Windows shows low graphics perfofmance score

[Dima]

Hello!
My video card is DirectX 10 ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro 512mb. The latest
Catalyst driver 8.4 is installed.
But:
Windows Vista 64 "Performance Information and Tools" shows that "Graphics:
Desktop performance for Windows Aero" has 4,8 Subscore and "Gaming graphics:
3D business and gaming graphics performance" has 4,9 which are very low,
that the HD 2600 Pro is the bottleneck of my computer.
Why does Windows Vista score the card so low?
How to improve the performance of the card?
Sincerely.

 

[Robert Moir]

Hello!
My video card is DirectX 10 ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro 512mb. The latest
Catalyst driver 8.4 is installed.
But:
Windows Vista 64 "Performance Information and Tools" shows that "Graphics:
Desktop performance for Windows Aero" has 4,8 Subscore and "Gaming
graphics: 3D business and gaming graphics performance" has 4,9 which are
very low,

No. It isn't "very" low. The highest score is 5.9 at the moment, I believe.
"very" low would be "1.0". What you've got is a nice card as far as it goes,
but it's a nice "middle of the range" graphics card, and you've got a nice
middle range score for it. A nice Radeon 3870 or even a 3870x2 or whatever
it's called will fix that for you if you _must_ have a high score and you
want to stick with ATI.

Why does Windows Vista score the card so low?

3 things can cause a low score for the graphics card, usually
1. the card is as fast as it's going to get.
2. the drivers are out of date.
3. the drivers are faulty.

Note that for the last two items, this can include anything in the "chain"
of devices that the graphics card needs to communicate with the rest of the
system, you can't have a system work to its full potential if it's built on
sand, kinda like trying to drop a racing-car engine into an old clunker car
you purchased from a scrap dealer.

How to improve the performance of the card?

1. Update the drivers
2. Make sure they're working properly
3. get a new card
..
What are your expectations from this card? Looking at the scores is all well
and good but if it does what you want then the scores don't matter. If it
doesn't do what you want then the scores _still_ don't matter. So... does
it do what you want?

 

[Spencer Scott]

That score sounds somewhat normal. Drivers will definitely affect the
graphics score, but I don't know anybody really cares what the score says.

If you are getting good real world performance, don't worry about it.

 

[C.B.]

Hello!
My video card is DirectX 10 ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro 512mb. The latest
Catalyst driver 8.4 is installed.
But:
Windows Vista 64 "Performance Information and Tools" shows that "Graphics:
Desktop performance for Windows Aero" has 4,8 Subscore and "Gaming
graphics: 3D business and gaming graphics performance" has 4,9 which are
very low, that the HD 2600 Pro is the bottleneck of my computer.
Why does Windows Vista score the card so low?
How to improve the performance of the card?
Sincerely.

Dima,

These are not low scores. Your system will perform very well with these
scores and this particular graphics hardware. Unless you are a serious gamer
expecting to squeeze every available ounce of performance out of your
graphics card, or you are into some serious, complicated graphics intensive
applications you do not need better graphics hardware.

C.B.

 

[Cari \(MS-MVP\)]

It's a maximum of 6.0 so 4.9 isn't low. The XT versions of the HD graphics
cards are faster than the Pro versions.

 

[Carlos]

Dima,
That is a fairly good score.
Here's your card rating with respect to the other ATI cards.
http://www.techarp.com/showarticle.aspx?artno=88&pgno=2
Carlos

 

[Gary Mount]

I have the same card, except half the ram as yours. Also my card is AGP, you
don't say if yours is PCI express.
My scores are 0.1 less than what you are reporting.
My processor is my lowest score with 4.1.
You might be able to use Catalyst to alter some settings. On my AGP card I
don't seem to be able to access these settings to change them. Might only be
available to the PCI express versions.

 

[Gary Mount]

I just read an article about over clocking the GPU, at Toms Hardware.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/overclock-graphics-card,1916-7.html

I downloaded and used RivaTuner. I mentioned that my graphics card was the
same as yours except mine uses AGP instead of PCI express. So far on an
initial try I have upped my Graphics: Desktop performance for Windows Aero
score from a 4.7 to a 5.9. My Gaming graphics score is still only 4.8.

 

[calvin91-vista-business]

Don't worry about your score, it itsn't bad. I have the Radeon Mobility 3650.
My graphics score is 5.5 and gaming score is 5.1
Your scored are more than good enough, even for gaming. You say that you
think it's low as your RAM gets a score of 5.9 and HD around the same. Those
scored shouldn't be compared to your graphics as they are completely
different. It simply means that you have a high performance HD and RAM. score
4-5 is a good score for a GPU

Also, Vista would do any office need sufficiently with a base score of 3 , a
base score of 4 would be suitable for most gaming needs, your score is close
to 5 which means you shouldnt have any problems running demanding 3d
applications.
Hope this cleared it up

 

[Rob]

Hi Dima,
I've also got the 2600 PRO. After installation i scored a 4,9.... but after
using ATI's Auto Tune in the Overdrive section I climbed to 5,3.
Knowing that 5,9 is the highest you can score I would't worry at all if I
was you.

Sincerely

 

[Dima]

Thanks calvin91-vista-business for your reply!

Don't worry about your score, it itsn't bad. I have the Radeon Mobility
3650.
My graphics score is 5.5 and gaming score is 5.1
Your scored are more than good enough, even for gaming. You say that you
think it's low as your RAM gets a score of 5.9 and HD around the same.
Those
scored shouldn't be compared to your graphics as they are completely
different. It simply means that you have a high performance HD and RAM.
score
4-5 is a good score for a GPU

Also, Vista would do any office need sufficiently with a base score of 3 ,
a
base score of 4 would be suitable for most gaming needs, your score is
close
to 5 which means you shouldnt have any problems running demanding 3d
applications.
Hope this cleared it up

 

[Dima]

Thanks Rob for your reply!
After using ATI's Auto Tune in the Overdrive section my 2600 PRO score did
not climb, but tearings appeared.
Sincerely.