i5-2500k Low Performance?

[radu12345]

I'm wondering why I have low performance according to others... I've OC'd my i5-2500k to 4 GHz, yet people who run it at stock have a higher CPU mark than me...

At 4 GHz, I get the following results:

CPU Mark: 7816.8
CPU - Integer Math: 2714
CPU - Floating Point Math: 3519.1
CPU Find Prime Numbers: 1626.3
CPU - SSE: 27.9
CPU - Compression: 9389.5
CPU - Encryption: 23.9
CPU - Physics: 353.8
CPU - String Sorting: 4576.2

I'm using Windows 7 x64 by the way. Physics and string sorting seem to be affected the most... Compared to everyone else I've much lower performance there, and also, PerformanceTest doesn't measure my OC apparently. It says I'm running at ~3.3 GHz in the summary tab.

I don't think this is normal, any idea what could be causing it and what I could do to fix it? Is it a faulty CPU? Thanks in advance.

[David (PassMark)]

The average CPU mark figure for the Intel Core i5-2500K is 7337.

So your score of 7816 is significantly above the average. Be hard to claim it was faulty ?!?

Are you sure you have really OC'ed it to 4Ghz?

Physics and string sorting are the 2 tests which make the most use of main RAM. Some of the other tests use a small enough amount of data to be held entirely in the L2 / L3 cache. I would start by looking at your memory access speeds. Maybe the memory timings have got worse as you have overclocked the CPU.

Try going back to stock settings and see if these 2 benchmarks improve. Also check for overheating.

This old post is also related.
http://www.passmark.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2571
Where a bad motherboard caused bad RAM access times, which caused bad CPU results for Physics and string sorting.

[radu12345]

Test at stock speeds, after loading UEFI defaults:

CPU Mark
This Computer 6823.2

CPU - Integer Math
This Computer 2400.8

CPU - Floating Point Math
This Computer 3004.1

CPU - Find Prime Numbers
This Computer 1383.5

CPU - SSE
This Computer 23.8

CPU - Compression
This Computer 7985.8

CPU - Encryption
This Computer 20.4

CPU - Physics
This Computer 340.6

CPU - String Sorting
This Computer 4165.3

**************
System Summary
**************
Windows 7 (64-bit)
Intel Core i5-2500K @ 3.30GHz
4078 MB RAM
ATI Radeon HD 5850
233GB HDD
CD/DVDRW/BD

System Information
System Name: RADU-PC
Operating System: Windows 7 (64-bit)
Motherboard Manufacturer: ASRock
Motherboard Model: P67 Pro3
Motherboard Version:
BIOS Manufacturer: American Megatrends Inc.
BIOS Version: P2.00
BIOS Release Date: 06/22/2011

CPU Information
Manufacturer: GenuineIntel
Type: Intel Core i5-2500K @ 3.30GHz
Number of CPU's: 1
Cores per CPU: 4
Hyperthreading: Disabled
Measured Speed: 3293.2 MHz
Multiplier: 33X
L1 Instruction Cache: 4 x 32 KB
L1 Data Cache: 4 x 32 KB
L2 Cache Size: 4 x 256 KB
L3 Cache: 6 MB

Memory Information
Total Physical Memory: 4078 MB RAM
Available Physical Memory: 3003 MB RAM
Slot 1: 4096MB, 1333MHz
Slot 2: Not populated
Slot 3: Not populated
Slot 4: Not populated
Virtual Memory: D:\pagefile.sys (4096 MB)

Disk Information
Drive Letter (Number): C (Physical drive 0)
Model Number: ST3250620AS
Disk Size (Free space): 34.1 GBytes (14.1 GBytes)
Disk Cluster Size: 4 KBytes
File System: NTFS
Drive Letter (Number): D (Physical drive 0)
Model Number: ST3250620AS
Disk Size (Free space): 198.7 GBytes (51.9 GBytes)
Disk Cluster Size: 4 KBytes
File System: NTFS

Video Adapters
Description: ATI Radeon HD 5850
Chip Type: ATI display adapter (0x6899)
DAC Type: Internal DAC(400MHz)
Memory: 1024MB
Video BIOS: 113-C00802-J02
Driver Provider: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
Driver Version: 8.881.0.0
Driver Date: 7-28-2011
Monitor 1: 1680x1050x32 60Hz (Primary monitor)

So right now, I'm below the average at stock speeds, with a score of 6823. And yes, I'm positive it was OCed to 4 GHz... Should it not be getting way better results at that? The results don't improve much... CPU-Z does show 4 GHz, though.

I checked with Real Temp and the max temperature during the test was 60 C, that's a good enough temp, no?

I've got 1 stick of Kingston ValueRAM 4GB DDR3 1333MHz CL9. Could that be the issue, that I don't have enough RAM or that I'm not using dual channel? And interestingly enough, the physics test is barely affected at all by my overclock. Am I not overclocking it right? CPU-Z and the system show 4 GHz, but PerformanceTest still only shows 3.3.

Is there anything else I could try? Thanks in advance.

[radu12345]

I tried an overclock to 4.5 GHz to see what results it could produce, I know I cannot keep such an overclock for daily purposes but I just figured I should do it for the test. Here are the results:


CPU Mark
This Computer 8932.2

CPU - Integer Math
This Computer 3171.5

CPU - Floating Point Math
This Computer 3974.6

CPU - Find Prime Numbers
This Computer 1828.7

CPU - SSE
This Computer 31.5

CPU - Compression
This Computer 10563.0

CPU - Encryption
This Computer 27.0

CPU - Physics
This Computer 401.4

CPU - String Sorting
This Computer 5390.0

Again, something is not right apparently, I believe in physics, and string sorting. Possibly encryption too. And in PerformanceTest it still shows 3.3 GHz, but in System and CPU-Z 4.5 GHz. What gives?