Originally posted by: Davegod
the problem with the 3dmark compare is it seems to compare with the top end of scores for your cpu. there's various other things you can do to basically fiddle the 3dmark score - increase process priority, change LOD blah blah blah. Of course on top of that there's actual overclocks which may/may not be mentioned in the description, 3dmark2001 also seems to really like FSB overclocks.
Here's my compare, faster cpu (2400+) and slower gfx (gf3ti200 oc 227/515), very similar memory, KT266a mobo. score 7800
http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k1=6099966 - and ofcourse like everyone else i leave highest my highest one as the active one, more skew to the comparisons. Mine is also 100% stable and what im using now, some people just push for the highest score possible even if 3dmark is crashing 9 times out of 10.
I dont want to rip into the benchmark too much, basically any benchmark is only as good as it is used
Im guessing your score isnt far off what it should be, also guessing the "bottleneck" is your cpu. might find theres some BIOS settings that can be improved - simply turning on optimal ram performance in my bios added 500 points on a previous attempt (and >10% to pcmark2002 memory score), but proved unstable so i took it off...
Rojack has a nice bios guide, mind the standard warning about being careful in bios and writing down current settings etc