3DMark scores dropped.....Any ideas??

[cbolt67]

I just replaced my AthlonXP 2500+ and Nvidia2 based motherboard with a new DFI LANPARTY UT 250gb and a Sempron64 2800+. I have finished testing, ran memtest, and then prime95 for 12 hours. Everything is stable @ 2.5GHz with a fsb of 313MHz. So I thought I'd check some synthetic benchmark scores. My Sisoft Sandra scores went up nicely. Then I checked Aquamark3, scores improved as well. Now I check 3DMark03 and I dropped from 11100 to 8900. So I ran 3DMark05 and went from 4900 to 3500. As I watch the test run I notice the test lockup for around:confused 5 seconds then continue on. After the lock up the fps drops and stays low. I tried clocking everything back down to default and same issue. If anyone has any ideas I'm open to suggestions.

 

[Furen]

Originally posted by: cbolt67
I just replaced my AthlonXP 2500+ and Nvidia2 based motherboard with a new DFI LANPARTY UT 250gb and a Sempron64 2800+. I have finished testing, ran memtest, and then prime95 for 12 hours. Everything is stable @ 2.5GHz with a fsb of 313MHz. So I thought I'd check some synthetic benchmark scores. My Sisoft Sandra scores went up nicely. Then I checked Aquamark3, scores improved as well. Now I check 3DMark03 and I dropped from 11100 to 8900. So I ran 3DMark05 and went from 4900 to 3500. As I watch the test run I notice the test lockup for around:confused 5 seconds then continue on. After the lock up the fps drops and stays low. I tried clocking everything back down to default and same issue. If anyone has any ideas I'm open to suggestions.

Have you tried more voltage or backing down a bit on the overclock? A Sempron should destroy an Athlon XP in performance.

 

[cbolt67]

I backed way down on the overclock. Unfortunately I got the same results everytime no matter how far down I went. The voltage is at 1.6V and I can run prime95 steady for 8 hours with no errors so I believe the processor is stable at this speed. I have checked the memory with memtest and also had no errors. In all synthetic benchmarks the Sempron is much faster except for the 3DMark series.

 

[SolMiester]

Turn off fast writes to AGP/PCI in BIOS, check M/B chipset drivers

 

[Powermoloch]

Had you downloaded the lastest bios, installed the proper Nforce drivers for the mobo ?

 

[aatf510]

Did you have a fresh install of WinXP after changing the mobo?

 

[cbolt67]

Thx for all the replies. I feel like an idiot. I stayed up and figured out my issue. I had updated the BIOS when I got the board. So I booted to safe mode and used driver cleaner to clean out all the old Nvidia drivers. Then reinstalled chipset and video drivers. That didn't work. This was because my video card, a BFG 6800OC with all pipes and vertex units opend with Rivatuner, used to run 400MHz core and 880MHz memory in my old XP system. So I ran it right up there in my new board. When I set it at default I had no more freezing during 3DMark and my scores went up. In the new MB my vid card wont go past 360MHz core and 750MHz memory. Odd but I can live with it.

I actually haven't reinstalled windows. I know I should but I wanted to see if I could get away without doing it since both chipsets are Nvidia and use the same drivers. I will probably do it next weekend.

 

[SolMiester]

If you flashed the BIOS, fast writes are enabled by default, which will explain the hiccup while benching, NVidia cards dont like fast write to the card!