HP Pavilion Intel 8200 runs slower than other Intel Q8200

[Ritter197]

I have an HP p6140f+, Pavilion Q8200 Intel CPU desktop. Windows 7, 8 GB of
RAM.
After I have defragged the C drive perfectly, deleted all cookies,
significantly reduced Restore points, have no applications loaded other than
ESET NOD32 AV, Graphic PCI Express 9400 GT, and running Passmark Performance
Test, version 7, after the many tests are done this new desktop gets an
overall score of 691.

When I get the worldwide database for the same CPU Q8200 and the same
Graphics card and the same (or less RAM I find overall scores of 1220, 1144,
1191, 1292 and higher.

Talking to HP is useless.

Any ideas?

 

[DL]

Isn't this a Q for a Win 7 group and not a win Xp one?
http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w7performance/threads

 

[Paul]

I have an HP p6140f+, Pavilion Q8200 Intel CPU desktop. Windows 7, 8 GB
of RAM.
After I have defragged the C drive perfectly, deleted all cookies,
significantly reduced Restore points, have no applications loaded other
than ESET NOD32 AV, Graphic PCI Express 9400 GT, and running Passmark
Performance Test, version 7, after the many tests are done this new
desktop gets an overall score of 691.

When I get the worldwide database for the same CPU Q8200 and the same
Graphics card and the same (or less RAM I find overall scores of 1220,
1144, 1191, 1292 and higher.

Talking to HP is useless.

Any ideas?

Do you disable ESET NOD32 AV, before starting a benchmark run ?

It is possible, an AV would be scanning any files which are being
read by the benchmark. With the AV disabled, perhaps disk access
will be faster.

Since the Passmark suite tests multiple aspects of the computer, you
should be comparing the individual test results, and determining
which test result most negatively affects your score.

Paul

 

[Ritter197]

Never heard of 2 different Intel CPU's.
It is a Intel Q8200 that came with the HP desktop, for sure. And with
Windows 7.

 

[Ritter197]

It is the CPU, it test the lowest and brings the overall test results down
to its lowest level.

 

[Paul]

It is the CPU, it test the lowest and brings the overall test results
down to its lowest level.

OK, you have two options.

1) Go into the BIOS and disable EIST (Intel SpeedStep).
SpeedStep allows the processor to go from "high multiplier" to
"low multiplier" to save power.

2) If you cannot find such an adjustment in the BIOS, go into Windows
and visit the control panels. There should be a panel for "Power Management"
of some sort. It has "power schemes" in it. At least one of the schemes
will be a "high power" scheme. The "Always ON" one is the one I'd select.
Make note of the current setting, then switch to "Always ON" and run the
benchmark again.

You can also verify the system frequencies, using CPUZ. You can use the
"no-install" version here. Check both the CPU frequency, and see if the
memory settings are giving abnormally low results.

http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php

CPUZ is supposed to update the processor frequency value, on the fly. So
if you went from "low multiplier" to "high multiplier", the speed of the
processor shown, should be seen to change as well. If you use the "Always ON"
power scheme, to disable SpeedStep, then CPUZ should stay at the rated CPU
speed at all times. Even when the computer is idle. While the PassMark is
running, keep an eye on the CPUZ window, and it should stay at the
top speed.

The Q8200 is listed here as 2.33GHz at FSB1333. 1333/4 = 333. 2330/333 = 7.
So 7 is the high multiplier. I expect the low multiplier is probably something
like 6, and 6*333=2.0GHz. So when I think about it, SpeedStep really shouldn't
make that much difference to the benchmark. The high and low settings of
your processor, are pretty close together.

http://processorfinder.intel.com/details.aspx?sSpec=SLB5M

If you go to Task Manager (control-alt-delete), do you see four performance
graphs ? That implies four cores.

http://img.techpowerup.org/080221/quad.jpg

There can be a couple reasons for seeing only one graph in Task Manager. There
is a preference setting in Task Manager, to display the utilization of the
quad core, as one graph. But the other reason, is the OS is only using one
core at the moment, rather than all four. It is possible for the OS to only
be using one of the cores, leaving the other three idle.

So, your next place to visit. would be Device Manager. Check the "Computer"
entry. If you click the (+) next to the word "Computer", underneath it,
you should see the HAL (hardware abstraction layer) type. Mine right now,
reads...

"ACPI Multiprocessor PC"

as I have a dual core Core2. If I had only one core, then the word
Multiprocessor might be replaced by Uniprocessor. The Uniprocessor
HAL supports the operation of a single core.

Windows allows easily changing the "driver" for that item. Using only
a driver change from the available drivers, you can switch from
"Uniprocessor" to "Multiprocessor", and thereby you will get four
graphs in Task Manager.

Some other HAL transition cases, are not as easy. For example, if the
"Computer" entry in Device Manager said "Standard PC", then you're in
much worse shape. That may not be fixable using a simple driver upgrade.
"Standard PC" makes no reference to ACPI, and means that ACPI is not
working. If you were to attempt a shutdown in WinXP, with the Computer
being a "Standard PC", then you would not be able to "soft off" the
computer. You'd see the old Win98 "It is Safe to Turn Off This Computer"
kind of message on the screen instead.

In terms of ACPI compliance, it is possible for a computer BIOS to be
so broken, as to prevent ACPI installation. On my retail motherboards
here, I have an option in the BIOS to select "ACPI 2.0 compliance", but
I doubt that setting is really important. Another setting in the BIOS
I've seen, is "MPS Standard" of either version 1.1 or 1.4. Switching
to version 1.4, may make it possible for an older dual core computer,
to assume its "ACPI Multiprocessor PC" role in Windows.

Since you have an HP, I doubt any of that is relevant to you, as they
would have set everything up right. But at least you can poke around
in Device Manager and Task Manager, and see what's up.

Paul

 

[Yousuf Khan]

It is the CPU, it test the lowest and brings the overall test results
down to its lowest level.

Use a power management scheme that doesn't throttle the processor.

Yousuf Khan

 

[Ritter197]

I set it always in windows control panel for highest performance. (Win7)

 

[Paul]

I set it always in windows control panel for highest performance. (Win7)

Have you looked in Task Manager yet, to see if you have four graphs
of processor performance. That is one way to prove all four cores
are reporting in to Windows 7. If the OS is only using one core,
that can account for poor performance.

Paul

 

[Ritter197]

In Task manger under Windows 7 I see under Performance I see CPU usage
about 1 % and Memory usage at 1.86 GB. I see no bars. Which tab???

 

[Paul]

In Task manger under Windows 7 I see under Performance I see CPU usage
about 1 % and Memory usage at 1.86 GB. I see no bars. Which tab???

There is a partial shot of a Task Manager window here. This picture
is from the "Performance" tab and shows one pane per core. Task Manager
usually has a setting, where you can select one pane for the whole
computer, rather than displaying each core. So first you'd check to see if
that is the case. If it is set to "View" "CPU History" "One Graph Per CPU",
then you should see four panes, as in this picture. If you only see one pane,
then the system is only using one of your four cores.

http://img.techpowerup.org/080221/quad.jpg

Paul

 

[Ritter197]

Paul, Thanks for the feedback.
When I go to TM and View I can see 1 CPU and it cannot be changed.

 

[Paul]

Paul, Thanks for the feedback.
When I go to TM and View I can see 1 CPU and it cannot be changed.

OK, now go to Device Manager, and look at the "Computer" entry.
It should say something about "Multiprocessor", not "Uniprocessor".

This is an example of the Computer entry in Device Manager.
If the value is currently "ACPI Uniprocessor", then the driver
update option can be used to change it to ACPI Multiprocessor.

http://i327.photobucket.com/albums/k445/gzpfoody/z177.jpg

Before doing that, you would also review your BIOS settings.
At power up, usually there is some key press mentioned in your
manual, to enter the BIOS. On my computers here, as the computer
is starting, a message on the screen tells me which key to press
to enter the BIOS. On my current Asus motherboard, I'm to press
the "Delete" key. On my previous Asrock board, the key for the
BIOS was "F2".

Once inside the BIOS, some useful things to check under the
"Power" BIOS entry or similar:

1) Suspend Mode - S1 only, S3 only, Auto

Auto should allow S3, or you can select S3 only. In any
case, any method used to allow S3, will allow the computer
to be placed in standby with the fans off.

2) ACPI 2.0 Support

Enable this. I think the ACPI standard is even up to 3.0 now,
but 2.0 is what is showing in my BIOS right now.

3) On one of my motherboards (not the current one), the
under the Chipset subsection, there is an

MPS Revision [1.1 or 1.4]

I can't be sure, but I might have had that set to 1.4. In some cases,
that setting prevents the HAL change needed in Windows. So if the
machine refuses to go to "ACPI Multiprocessor", the reason could be
the MPS setting.

So you can visit these issues in either order. You can go into
the BIOS and have a look around. Or you can go into the Device
Manager in WinXP and try to change the "Computer" HAL value
to "ACPI Multiprocessor" with a "Driver Update" from the menu.

If the computer doesn't have an MPS Revision option at all, it
might already be set to 1.4 .

HTH,
Paul

 

[Ritter197]

I have not yet succeeded to get to BIOS. No DEL, No F2, and a number of
others.
The device Manager says under CPU : ACPIX64 based PC.
Nothing else.

Paul, Thanks for the feedback.
When I go to TM and View I can see 1 CPU and it cannot be changed.

OK, now go to Device Manager, and look at the "Computer" entry.
It should say something about "Multiprocessor", not "Uniprocessor".

This is an example of the Computer entry in Device Manager.
If the value is currently "ACPI Uniprocessor", then the driver
update option can be used to change it to ACPI Multiprocessor.

http://i327.photobucket.com/albums/k445/gzpfoody/z177.jpg

Before doing that, you would also review your BIOS settings.
At power up, usually there is some key press mentioned in your
manual, to enter the BIOS. On my computers here, as the computer
is starting, a message on the screen tells me which key to press
to enter the BIOS. On my current Asus motherboard, I'm to press
the "Delete" key. On my previous Asrock board, the key for the
BIOS was "F2".

Once inside the BIOS, some useful things to check under the
"Power" BIOS entry or similar:

1) Suspend Mode - S1 only, S3 only, Auto

Auto should allow S3, or you can select S3 only. In any
case, any method used to allow S3, will allow the computer
to be placed in standby with the fans off.

2) ACPI 2.0 Support

Enable this. I think the ACPI standard is even up to 3.0 now,
but 2.0 is what is showing in my BIOS right now.

3) On one of my motherboards (not the current one), the
under the Chipset subsection, there is an

MPS Revision [1.1 or 1.4]

I can't be sure, but I might have had that set to 1.4. In some cases,
that setting prevents the HAL change needed in Windows. So if the
machine refuses to go to "ACPI Multiprocessor", the reason could be
the MPS setting.

So you can visit these issues in either order. You can go into
the BIOS and have a look around. Or you can go into the Device
Manager in WinXP and try to change the "Computer" HAL value
to "ACPI Multiprocessor" with a "Driver Update" from the menu.

If the computer doesn't have an MPS Revision option at all, it
might already be set to 1.4 .

HTH,
Paul

 

[Paul]

I have not yet succeeded to get to BIOS. No DEL, No F2, and a number of
others.
The device Manager says under CPU : ACPIX64 based PC.
Nothing else.

There is a table here, with some common values for entering the BIOS.

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?lc=en&dlc=en&cc=uk&docname=buu08011

Computer make or model Press this key to enter the BIOS

Compaq Presario Press the F10 key at the red Compaq logo as the computer starts.
Dell Dimension Press the DELETE key as the computer starts.
Dell OptiPlex Press the F2 key or CTRL + ALT + ENTER keys as the computer starts.
Dell Latitude (except LM) Press the FN + F1 keys simultaneously at any time.
Dell Inspiron/Latitude LM Press the F2 key as the computer starts.
Emachines Press the DELETE key as the computer starts.
Gateway Press the F1 key as the computer starts.
HP Pavilion (most models) Press the F1 key at the blue HP screen as the computer starts.
HP Vectra and Kayak Press the F2 key at the blue HP screen as the computer starts.
IBM ThinkPad Press the FN + F1 keys simultaneously at any time.
IBM Aptiva Press the F1 key at the blue IBM screen as the computer starts.

You have a Pavilion p6140f with an Asus IPIBL-LB (HP name = benicia-GL8E) motherboard.

So my guess would be, " Press F1 ".

*******
Hmmm.

ACPI X64 based PC. You probably want to change to "ACPI Multiprocessor x64-based pc" ?
What is interesting, is I find so few hits for that HAL, on the Microsoft site.

You seem to be ACPI compliant, as otherwise you couldn't run the HAL you have currently.
I would check the BIOS settings (like, for the MPS thing), and also take a look through
this article, for anything you may have added to that computer along the way. Then, try the
"driver update" option for what currently shows as "ACPI X64 based PC".

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/810903

Paul

 

[Ritter197]

Believe it or not. After HOURS of trying I finally got down to the basement
and dragged up another keyboard.
THAT one works for F10.
Will read again your suggestion a few threads back and let you know.
Thanks for all the help!!!!

 

[Ritter197]

I can now report after hitting F10 (BIOS)

Under POWER I have only 2 options:
After power failure Automatic
XD(Execute Disable) Enable
Nothing for Suspend modes.
Nothing there for ACPI 2.0 support or anything re ACPI

 

[Paul]

I can now report after hitting F10 (BIOS)

Under POWER I have only 2 options:
After power failure Automatic
XD(Execute Disable) Enable
Nothing for Suspend modes.
Nothing there for ACPI 2.0 support or anything re ACPI

Have you gone to the Device Manager, and right clicked on the
ACPI x64 thing, and tried to do a Driver Update ? What did
it report as install options ? Is one of the options
for "Multiprocessor" ?

For example, on my machine, when I drill down:

"Don't search. I will choose the driver to install."

ACPI Multiprocessor PC <--- My current HAL choice
Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (APCI) PC <--- Equiv. to your HAL
MPS Multiprocessor PC <--- from an earlier era...
Standard PC <--- Don't use this...

You want to see an option like the Multiprocessor one, in
your list. And note any error messages, if it doesn't work.

HTH,
Paul

 

[Ritter197]

Here is what I find:

Device Manager:
Computer
ACPIx64 based PC

I cannot drill down further meaningfully. It says device is working
properly. It also says (when trying to update drivers) that this device does
not need drivers.

 

[Paul]

Here is what I find:

Device Manager:
Computer
ACPIx64 based PC

I cannot drill down further meaningfully. It says device is working
properly. It also says (when trying to update drivers) that this device
does not need drivers.

I've been working on your problem (a bit).

I installed Version 7100 of Windows 7 in Virtual PC. I got to Device
Manager and looked at the Computer Entry. Now, my version of Windows 7
is only the 32 bit edition, but at least I could see the HAL was only
ACPI on mine as well. I attempted to do the "Driver Update" and
basically wasn't offered any options at all. But this could be
considered normal, because my copy of VPC2007 only seems to expose one
core of my dual core processor. So Windows 7 isn't even detecting two
cores, due to the software limitations of my virtual environment.

Along the way, one other option came to mind. Apparently, the boot manager
has an option which declares the number of cores. So, if a user wanted
to artificially limit the number of cores on their PC (say, for software
testing), there is apparently a boot option that controls that.

In Windows 7, I tried to run bcdedit (assuming that is the tool to use),
and I suspect it runs in a command window. The command window flashed, and
disappeared (just like it would in WinXP). I opened a command window, and
typed "bcdedit" in there, and it told me I needed to be the administrator.
Well, I can't be bothered figuring out how to fix that

So I downloaded EasyBCD from Neosmart (version 1.7.2).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EasyBCD

After installation, I used the "Advanced Options". Just above the
"Apply Settings" button, is a "Limit Windows to X CPUs". You might
try setting that to 4, if it isn't there already. Mine says "0"
right now, which presumably means "use as many as you can find".
If your value was set to "1", then that would explain why your
system is running on 1 core. I think it is possible WinXP might
have had a similar option, like MaxCPUs.

Since this is a WinXP group, you might want to find a Windows 7 group
for more help. I tried to find more information on Windows 7 HAL options
and how to force them, and I didn't manage to find anything to help
you. The Microsoft KB was strangely unhelpful.

Paul