Processor performance decline

By jstrebel on August 4, 2010 3:56:16 PM from

I'm running a laptop with an AMD turion ML-40 and an Nvidia 7500GS go 512MB, 2 MB ram and dual hard drives. I recently upgraded from Vista to Win 7 and noticed applications and games that were fairly stable were not running as smoothly as they previously had.

I was playing around with different hardware settings when I noticed something I consider very strange. I checked out the windows experience index and under vista it was 4.2. The lowest score was for the hard drive at 4.2. The processor was running at 4.6. Now under windows 7 the experience index has dropped to 3.6 and now the lowest score is the processor. Has anyone experienced something like this where the processor just drops in its performance index? The only thing I can imagine is the machine was overclocked originally and by installing Win 7 I reset the overclocking. However I thought overclocking was controlled in the bios and not the OS, so I don't think that is the issue. Any suggestions on how I can get the processor performance back to where it was, or why it dropped in the first place?

+2 Karma | 25 Replies

I checked out the windows experience index and under vista it was 4.2. The lowest score was for the hard drive at 4.2. The processor was running at 4.6. Now under windows 7 the experience index has dropped to 3.6

Win 7 has a different/newer benchmarking for 'experience' as it is in anenvironment where hardware has improved in performance.

In other words....the world has moved on with newer/better hardware...but your laptop has not changed [obviously].

These days...to get a high rating in the harddrive section you will NEED a SSD. Those old spinning platters just will not cut it anymore....

True, Jafo, but I remember reading somewhere that the Windows Experience Index was supposed to remain the same between Vista and Windows 7 (i.e.; in 7 they just increased the maximum score to catter for newer/faster machines).

Of course, I never put this to the test, so...

First thing I would check is the drivers for the processor. Also you might want to flash the bios if there is a new set available. I am pretty sure you are right about the Windows Experience Index... It used to go to 6 but now tops out at 10. I would look in device manager to see it there are any problems listed with the processor there as well.

Might be drivers. Having a 7x series card myself, they've been less than perfect in playing nice with them recently.

Thanks everyone for your help, my HD score was 4.2 and remained 4.2 but the processor dropped from 4.6 to 3.6 and I just don't understand how a processor could drop like that. I flashed the bios, downloaded a driver app from AMD and its returning all my drivers as up to date on every peripheral in my machine.

My primary concern is I've been waiting 2 years for Elemental and the beta version is clocking my CPU between 70 and 100% and regularly crashing. I hate to get a new machine to play a game but I can't even upgrade the processor. The highest AMD went in this line was the Turion ML 44 and that only raises the clockspeed by .4 ghz which I don't believe would get me much performance improvement. I'm not aware of any other processor that would fit the chipset and while I've built towers and minitowers before, I'm not as comfortable rebuilding a laptop.

Just a little frustrated that this machine is only a few years old and already outdated. More than that I'm suprised at the dip in performance I've seen in games (Civ 4, NWN 2) since installing Win 7. I should stick with home made towers instead of prebuilt laptops.

On my laptop I had a Intel DUO processor. It's performance fell way down as well. After all software checking and upgrading I realized two of rubber legs fell off and whole thing was overheating.

Laptop didn't shut itself down it just became really slugish ..... You might also want to check for the dust inside the fan....

I did have problem right after purchasing the laptop and it would shut down unexpectedly at least once a week. The problem increased during the summer and I figured out it was an overheating problem. I reset the chip using Arctic Silver instead of the generic cooling gel it came with, and bought one of those external fan bases. That resolved the overheating problem and ended the shut downs, but I wonder if the constant overheating didn't do some permanent damage to the CPU where it still runs but is slower.

Just to add more confusion to this, when I got home from work last night just for grins I booted my laptop, tried everything everyone had suggested with checking the drivers, flashing the bios, etc and then ran the Windows experience index. All values stayed the same except the CPU which jumped from 3.6 up to 3.8,.....then I ran it again this morning and the CPU value has now dropped to 3.2. I'm beginning to think the CPU is soon going to be a really little paperweight.

One way to see if your processor is running like it should is to run CPU-Z to see if it is running at the speeds and voltages it should be. www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php its free. Of course it may just be your amount of ram. If your running win7x64 its minimum ram should be at 2gb.. x32(86) is 1 gb. Where vista was 1gb for both(x64 and x32) and 512mb for the home premium version.

Thanks for the suggestion Swerd, I am running 2GB of Ram which is the max the mother board will support and that seems to be fine, RAM is getting an index rating of 4.4. Graphics is 5.9, HD transfer is 4.2, its only the processor thats messing with me right now.

You can check your processor with prime 95. It's another program that calculates prime numbers and compares results with web based results.

Prime really maxes out your processor load and it is wise if you have some CPU temperature monitoring tool enabled as well with it. My normal CPU temperature is 42 degrees C and while running prime temperature jumps to 70-75 degrees C. It is primarily used by over clocking community. After OC CPU it is used to check if system is stable and if processor "works correctly".

Read this thread that addresses your CPU performance problem.

Looks like CarGuy might have found your problem [and solution]...

That definitely sounds like it could be it, and from what I read if there is not an updated bios I could be SOL. Its an Nvidia motherboard so I'll have to see if there are any bios updates.

thanks to both of you

Well, after much investigation and tweaking and retooling and cussing, I have managed to fubar my LT. CPU performance has dropped further and now coming in at 3.0. I'm also dropping my wireless connection more and more often, don't know how that might be related but I think the motherboard may be going. I'm thinking about just building a new desktop, I just pulled out the last one I built from storage. Athlon 1.3 MHZ with a 6GB HD and 528 MB Ram, has it been that long? I've had good results building my own desktops but I like the portability of a laptop. I've heard about Laptop barenbones kits but haven't been able to find much. Tiger direct had a few but when I think barebones I'm thinking case, power, motherboard and processor. Theirs include RAM, Hard drive, everything but a dedicated video card. Any reccommendations?

Where do you live. If you live in UK there is a company that custom builds Laptops as well. I would think they can send one all over the world but in case something goes wrong you might have problems with shipping back and forth.

I build my desktop with them and it works like clockwork. And when I start to upgrade again I will definitely buy parts from them.

Here is the link.

http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/

Thanks Greg, I'm in the US. I could order a Dell, Alienware or any other myriad of "customized" computers but I find they never work as well as one I build myself and always have "garbage-wear" installed. I've built a few desktops, some from kits, some from scratch, but I haven't been able to find a laptop kit yet that wasn't a full build.

I ordered parts but assembled PC and installed programs myself. I just ordered all the parts from one shop.... Got it cheaper....

PS OH I checked site again and the thing is that they don't deliver outside UK or Ireland

ok just going to close this thread with the weirdest, most bizarre thing I've ever seen. After much troubleshooting, rebuilding, rebooting, drinking and cussing, I was able to get the performance back to where it had been when I first bought the machine. After all my troubles I did nothing "technical" to resolve this. Because of previous overheating problems I had purchased one of those Laptop cooling stations shortly after buying the machine and that helped solve the overheating problem. Basically its just a base that plugs into a USB port and has fan ports that help cool the machine.

I unplugged the cooling station from my machine and CPU is now back up to speed. Can't imagine why that is, or why it worked for two years with no problem but in the 3rd year caused my cpu to slow down, but I'm not one to argue with success. Can't wait to download EWOM later today.

I still recommend using those normally. Just...not the one you had

Quoting jstrebel,

reply 16

If you want the convenience of a prebuilt system + the customized parts, go with a customized barebones solution where you pick out the motherboard, ram, proc, case, and power supply for them to assemble and test. I've gotten multiple computers in the past from Mwave with them doing this, but I don't see the option anymore for 1 piece (still there for 2, pick a proc and add MB+Ram, pick a case, and add fan+power supply).

i bought this system at http://www.buildyourbox.co.uk/

AMD Phenom II X6 1055T
Gigabyte GA-M52LT-D3 nForce 520LE
4GB Corsair XMS3 DDR3 1600MHz dual channel RAM
ATi Radeon HD 5770 1GB
1TB sata II 7200RPM hard drive
500 watt 80+ effeciency PSU
DVD Rewriter
Antec 300 Ultimate Gaming Case
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit

£769 and its the bet PC ive bought good site too has a load of customisation options

Check the ventilation. Modern processors slow down to prevent overheating. I was reinstalling a notebook for my friend, and after cleaning the airways, the performance increased noticeably.

Thanks,.....I'd discovered the issue a few weeks after posting this. I had been using one of those cooling trays that is powered by USB and runs fans under the laptop since I'd bought the machine. Apparently after a year or so of use it began to suck too much power causing the processor decline. Simply unplugging the external cooling rig resolved the issue.

jstrebel, it probably is the bearings in the fan in the cooling pad having worn and or seazing. I have had quite a few fans seaze up over the years, so just blaim the bearings and replace it.

harpo

The Forums Are Now Closed!

The content will remain as a historical reference, thank you.

Processor performance decline