Abysmal Performance After Dual-Core Upgrade

[David (PassMark)]

If you have upgraded your CPU from a single core to a multiple core CPU you might also need to update the Windows kernel (HAL) before windows can support the 2nd core (or re-install Windows).

Depending on the BIOS and orginal CPU, the initial Windows install might have installed the ACPI Uniprocessor HAL, rather than the ACPI Multiprocessor HAL. Some details are here.

There are also these known Windows issues

Computers that are running Windows XP Service Pack 2 and that are equipped with multiple processors that support processor power management features may experience decreased performance

You should also check in the Edit / Preferences window of PerformanceTest to check that the number of processes is equal to or greater than the total number of cores.

[Sabresiberian]

3DMark5 (I have to use 5 because 6 isn't suitable for Win2k) results match Passmark - would be fine if I were only running a ONE core CPU.

[Sabresiberian]

Doh how do you run the second copy of Prime95 with the -A1 command line argument? I have 2 copies and can run them both, but don't know how to change the command line.

[Sabresiberian]

I am having exactly the same problem. At first the CPU wasn't even recognized as dual core, then I re-installed the OS (Win 2k Pro)to fix another problem and the CPU was recognized as dual core by Windows and AMDClock but not Passmark. I'm going to try running Prime95 to see if that fixes mine too.

[Alex Petty]

Well, I'm confused, but the problem seems to have fixed itself. I ran some stress tests in prime95 to check for stability, and after running them my temps are lower. I just ran performancetest while browsing firefox and installing a game, and scored a CPUMark of 909.5. I dont get it, but the CPU seems to have solved its own problem.

[David (PassMark)]

Maybe there are other tasks running in the background using up CPU time, while you are trying to run the benchmarks.

We are not aware of any issues with the AMD driver lowering results.

[Alex Petty]

Thank you very much for the reply. I am on the latest build, with no overclock. It is a freshly installed processor, so the thermal grease will be new and not as functional. However, the temps are staying below 50C, which while not optimal should be ok.
One pin was bent after i recieved it shipping, but i straightened it to the best of my ability and it seated will. I think that if it had physical problems it would fail POST, though.
Could AMD's dual core driver / optimizer affect these scores?

[David (PassMark)]

The AMD Athlon 64 x2 4200+ should have a PassMark CPU mark of around 894.

The floating point score should be over 700 MOps.

Did you check the temp to make sure you attached the heat sink correctly? If you are overclocking the machine. Try it at normal clock speed. If you are not using V6.1 Build 1008, then you should get the latest build.

[Alex Petty]

I just went from a 3500+ Venice to a 4200+ Toledo, but the Toledo seems to have something VERY wrong with it. Even with Cool N Quiet disabled to make sure that nothing interferes, I'm getting horrible CPUMark scores. My floating point math is at 131.2 MOps!!! for a total CPUMark of 278.1!!!
4200+ Athlon X2
MSI-7093 Mobo
4x512 Kingston RAM
8800GTS OC
Edit: I am on PerformanceTest 6.1, and have 16 processes running. With 2 I was around 250 CPUMark