going to test the 8600 with a matched pair of 1GB modules in a clean XP install and see what happens. If the sluggishness disappears - then problem solved.

Thanks!

VP

[nmX.Memnoch]

That shouldn't be a problem. XP does support 4GB of RAM no matter how you slice it (single 4GB stick, 2x2GB sticks, 4x1GB sticks, 8x512MB sticks, etc). If it turns out to be a problem, then it's a hardware issue, not a Windows issue. Why it's only happening in XP 32-bit is a different matter and that could be some sort of compatibility issue in a driver and you may have found the certain combination that makes it happen, but that still makes it a hardware issue.

[cluberti]

Nvidia's drivers for the 8xxx series have been... subpar, at best, although mostly under Vista. Have you tried running the machine in VGA mode to see if the problem occurs there?

[Vocalpoint]

Well gang - It WAS the memory. After several folks peaked my curiosity - I nabbed a pair of 1GB modules after work and popped them in....reinstalled Win XP clean and the card is operating absolutely fantastic after moving the memory back to 2GB.

Not sure what the story is - but this particular board with this particular card under XP 32 bit - just doesn't like 4GB onboard. I also forgot to mention other oddball things that were happening - like my optical drives suddenly running like it was 1997...in my early (still with 4GB on board) installs with XP 32bit - the bloody install took 45 minutes. In addition to the sluggish video...I was getting slow response from apps...poor network response and on and on.

After getting the 4GB out...last night's one and only install took just 16 minutes and now this rig is really purring along.

Looks like I will be returning these 2GB sticks instead of the 8600GT! For the record (and a tip for the value conscious out there) I chose Kingston ValueRAM 2GB PC2-6400 DDR2 SDRAM Kit (2 x 1GB). $75.00 for 2GB whereas the Corsair was somewhere around $150. for the same 2GB. Personally for what I am doing with this new rig (digital audio) - there is no difference that I can feel at all in performance between the much fancier packaged Corsair and the pedestrian looking Kingston. If anything - the box runs much better under the 2GB of Kingston.

Cheers!

VP

[Kelsenellenelvian]

Yeah that 4gig bottleneck is pretty crappy....

I would however nab 1 more 1gig stick. 3 gigs will still give you all the perf you need and not choke on you.

[Vocalpoint]

Yeah that 4gig bottleneck is pretty crappy....

I would however nab 1 more 1gig stick. 3 gigs will still give you all the perf you need and not choke on you.

Yep - I was just reading up on that. WIth this Intel board (DP35DP) - I can run 3 one GB sticks in dual channel mode with no problem. That should be the ultimate sweet spot for XP 32bit.

Cheers!

VP

[nmX.Memnoch]

I know for a fact it's not a problem with 32-bit XP handling 4GB RAM...I'm on a Dell Precision 490 worksatation right now that has 4GB RAM and is running 32-bit XP without any problems. Previous to this workstation I had a Dell Precision 650...again, 4GB RAM and 32-bit XP without a problem.

It's more likely that there was some compatibility issue with that motherboard and the RAM you had. Intel motherboards can be kinda picky about RAM (note that's Intel made motherboards, not Asus/Gigabyte/abit/etc motherboards using Intel chipsets). I'm not sure why the problem only showed up in 32-bit XP, but I still say it was a hardware compatibility problem.

[Vocalpoint]

I know for a fact it's not a problem with 32-bit XP handling 4GB RAM...I'm on a Dell Precision 490 worksatation right now that has 4GB RAM and is running 32-bit XP without any problems. Previous to this workstation I had a Dell Precision 650...again, 4GB RAM and 32-bit XP without a problem.

It's more likely that there was some compatibility issue with that motherboard and the RAM you had. Intel motherboards can be kinda picky about RAM (note that's Intel made motherboards, not Asus/Gigabyte/abit/etc motherboards using Intel chipsets). I'm not sure why the problem only showed up in 32-bit XP, but I still say it was a hardware compatibility problem.

I would like to think that too....but this rig runs absolutely beauty - with no hardware changes - with Windows XP 64 installed. If it was a hardware thing - one would think you would see it in all situations. I could not believe the responsiveness and smooth operation with x64 installed. It was so snappy - it was almost not real. But I can't go full bore on 64bit yet - so what to do?

On your Dell with 4GB - are you 2x2gb sticks or 4x1GB? I will be testing 4x1GB shortly to see if the same occurs - but several resources have mentioned it could actually be the 2GB stick itself that is causing issues. It's really too bad - cause I wanted to stay with these two stick and then add two more identical in the future....

I am just about to fill out the RMA and get these bad boys back to the supplier and use the refund to get some more 1GB sticks.

Cheers!

VP

[nmX.Memnoch]

On your Dell with 4GB - are you 2x2gb sticks or 4x1GB?

Both Dell systems have 4x1GB sticks. Actually, there are five systems in total...two Precision 490's and three Precision 650's. All with 4x1GB RAM. I had 4x1GB on one of my older home brews as well. That system was built around an Asus P4P800-E Deluxe using an Intel 865 chipset. It also worked without problems. The only reason I split the RAM up again is because I built another system but didn't want to spend anymore on RAM...so I just "suffered" with 2GB and moved the other 2GB to the new system.

several resources have mentioned it could actually be the 2GB stick itself that is causing issues

I'd go with that as well. I've read about compatibility problems with 2GB modules. I'd almost be willing to bet that if you purchased the PC2-6400 4GB kit from this page it would work without a problem (since Crucial guarantees it to work with that motherboard).

[Vocalpoint]

Both Dell systems have 4x1GB sticks. Actually, there are five systems in total...two Precision 490's and three Precision 650's. All with 4x1GB RAM. I had 4x1GB on one of my older home brews as well. That system was built around an Asus P4P800-E Deluxe using an Intel 865 chipset. It also worked without problems. The only reason I split the RAM up again is because I built another system but didn't want to spend anymore on RAM...so I just "suffered" with 2GB and moved the other 2GB to the new system.

Interesting. Well - so far with just 2x1GB in here - this board is flying!

I'd go with that as well. I've read about compatibility problems with 2GB modules. I'd almost be willing to bet that if you purchased the PC2-6400 4GB kit from this page it would work without a problem (since Crucial guarantees it to work with that motherboard).

Well - I went ahead and returned the 2x2GB...and found the exact same RAM but in 4x1GB sticks for half the price! Tiger Direct was having a sale...picked up 2 2x1GB packs for 130 bucks after rebate. Can't go wrong there. Should be here tomorrow for the big test.

Cheers!