What's up with those crazy 3DMark scores out there?

[Trull]

Hi all!

So I was looking at the highest 3DMark 06 scores for my graphics card (8800GT) and it turns out the highest submitted score for it was this:

I mean... really? 34289 3DMarks with an 8800GT and an E6600? Is it a joke? Is it legit? Is it even possible? I get 10k 3DMarks with the same card (factory and manually overclocked) and an E6750 @ 3.3Ghz.

What the hell?

 

[Trull]

Yeah well, I guess the guy used liquid nitrogen... but why would he do so with that rig?

 

[wolfram23]

People like to overclock. There's people who try to set overclocking records. I've seen a processor up to 6ghz or more. They'll have a huge tank of LN2, and like 20 CPUs to test out lol.

Have you tried 3DMark Vantage yet?

 

[Trull]

Hey, thanks for your answer. I know people try to set records, but it's kind of stupid to set a record with LN2 for that rig (imo).

No, I haven't tried Vantage yet because it's supposed to be for DX10, and the 8800GT is only DX9. Do you think I should try Vantage anyway?

Oh, and by the way, does changing resolution and AA in 3DMark affect the score outcome? Cause 10k is kind of weak, right?

Also, I was planning on upgrading my PC, but I only have like 300 euros to expend. Do you think I should upgrade my current rig or just wait until I can get some more money (not in the near future, lol) and buy a whole new rig? If you think I should upgrade, what would you recommend for about that price? I know I need more graphics power, but I'm afraid of bottlenecking, plus my processor doesn't seem stable @ 3.4GHz for some reason...

My rig: 8800GT Alpha Dog Edition (I kinda have it on stock speeds now because of stability issues - Bad Company 2 crashed now and then) / E6750 @ 3.3GHz / 6GB DDR2 @ 4-4-4-12, 413MHz / Gigabyte P35-DS3L motherboard / Zalman CPS9700 CPU cooler / Zalman VF900 GPU cooler / Corsair HX520W

Thanks for the help.

 

[wolfram23]

Um well there are certainly upgrade options for that CPU. You could probably get a quad core if your mobo BIOS allows it. On the GPU side of things you could definitely upgrade. If you upgrade GPU first you can always bring it into the new PC (and I'm pretty sure an 8800GT would make a great PhysX card).

That's true about Vantage. I suppose there's no point in getting it yet. AA and resolution definitely affects performance, but for comparison reasons you should use the presets so that it's apples to apples. I don't know what a good score is in 3DMark06, I've only ran Vantage... my highest score was 30k or so running two OCed 5850s and an i5 750 OCed.

 

[Lmeow]

^
^ The 8800 GT support DirectX 10 just so you know.

 

[Trull]

^
^ The 8800 GT support DirectX 10 just so you know.

Gee, you're right! I feel like a noob after saying it only supports DX9. Where did I get that idea from? Hmm... I guess it's because at the time DirectX 10 was released I was using Windows XP.

Anyway, thanks for the info, dude.

 

[4Ryan6]

Maybe he is into Photoshop?

Looks very unrealistic to me, even 2 8800GT in SLI don't get anywhere near those results!

That could possibly be a misprint, it does happen.

 

[Trull]

Why don't you email him and find out?

Actually, I did. No answer, though.

 

[Trull]

Maybe he is into Photoshop?

Looks very unrealistic to me, even 2 8800GT in SLI don't get anywhere near those results!

That could possibly be a misprint, it does happen.

Who, me?

I don't see what Photoshop has to do with an approved 3DMark score... you can check it out by yourself.

I don't see how it can't be genuine anyways. Keep in mind it's 3DMark 06 and not Vantage. But like I said, kind of stupid to set a "record" for that rig by December 2008... just saying.

 

[Trull]

Um well there are certainly upgrade options for that CPU. You could probably get a quad core if your mobo BIOS allows it. On the GPU side of things you could definitely upgrade. If you upgrade GPU first you can always bring it into the new PC (and I'm pretty sure an 8800GT would make a great PhysX card).

That's true about Vantage. I suppose there's no point in getting it yet. AA and resolution definitely affects performance, but for comparison reasons you should use the presets so that it's apples to apples. I don't know what a good score is in 3DMark06, I've only ran Vantage... my highest score was 30k or so running two OCed 5850s and an i5 750 OCed.

Well, I'd really like to upgrade to DX11, but it's rather expensive. Only 5000 series for ATI or 400 series for nVidia, so yeah, the most expensive out there. Plus I'd most likely be bottlenecked by whichever CPU I can buy with the rest of the money, and upgrading to the "i" series would require a new motherboard, RAM, CPU cooler... which means I'm fucked.

 

[Trull]

I don't know... maybe I won't be bottlenecked if I buy a nice Quad and overclock it... what do you people think? I need some advice here! Tell me what I should do!!! Now!!!! Just joking , but I'd really appreciate any advice you can give me. Remember my budget is about 300-350 euros (would be 100 more if I hadn't gambled it out lol). So basically I'm not wealthy. :lol:

Oh, and about using the 8800GT for PhysX, I guess that will be an extra for graphics performance, but I read I won't be able to use it for that if I buy an ATI card?? And I've also read that sometimes single cards perform better due to higher overhead?

I don't know, it's complicated and I have many doubts. Hope someone out there will be able to help me out.

 

[4Ryan6]

Who, me?

I don't see what Photoshop has to do with an approved 3DMark score... you can check it out by yourself.

I don't see how it can't be genuine anyways. Keep in mind it's 3DMark 06 and not Vantage. But like I said, kind of stupid to set a "record" for that rig by December 2008... just saying.

I was not referencing you, with the Photoshop comment!

Anything is possible in this day and time, including hacking futuremarks website, it would be almost impossible to achieve that score with an 8800GT, no matter how far you OC it, and the CPU.

 

[Trull]

I was not referencing you, with the Photoshop comment!

Anything is possible in this day and time, including hacking futuremarks website, it would be almost impossible to achieve that score with an 8800GT, no matter how far you OC it, and the CPU.

Yeah, that's why it got my attention, but how does hacking the website relate to Photoshop anyway? As far as I know he would need to hack the data so that the result is valid... but nevermind lol. I guess it's possible that the guy actually hacked the score...

 

[wolfram23]

Trull, honestly a dual core isn't bad if you overclock it (for gaming at least). If you can get it to, say, 3.5ghz it would perform quite admirably. Then spend your cash on either a GTX 460 or a 5770 or something along those lines. If you can afford a 5850 or a GTX470, those are great. Although the 470 would need a meaty PSU, the 5850 is a lot more efficient.

If you go with a cheaper GPU like a 460 or 5770 and get a quad core, then maybe down the road SLI or CF a second GPU you'll have a very good gaming rig that will last a while.

 

[Trull]

Trull, honestly a dual core isn't bad if you overclock it (for gaming at least). If you can get it to, say, 3.5ghz it would perform quite admirably. Then spend your cash on either a GTX 460 or a 5770 or something along those lines. If you can afford a 5850 or a GTX470, those are great. Although the 470 would need a meaty PSU, the 5850 is a lot more efficient.

If you go with a cheaper GPU like a 460 or 5770 and get a quad core, then maybe down the road SLI or CF a second GPU you'll have a very good gaming rig that will last a while.

Yeah... I will do that.

Thanks.