8800GT giving me a headache

[Bengoshi-San]

PC Set-Up:
Intel E6750 @ 2.66GHz
A-Data 8GB PC2-6400 DDR2 RAM
OCZ GameXStream 700W

EVGA 8800GT: Default values of 650/1620/950 (core/shader/memory)

My 3D Mark '06 Score is ranging between 10400 - 10550.

I was expecting better results.

What am I doing wrong?

I tried o/c to: 700/1740/1000 and it didn't do much (went from 10414 to 10545).

I am running 2 monitors (17" Acer Flat Screen + 22" Acer Flat Screen)



When I built the system, I heard good things about the 8800gt so I got it. I went and got (what I think) is a fast processor, 8gigs of ram and two really fast sata3gb/s 7200.11 baracuda hdd's. I was aiming for it to be a mid-level gaming pc, but I'm starting to feel like it isn't. It runs crysis and mass effect on high resolutions without a problem and runs pretty smooth.

Anything I can do to improve my performance reliably? Thanks for the input guys.

 

[Bengoshi-San]

This is with the omega 1.169.25 drivers and using rivatuner on windows vista ultimate 64 bit.

 

[royalcrown]

that seems like a good score for your system.

 

[roadrunner197069]

Well I just built a couple of systems.

System 1
PC/Chips Mobo
e2180 OC to 2.67
3G Ram
8800GT
575 Watt PSU

10500 3dmark 06 score stock EVGA 8800GT

System 2:
Asus P5K SE
e7200 oc to 3.6
4G Ram
EVGA 512 8800GT Stock
575 Watt PSU

13,789 3dmark 06


Overclocking your CPU helps a ton on 3dmark 06.
Oh, both systems running Vista Ultimate 32

Conclusion:
For your CPU speed your right where you should be.

 

[Bengoshi-San]

I just upgraded my drivers from the omega 1.169.25 to the official nvidia 7.15.11.7516 and the 3dmark06 score with default 648/1620/950 turned out a healthy 11190 3dmark score.

Will it make more of a difference now if I o/c it?

 

[roadrunner197069]

You bet. Especially if you OC the CPU to atleat 3.4.

Watch those temps.

 

[Bengoshi-San]

The drivers alone made my score go up by 776 pts

 

[Bengoshi-San]

Yeah, I'm going to O/C my E6750 now and see what difference that makes.

 

[iluvgillgill]

you should be able to kick out 750/1850/1000 on those cards. turn up the fan and enjoy the OC experience!!!

what CPU cooler you using and mobo?

 

[Bengoshi-San]

ASUS P5K

I have some new scores to report:

The 3d mark score jumped to 12,364 with my e6750 o/c to 3.2ghz

 

[Bengoshi-San]

750/1850/1000 Didn't work too well. I was artifacting.

730/1805/1000 Was artifacting slightly.

I'm currently running a 710/1755/1000 right now and checking for stability and temperature.

If it checks out, I will run 3dmark again and see where it takes me.

 

[Bengoshi-San]

10 minutes, no artifacts.

 

[Evilonigiri]

Run 3dmark06 on loop if you can for about an hour just to make sure. Or you can grab ATI tools and scarn for artifacts. A little artifact in ATI tools will usually never show in games.

 

[Bengoshi-San]

I cranked up the o/c for the processor to:
E6750 (2.66ghz) to 3.4GHz and the 3dmark06 score jumped to 12686.

I then got greedy and cranked it up to 3.6ghz and got a score of 12843, but I failed the prime95 test so I backed off of it.

I reverted to 3.4ghz and am currently running 721/1805/1000.

I will do more exact tests once I get to where I want, I want to test for tons of stability.

My cpu core temp has been a rock solid 68 while running prime95, is that fine?

Thanks for the help guys.

Oh and I believe I cant go further than 3.4ghz on my processor because of my crappy a-data ram. The processor itself does fine and even runs 3dmark's cpu test, but when I start prime95.. 5 minutes in.. my windows dumps the memory and the blue screen pops up and restarts the pc.

So basic moral of the story is... A-Data is no good for overclocking past 850mhz (ddr2).

 

[Evilonigiri]

That's cause you have 4 sticks of ram. More sticks of ram = bad OCing. So remove 2 of the sticks and give it a go.

 

[iluvgillgill]

apparantly if the core temp go above 70C the card will start artifacting and freeze.

 

[Bengoshi-San]

My core and ambient temps stay relatively cool.

I'm pretty happy with my results, considering that my RAM sucks and I am on stock cooling.

I have an Arctic Cooler Pro 7 but it was annoying trying to put it on the mobo because I felt that it took too much force to snap it in.. and I didn't want to break the mobo when I was assembling the pc, so I just went with the Intel fan instead.

If I get better RAM and install the cpu cooler I have, I can probably easily push my E6750 to 3.8GHz and my RAM to 1000MHz.

Anyhow, hope this helps anyone else with a 8800GT.