Gigabyte 7VRXP How do I get ATA 133 to work?

Elaborate. It should automatically work if you use a Maxtor drive. If you are not using a Maxtor 133 HDD then you can't use it. It only works on those drives. Another thing, is it plugged into the right IDE channel? The 7VRXP has two IDE channels for RAID and 2 regular. If you aren't using RAID don't plug it into one of the bottom two channels. If you are using a Maxtor hard drive and you're sure everything's hooked up right then your mainboard is most likely broken. Get it RMA'd.

I believe that you'll have to install the <A HREF="http://www.viaarena.com/?PageID=2" target="_new">VIA 4.38(2)v(a)</A> drivers to get UDMA-6 in WinXP.

However, this is unlikely to have anything to do with your benchmarking score, as there is little performance gain from ATA/100 to ATA/133, and certainly not enough to raise a 3DMark score from 7200 to the 10,000 area.

I suspect that you'd need to install the latest nVidia drivers, perhaps the <A HREF="http://www.guru3d.com/files/detonator/" target="_new">29.40</A> driver set with the refresh rate fix, disable vsync, and overclock the card to reach a high benchmarking score.

However, benchmarks are just scores, nothing more. The only real purpose I can see for them is to point toward a piece of hardware or an application that is not performing up-to-standards, which might require troubleshooting. Stressing your system to reach an astronomically high point is pretty silly, IMHO. If applications such as video games run smoothly, with decent frame rates, and without lockups or error messages, I'd settle for being satisfied that the card is performing well.

Those people you have seen who are hitting 10,000+ are most certainly overclocking, and in most cases, for nothing more than bragging rights. That can be an expensive hobby, especially if you happen to damage a component. It is not a necessary element to have a stable, fast machine.

There ain't no such thing as a free lunch. Everything comes due, eventually.

Toejam31

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