Xbench User Interface test in MBP

[dlap]

Hi,

I ran Today an Xbench test since my computer was feeling quite slow, even after restarting, and has been very hot too (around 100º).

Most of the results were OK but the "User Interface" one. It got a 13 at 61 refresh/sec.

This computer is a Macbook Pro (Early 2008) C2D 2.6 with 4gb of RAM and the 7200rpm HD, and comparing the results in the xbench site there is clearly something wrong.

The problem is that I don't have a clue of what exactly is "User interface" testing and how to fix it, does anybody know something about this?

Thanks

 

[tjktony]

Xbench user interface SLOW

Hi dlap,

I have the same MBP you do, with the exact same issue, with a slightly LOWER user interface score. Did you ever learn anything more about this?

Thanks

 

[moral-hazard]

What was the total score with all tests?

 

[moral-hazard]

here's what I got with a 13" MBP (slower than yours).
was your computer heated up or running background processes?

 

[tjktony]

Ouch

53.84

 

[tjktony]

No, no extra process, no apps running, checked Activity Monitor ahead of time.

This MBP always runs pretty cool compared to others I've heard about; GPU is always highest, rarely gets over 60C, CPU is always about 10C less than that.

 

[moral-hazard]

You shouldn't be getting a 53 score in Xbench.
My 2.26GHz / 2GB / 5400RPM MBP gets a 125+, 196 with no disk test.

Something weird is going on - I doubt that it's hardware. try shutting it down for 15-20 minutes and starting up again. maybe disable dashboard. You should easily be in the 120-150 range.

 

[tjktony]

You shouldn't be getting a 53 score in Xbench.
My 2.26GHz / 2GB / 5400RPM MBP gets a 125+, 196 with no disk test.

Something weird is going on - I doubt that it's hardware. try shutting it down for 15-20 minutes and starting up again. maybe disable dashboard. You should easily be in the 120-150 range.

Agreed, something not right. Didn't even bother quitting Dashboard as it uses very few CPU cycles, but I suppose I'll try that. MBP wasn't running long prior to test, I know that wasn't an issue.

 

[moral-hazard]

Agreed, something not right. Didn't even bother quitting Dashboard as it uses very few CPU cycles, but I suppose I'll try that. MBP wasn't running long prior to test, I know that wasn't an issue.

just run top on the terminal, see if something is using alot of cpu / generating heat.

 

[tjktony]

95% idle.

As I said, I checked Activity Monitor before, no processes out of whack, and heat is nowhere near being an issue, if fact, I think they're about the lowest temps I've seen on a MBP.

 

[moral-hazard]

Weird. Give it a day and try again. It sounds like just a fluke. Computer chips as i know them only exist in two states: working (100%) and broken (0%). I've never heard of a GPU/CPU only performing to 20-30% of its spec, so i think it'll clear up.

 

[tjktony]

It gets even better!

I kept thinking about what it could be, and remembered I was running at 1280x800 (one step down from native resolution). So I bumped it up to 1440x900 (native res), and ran test again. No change.

Restarted and ran Repair Disk (no repairs) and Repair Permissions again, just . . . because. Same old benign permissions messages. Ran Xbench. Total up to 117 and User Interface up to, get this, 324!

So I wanted to see how consistent it was with the resolution, set it back to 1280x800 (no restart). Now I get 118 and 373 UI!

Something is messed up. All I can think of is resetting the res and restarting cleared a cache or created a new pref/.plist which was corrupt. We'll see if these scores stay this way over time. Very strange.

 

[cluthz]

xBench is from 2006, so I wouldn't pay too much attention to it.

 

[dlap]

For me it was the same: a reboot improved my benchmarks. I am still wondering why is this happening. The results should be consistent.

Anyway is good to know that my computer is not damaged.