geforce 6600 gt performance like an fx5600

[animos1ty]

recently i bought a gigabyte 6600 gt @ 500/1000. i thought this card was going to be a beast compared to my fx5600. but as soon as i loaded up games like cs:source, world of warcraft and doom 3, i barely noticed a difference. in the source stress test, i've gotten 8 more fps. in wow and d3, the difference is also minimal, maybe 10-15 fps.

here's my specs:
p4 3 ghz 800 mhz fsb prescott core
512 corsair xms pc-2700 ram (i've been thinking about a 1 gb pc-3200 upgrade)
gigabyte 6600 gt @ 500/1000
350w ps

i've tried driver cleaner and some different drivers and no change.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

You definitely want another 512mb of ram, and is that 512 you have 1 or 2 sticks? Because a Prescott in single channel@DDR2700 speeds would be a big bottle-neck. Also, What resolution and AA&AF settings do you use? Some of your games are probably CPU limited, especially WoW, but looking@the X-bit review, a 5950 Ultra gets stomped by the 6600GT 8x AGP in D3 but does well in CS:S. A 5600 is way below a 5950U in performance of course, so your bottleneck is definitely not the 6600GT. Speed and amount of ram being coupled with the Prescott is my best guess for the biggest hold up.

 

[Acanthus]

You need more than 512MB for all the games you listed.

 

[BobDaMenkey]

Bump yourself to a gig of 3200 and get a good quality power supply to keep it all running smooth. You'll see a big increase in performance, at least I believe so.

 

[Fenuxx]

Also, is VSYNC on? That would limit your FPS, especially if your refresh rate is 60Hz. If so, turn it off, and then see what happens with the scores. My bet is that this should fix things.

Also, as everyone else has said, you need more memory. I would als invest in a better PSU, as Prescotts draw about 100w themselves, that only leaves 250w for the rest of the system, and thats at the best situation possible, I think it is more like 150-200w for the rest of your system, as PSUs just DON'T run at 100% efficiency, period.

 

[animos1ty]

Originally posted by: DAPUNISHER
You definitely want another 512mb of ram, and is that 512 you have 1 or 2 sticks? Because a Prescott in single channel@DDR2700 speeds would be a big bottle-neck.

i have 2 256 sticks of pc-2700 and that's exactly how it's running right now. i don't think my motherboard does dual channeling because the 2 sticks i have are the exact same thing. would this be a good upgrade for me to do and still give me a significant performance boost?

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?description=20-145-440&DEPA=1

 

[Acanthus]

You will not see a performance increase from changing power supplies... just to make that clear.

And if you dont have any stability problems, there is no reason to change the PSU.

 

[animos1ty]

alright, cool. so i don't have to buy a brand new ps. so basically it's a problem between my motherboard and ram?

 

[Acanthus]

1GB of PC3200 value ram should be fine for the system.

 

[saechaka]

just from personal exp. i used to have a 2.4c M0 stepping oc. to 3.2ghz w/my 8500 and 1gb ram and gaming cs source sucked. i made the jump to a a64 winc. running at 2.5ghz and get almost double the frames. if you game mostly and don't do intensive multitasking then i would say upgrading the cpu will help more.

 

[RussianSensation]

Originally posted by: saechaka
just from personal exp. i used to have a 2.4c M0 stepping oc. to 3.2ghz w/my 8500 and 1gb ram and gaming cs source sucked. i made the jump to a a64 winc. running at 2.5ghz and get almost double the frames. if you game mostly and don't do intensive multitasking then i would say upgrading the cpu will help more.

I dont want to discredit your post but I find this hard to believe. First of all, there is no one game in the world where A64 2.5ghz is 2x faster than P4 3.2ghz. Secondly, if there was, you'd have to be 100% cpu limited to notice something like that and given that CS is a lot more gpu limited with 8500 videocard, I again find this hard to believe.

With everything on high at 1024x768 with 2.6ghz p4 and 8500 I get 60.34 frames per second in CS video stress test. When I overclock the processor to 3.2ghz I get 60.78 frames. However, when I overclock the graphics card just +20/+20 on gpu/core I get 67 frames in the same stress test. Maybe you had issues with your previous setup like intel drivers or what not motherboard issues but definately gpu is WAY more important for gaming.

OP, increase the resolution higher and see how 6600GT might still get reasonable frames with higher image quality.

 

[Acanthus]

Originally posted by: RussianSensation

Originally posted by: saechaka
just from personal exp. i used to have a 2.4c M0 stepping oc. to 3.2ghz w/my 8500 and 1gb ram and gaming cs source sucked. i made the jump to a a64 winc. running at 2.5ghz and get almost double the frames. if you game mostly and don't do intensive multitasking then i would say upgrading the cpu will help more.

I dont want to discredit your post but I find this hard to believe. First of all, there is no one game in the world where A64 2.5ghz is 2x faster than P4 3.2ghz. Secondly, if there was, you'd have to be 100% cpu limited to notice something like that and given that CS is a lot more gpu limited with 8500 videocard, I again find this hard to believe.

With everything on high at 1024x768 with 2.6ghz p4 and 8500 I get 60.34 frames per second in CS video stress test. When I overclock the processor to 3.2ghz I get 60.78 frames. However, when I overclock the graphics card just +20/+20 on gpu/core I get 67 frames in the same stress test. Maybe you had issues with your previous setup like intel drivers or what not motherboard issues but definately gpu is WAY more important for gaming.

OP, increase the resolution higher and see how 6600GT might still get reasonable frames with higher image quality.

I agree with this post, there is no way in hell he got a 100% increase going to an A64.

 

[imported_Hi]

get a gig of pc3200 and you will notice huge diffrence

 

[saechaka]

Originally posted by: Acanthus

Originally posted by: RussianSensation

Originally posted by: saechaka
just from personal exp. i used to have a 2.4c M0 stepping oc. to 3.2ghz w/my 8500 and 1gb ram and gaming cs source sucked. i made the jump to a a64 winc. running at 2.5ghz and get almost double the frames. if you game mostly and don't do intensive multitasking then i would say upgrading the cpu will help more.

I dont want to discredit your post but I find this hard to believe. First of all, there is no one game in the world where A64 2.5ghz is 2x faster than P4 3.2ghz. Secondly, if there was, you'd have to be 100% cpu limited to notice something like that and given that CS is a lot more gpu limited with 8500 videocard, I again find this hard to believe.

With everything on high at 1024x768 with 2.6ghz p4 and 8500 I get 60.34 frames per second in CS video stress test. When I overclock the processor to 3.2ghz I get 60.78 frames. However, when I overclock the graphics card just +20/+20 on gpu/core I get 67 frames in the same stress test. Maybe you had issues with your previous setup like intel drivers or what not motherboard issues but definately gpu is WAY more important for gaming.

OP, increase the resolution higher and see how 6600GT might still get reasonable frames with higher image quality.

I agree with this post, there is no way in hell he got a 100% increase going to an A64.

act. i found it hard to believe too. but i remember reading how half life 2 is more cpu dependent. but anyways i can't really do any tests besides my own experience using net_graph 3. i can get 100+ frames and lows in the 40's w/a64 at 800x600 whereas w/p4 system i would get max 50 to 60 and dip to the 10's. sorry nothing scientific there but just giving my personal experience. so i think if gaming is important and big part of what he does then switching will def. help. it was like night and day w/my experience

and to all saying going from 512mb ram to 1gb ram will give a huge difference. i would question that more than my cpu statement. as i can say going from 512mb to 1gb gives minimal increase in fps. but dollar for dollar is def. worth it as opposed to jumping to a whole new setup. my 2cents

shoulda mentioned in i play at 800x600

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Originally posted by: animos1ty

Originally posted by: DAPUNISHER
You definitely want another 512mb of ram, and is that 512 you have 1 or 2 sticks? Because a Prescott in single channel@DDR2700 speeds would be a big bottle-neck.

i have 2 256 sticks of pc-2700 and that's exactly how it's running right now. i don't think my motherboard does dual channeling because the 2 sticks i have are the exact same thing. would this be a good upgrade for me to do and still give me a significant performance boost?

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?description=20-145-440&DEPA=1

Definitely grab the ram. What board do you have anyways?

 

[imported_itr]

toss the pc2700 and buy some pc3200. p4 prescott requires pc3200 ram.

 

[hans030390]

does it require it? or is it more of a "you really need it" thing?

thats really strange with your performance...if your 5600 was getting decent framerates, then you prolly wont tell the difference because your eyes can't detect it past a certain point. but, that is strange, and i'm thinking it has something to do with something besides your ram...