Not sure.

It should be running at 400mhz not 332 MHz so there is an issue there. The timings are similar to the xms2 kit I have here

That 332Mhz is DDR 667 and this XPS 400 only supports up to DDR2 667 which is correct due to service manual on Dell website, due to based on Intel 945P. You'll not get much performance with demanding games using any of the P4 based processors even 3.8GHz.

https://downloads.dell.com/manuals/all-produc … anual_en-us.pdf

I suggest getting Optiplex 760 instead which supports DDR2 800 and C2D support up to 3.33GHz 2 core (E8600).

Cheers,

Still .. the CPU-Z bench scores are showing about 1/10th of what they should be according to the CPU-Z database.

Something is screwy.

The Sisoft Sandra scores look ok from what was posted.

Can you run the Sisoft cache/RAM benchmarks and post screenshots?

Also, what CPU usage are you seeing when HL2 is running?

Did you install updates for XP?

For funsies I could set up a Pentiun-D 3.4Ghz system and run some tests... I think I have a 3.4Ghz.

cyclone3d wrote on 2020-07-08, 01:39:

Can you run the Sisoft cache/RAM benchmarks and post screenshots?

cyclone3d wrote on 2020-07-08, 01:39:

Also, what CPU usage are you seeing when HL2 is running?

At least 45-50%.

cyclone3d wrote on 2020-07-08, 01:39:

Did you install updates for XP?

Not all, I'm running WSUS right now to get all those installed.

cyclone3d wrote on 2020-07-08, 01:39:

For funsies I could set up a Pentiun-D 3.4Ghz system and run some tests... I think I have a 3.4Ghz.

Go crazy 😜

I am probably gonna buy an Optiplex 775 and just place my GPU in that one, I found one on eBay for $50 and it seems to have a pretty beefy CPU (Core 2 Quad Q6600). I'm still gonna see if I can get this machine working until the end though 😀

Sandra scores look fine... hmmm.

45-50% means it is pretty much maxing out one core.

If you run higher resolution does the fps go down at all?

cyclone3d wrote on 2020-07-08, 02:28:

If you run higher resolution does the fps go down at all?

Yeah a little bit, not much though. 3-5 fps difference maybe? Ran it at 1280x1024.

Just a final update, I said screw and bought another Dell. Core 2 Quad, same GPU, PSU, and RAM since I just swapped it out from the old one. It performs much much better.

I do have some issues though. I got a sound card, an X-Fi Xtreme. Pretty good card. Tried out FarCry and for the life of me, audio doesn't even want to work most of the time. If I fire a gun or go outside all audio dies until I reboot or close Far Cry. One time it just started popping when I went outside and was fine once I paused the game, then it stopped and so on. Another time my mouse just gave up and everything froze. Not sure why that is. Could be the thermal paste though, I ran out of thermal paste when I was changing everything so I only got to apply a little bit unfortunately. I'll get that swapped out once I get my new paste. Audio seems to work fine everywhere else though.

Speaking of my CPU, how's this for the scores in CPU-Z? Is it normal speeds? Probably not.

Get these ram from ebay, any of of these; your third-party memory could be failing giving problems. This is reason why I refuse to purchase gamers' memory, I use these OEM brands exclusively in my computers and had no issues.

Also check your hard drive's SMART attributes by download small program called gsmartcontrol and run it and report back.

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/4GB-2x-2GB-DDR2-PC2-6 … QgAAOSwyWFeB-IM

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/Samsung-M378T5663QZ3- … fkAAOSw6Sper37p

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/Samsung-4GB-2X-2GB-PC … KQAAOSwxS9ch1tO

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/Hynix-4GB-2X2GB-PC2-6 … r0AAOSwUsxbJtkk

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/Elpida-4GB-2X2GB-PC2- … IsAAOSwGu9evwZI

pentiumspeed wrote on 2020-07-14, 02:07:

Get these ram from ebay, any of of these; your third-party memory could be failing giving problems. This is reason why I refuse to purchase gamers' memory, I use these OEM brands exclusively in my computers and had no issues.

The PC did come with 4GB of Hynix DDr2 667MHZ ram, just swapped the Corsair with the OEM. Seems to be a little better however it didn't fix my audio issues with Far Cry.

I tried to run gsmart but it gives me a "dwmapi.dll not found" error

ENunn wrote on 2020-07-14, 01:50:

Just a final update, I said screw and bought another Dell. Core 2 Quad, same GPU, PSU, and RAM since I just swapped it out from […]
Show full quote

Just a final update, I said screw and bought another Dell. Core 2 Quad, same GPU, PSU, and RAM since I just swapped it out from the old one. It performs much much better.

I do have some issues though. I got a sound card, an X-Fi Xtreme. Pretty good card. Tried out FarCry and for the life of me, audio doesn't even want to work most of the time. If I fire a gun or go outside all audio dies until I reboot or close Far Cry. One time it just started popping when I went outside and was fine once I paused the game, then it stopped and so on. Another time my mouse just gave up and everything froze. Not sure why that is. Could be the thermal paste though, I ran out of thermal paste when I was changing everything so I only got to apply a little bit unfortunately. I'll get that swapped out once I get my new paste. Audio seems to work fine everywhere else though.

Speaking of my CPU, how's this for the scores in CPU-Z? Is it normal speeds? Probably not.
xp000089.png

X-Fi Xtreme Audio is an X-FI in name only . It is not based on an EMU 20K1 or 20K2 chip . It has no hardware acceleration . Does Far Cry allow disabling environmental audio and/or audio and or "hardware acceleration" for audio ?

darry wrote on 2020-07-14, 05:01:

X-Fi Xtreme Audio is an X-FI in name only . It is not based on an EMU 20K1 or 20K2 chip . It has no hardware acceleration . Does Far Cry allow disabling environmental audio and/or audio and or "hardware acceleration" for audio ?

something about eax but i disabled it and there's no difference

Another update: using my on board audio works fine. Guess it's a card issue. Gonna pick up a Titanium and probably save this card for digital audio capture through Toslink. Thanks for the help everyone!

Awesome.

Order 4GB of OEM DDR2-800 memory as I suggested so you can run at 800 properly. Better is big progress indeed.

Cheers,

ENunn wrote on 2020-07-14, 01:50:

Speaking of my CPU, how's this for the scores in CPU-Z? Is it normal speeds? Probably not.

You asked for it so...
Put my LGA775 build on the same clocks for a little check. (9x266, DDR2-667 CL5)

Seems about right. The Xeon is slightly faster, but mostly because Penryn is a tad faster than Conroe.

As a sidenote, I also did a run with the 4.1 GHz I usually run on it: