New Setup, Poor Benchmarks?

[Mantis737]

I JUST set up my new PC with the following specs.

Socket 939 AMD 3700+
ASrock DualSATA-939 Motherboad
1GB PC3200 Corsair Valueram
eVGA 6800 AGP 128mb Videocard
100GB Maxtor SATA
120GB WD

Cool temps - 32 CPU

I ran 3DMARKS06 and got a CPU score of 650 and a Overall score of 850. Does that seem pretty low to anyone else? If so, what can I do to increase performace, I am not comfortable with Overclocking, so I would prefer not to do it. This is after a brand new install of XP, I have not tinckered with any BIOS settings or anything.

 

[MadModMike]

The problem is your vid card, is that a plain old 6800? If it is, that's the culprit. My 3700+ stock got about 950 CPU score, that might be the RAM as mine is 1.5-2-2-2 PC3200. Your temp is good though, try running other benches (PCMARK, 3DMARK05, Sandra, preferably the CPU and memory bandwidth tests in Sandra) and post what you get.

~~Mad Mod Mike, pimpin' the world 1 rig at a time

 

[Mantis737]

Yes it is a plain old 6800. I am going to run 3DMARK05 right now and the Sandra tests and post what I get. I guess I didn't realize that my 6800 was that outdated! I just don't play enough games to update it I suppose.

I upgraded to this system from a 2.8ghz Pentium 4 478 socket w/o HT. I think that the previous system had a similar mark score, so I am thinking that this upgrade wasn't really worth it? Someone please advise me if I should keep my regular old 2.8 or upgrade to my 3700+. Is the 3700+ that much of an upgrade from my old system?

 

[Mantis737]

3DMARK05 - 3406

 

[endyen]

It depends what you use your system for. If it never gets past 50% cpu usage, yea, your old system still has a year or two left in it.
A few tips.
If you are going to run a gfx benchmark, set your gfx sttings to max perf, min quality.
In bios, set your mem to T1, rather than T2 timings.
Make sure your Ram is set to DDR400, as some boards default to DDR333, because older chips had a poorer ODMC.
Amd boards need to have all the mobo drivers loaded. SP2 uses a bad generic driver, so put in the one from the disk, or the newest ones from your mobo supplier.
Hope this helps.

 

[Mantis737]

So my new system doesn't really have any advantage over my old system? I was going to sell my old system but maybe I shouldn't?

 

[MadModMike]

Your new system is faster than your old one, by alot. Your RAM is Value, meaning it is some pretty bad stuff compared to the performance RAM. Your HDD is good, Motherboard is good, Vid Card needs changing. After that, and some tinkering in the BIOS, your new system will scream.

~~Mad Mod Mike, pimpin' the world 1 rig at a time

 

[Mantis737]

Thats what I wanted to hear. I don't really want to go out and buy a new Video Card if I don't have to. What kind of RAM should I look at in order to optimize my performance. I would like something quick, but not SUPER expensive. Give me a good in between.

 

[MadModMike]

Corsair XMS or OCZ Gold/Performance Series. 2 512MB sticks, search on newegg, they are pretty cheap.

~~Mad Mod Mike, pimpin' the world 1 rig at a time

 

[endyen]

New ram eh? To be honest, I dont see that increasing his bungholio marks much. What do you see it doing, and how many more bungholios do you think he will get?

 

[MadModMike]

About 75,000 Bungholios. And about 15 points on your IQ, no, that'll be gained back by your obvious boozin'.

~~Mad Mod Mike, pimpin' the world 1 rig at a time

 

[endyen]

Thanks , that helps a lot.

 

[MadModMike]

Ya...it's 4am, I'm going to slit my wrists and pass out for the night, be back later babe!

~~Mad Mod Mike, pimpin' the world 1 rig at a time

 

[endyen]

Dont put too much store in 3Dmark. The 05 version has a P4 520 only 11 points ahead of the FX57
In Fartcry, on the other hand, that 2.8ghz prescott gets 131 fps, while the lowly FX scores 213.
Personally, I dont think the fartcry bench is very accurate. I think the Intel chips get creamed a lot worse than that.