3dmark06 score dropped 2500 points!!?? >:(

[Raidur]

Ok. So I was messing around with my memory and core clocks on my 3870 and decided I'd try another 3dmark score. I did one a few weeks ago and scored a 11.5, after messing around with the clocks I decided to run another test, got 9k. 9k is closer to the score I used to get when I had a 4400+... This can't be right. I thought it could have been new drivers or something so I installed cat 8.10 and still no luck. My cpu score seems to be normal but my GPU score is extremely low, under 2000, which is bad for an e8400 / 3870 combo. Could my PSU be dieing, or my card even? My clocks are running at normal speeds says rivatuner / gpu-z.

Thanks

 

[customisbetter]

background processes? Antivirus mainly.

 

[Raidur]

Well I run AVG 8 pro, but I have been since the last time I benched and it didn't seem to hurt me then, could progs make that big of a difference?

 

[woshitudou]

Try settings your clocks back. Raising clocks doesn't always mean a speed increase, if things get out of sync you can decrease speed.

 

[Raidur]

I was getting the bad score at stock speeds. I tried under-clocking, in case that was what you meant, with no luck. Took the clocks down to 750 / 1000 from 777/1125 (default) and still got more-than bad FPS to start off with. Usually the first test goes at 70fps, now its 50, grr!! Should I try an even older ati driver? Is there a way I can see if my psu is acting normal?

 

[Raidur]

Lmao... got it fixed. Excuse me for a wasted thread. Had it in a 4x slot, lmao. Yeah... I took it out to clean it the other day and I have 3 identical pcix slots, 16, 16, and 4. Anyways its running awesome now, 12k with a 3870 815/2350 and e8400 @ 3.85 1.28v mhmm.

 

[woshitudou]

Antivirus apps do slow down the computer, I'm not sure by how much these days but as Customisbetter said its a good start to rule out background processes.

If it was my system and I wanted to see if the PSU was causing a prob I'd unplug all the extra drives, case fans and usb stuff and free up as much psu power as possible and see if things cleared up but thats not something I'd do over lower fps or benchmark scores, especially if it looked like a non hardware issue.

For testing your psu:
http://www.ochardware.com/articles/psuvolt/psuvolt.html

One thing to consider with graphics card speed aside from clocking is the performance vs visual quality settings in your card's device control panel. They can affect your scores.

Here are some benchmarks on catalyst drivers:
http://www.pcgameshardware.com/aid,667762/Reviews/Catalyst_811_WHQL_Radeon_display_driver_reviewed/?page=2

If you're using the 8.11 drivers there is a hotfix for them, some info here:
http://forums.guru3d.com//showthread.php?s=fc707b0327c4cc6c2a4f19b265d7c05c&t=279252

I grab my drivers and graphics card apps from here:
http://downloads.guru3d.com/

 

[woshitudou]

hahaha fail.