3D Mark scores

i ran 3D Mark 03 tonight and got a 2200 and similar systems were getting around 4500, what am i doing wrong??

Athlon XP 2600+ 768mb ddr single channel ATI 9600 SE gpu. does it matter? i have an old computer that kind of played a role in my decision.

does that let u play games?

yes just not the latest games

If you're talking about the online report generated by Mark that compares your system to "similar" systems, I wouldn't worry about it. That doesn't mean too much. If you want to check stability, download Prime95 and run it for a few hours to see if you get any errors. Sometimes older machines develop issues. Having background processes running shouldn't really impact Mark performance, unless you're running another benchmarking suite at the same time.

Other than that, if you want to squeeze some more power out of it, you can try to overclock both the CPU and the GPU. Realistically, though, you're going to be limited to pre-Doom3 era games with a system like that, regardless of what you do. Not necessarily a bad thing; there a lot of good games from that era (Knights of the Old Republic comes to mind), but something to consider.

Another route that might do some justice is a mild upgrade. Get a gig or two of ram (you can get 2 gig for that system dirt cheap), upgrade the CPU to something a bit fresher (~$50-$80), and find a cheap AGP card on ebay to replace the 9600.

You know, I just took an AMD mobo out of a micro ATX I just rebuilt. 4600+ X2 dual core (never overclocked), Zalman 7000 series cooler, 2 gigs of corsair, and a BFG 7900 GT OC. I'd give you the whole kit for $150. All you would need are optical and hard drives, a power supply, and a case (all of which I assume you have).

The benchmark seems about right in my opinion. The 9600SE is the slowest of the 9600 series gpu's if my memory serves me correctly. You will do considerably better with 9600/9800 AGP pro or XT series cards. From memory the 9800XT squeezes about all you can get out of a high end Socket A CPU.

just did a search about it, sounds like about 20 steps up from my system.

Wow thats a really nice offer he is giving ya hemir1.