Benchmark Question

[confoundicator]

I just downloaded 3DMark 2001SE and ran it.
First off, my rig is almost a year old:

AMD Athlon XP1800+ (Palomino? I don't know.)
Abit KR7A with VIA KT266A chipset (DDR 266 with 133MHZ FSB)
512 MB of Crucial PC2100
Abit Siluro GeForce4 Ti4200 64MB
Windows XP Pro (everything updated)
more stuff that doesn't matter...

I got a score of <b>9060</b> at 1024x768x32 with all settings maxed and no AA. Everything looked very smooth except for the high polygon test with eight light sources. When I turned on quincunx (great name) my score dropped to 7226 and at 4xAA my score dropped to 5047. Everything still looked smooth except for the high-poly-count-with-eight-lights test, which looked about the same with all AA settings.

I have two questions:
1. What kind of scores am I getting for my hardware and could I be getting more out of it (without keeping my tower in a freezer)? If so, how much?

2. Are there "recomended" scores in 3DMark that one should have before picking up new games that are coming out, like Doom]|[ and Half-Life2? If so what are they?

-I realize that was five questions, not two. Thanks in advance for any imparted wisdom.

 

[phial]

yeah that looks about right


if youhave a nforce2 board, your score would be a bit higher , prolly around 10k.. hard to say tho, wouldhave to look at your computer first hand..

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<A HREF="http://www.xgr.com" target="_new">XGR-Game Reviews</A>

"You change the channel, and you change our minds..." - System of a Down

 

[cleeve]

That's a good score. EVERY computer slows down during the high-poly eight-light test.

If you want a quick performance boost, try lowering your memory timings in the BIOS... cache latency, etc. The lower the number, the better.

The run 3dmark. If it doesn't crash, you should be OK at those settings. If it does, reboot and set them a little higher and retry.

Post your results when you're done so we can see 'em.

- Cleeve

 

[M39shadow]

Your scores are pretty good for that combination. I run a MSI Nforce 2 with a overclocked Xp 2600+, 512 RAM, and a Ti-4200 8X and score around 13000 with the same video settings.

 

[Nights_L]

I have a friend, his computer's configuration is almost the same as yours, except he is running KT400 and PC2700 256MB ram
he got above 10000, how much exactly? I don't know then

My computer has almost the same score you got, I got ~8900 with my Radeon8500LE, I think you could get higher mark by tweaking some stuff like Bios..
I'm running XP2000+ with KT333 and DDR266@2/2/2/5 256MB

 

[GeneticWeapon]

Damn Nights...our scores are close. I have an AthlonXP 2100+, 768mb DDR266, BBA 8500LE, and my score is 8,800 & something...I'm gunna have to tweak a little more to catch you!

Pictures of my PC & Me!<A HREF="http://www.lochel.com/THGC/html/Genetic_Weapon.html" target="_new">http://www.lochel.com/THGC/html/Genetic_Weapon.html</A>..<font color=red>My score</font color=red>..<A HREF="http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k1=6258104" target="_new">http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k1=6258104</A>

 

[confoundicator]

Let the tweaking commence. I increased my AGP apurture size from 64 MB to 128 MB and ran 3dMark01SE again and it made no difference. I scored a 9047, a hair lower.

Then I went back into the BIOS and decreased the DRAM CAS Latency from the default 2.5 to 2 and my score SKYROCKETED to 9141. Does the AGP apurture size make a practical difference? I'm gonna change it back and run the test again... muwahahahahaha... need... more... experiments...

<font color=blue>-Any tool dropped while repairing a car will roll under the car to the exact middle.</font color=blue>

 

[confoundicator]

Yeee-ha!
I set the AGP apurture size in the BIOS back to the default 64MB and ran 3DMark01SE one more time and got a mind-numbing <b>9156</b> (got 100 points, not 1,000). For some reason it seems the lower AGP apurture size improves performance a small amount... ?
In any case, lowering the DRAM CAS latency definitely worked. Any other non-overclocking tweaks would be coool ^_^

<font color=blue>-Any tool dropped while repairing a car will roll under the car to the exact middle.</font color=blue>

 

[RCPilot]

<A HREF="http://www.rojakpot.com/default.aspx?location=1" target="_new">Here </A> is the definitive answer on AGP aperture size & any other BIOS settings your tweaking.

If it ain't broke, take it apart & see why not!

 

[confoundicator]

Thanks rc, that's exactly the kind of resource I've been looking for.

<font color=blue>-Any tool dropped while repairing a car will roll under the car to the exact middle.</font color=blue>

 

[RCPilot]

Hey no prob. I was looking for it & was turned on to it by someone else here. It helped me & I'm just returning the favor. That's why we're all here for.

If it ain't broke, take it apart & see why not!