My expensive rig not performing so well. Need help

[bschaffer]

Ok so first I'll start with a list of my components

Mobo: intel's x48 chipset board by intel
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813121338

CPU: intel quad Q9300
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115043

RAM: OCZ 2x2g DDR3-1600 modules
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10007336

Video card: ASUS ATI HD 3870X2
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10007848

Powersupply: Corsair 750W
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10007112

Hard Drive: Seagate 500gb 32mb cache 7200rpm SATAII 3.0Gb/s
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10005939

OP: Windows vista home premium 64bit OEM

all of this is in a Antec 900 case and i put it together myself

Ok so all of this cost me about 1700 bucks and I'm a little disappointed about how the system is performing and wonder if i need fix something that is holding it back.

I pulled the jumper that restricted the hd to 1.5gb/s and I set the ram from 1333 in the bios to 1600 because thats what my ram is. but those were the only things i did besides build the system. I installed vista first and the service pack. then the drivers that were with my mobo and then the ATI drivers which were a major pain.

Im only playing age of conan on it right now with high settings and it does really well but it gets a little laggy every once in a while and i just didnt expect this with a system of this price. Also I used the new 3dMarkVantage and my score was only around 9700. i was hoping for a lot more even though i dont know too much about the scores. I do know people get upwards of 20,000 though so half of that seems a bit mediocre.

Any help would be appreciated, im wondering if any software/driver issues could be screwing me.

 

[funkysnair]

if its only in games it may be graphics related!!!

are you playing online?

have you gone on official asus website to get graphics drivers (up to date?) maybe there is a few glitches with vista 64bit!!!

im not up on graphics cards but i think the rest of your computer is good and wouldnt be problem

 

[oregon]

Do 3dmarkvantage scores translate 1:1 with 3dMark06 scores? If so then your computer is definitely having issues. If not, it could be doing well, just internet or server issues with the online games.

 

[curtains]

I'd say maybe drivers but others have said that ... lol so gota say something new ..

How many frames are u producing when playing and around wat % of ur CPU usage are u using.. and ram(even thou i'm sure u won't be using all 4gigs)

 

[Archangel]

download 3dmark06, and run that one. there is a post in the video card section in wich you can compare your score. I got a bit over 18k (@ 1680x1050) with my pc as it is now. I recon you'll get the same with your setup. now many people here have run 3dmark vantage i gues. (or is the 'basic' version available for free download now or so? )