low 3dmark05 scores with x1900xtx, help!!

[fern420]

ok got my x1900xtx, didnt mess round, did a full reformat and install. im using a pent 3.4 775 chip, and 2 gigs of ddr2 ram, 533mhtz. heres the problem, im barley breaking 8100 in 3dmark 05. after reading most of the others scores i seem to be falling realy short. im realy getting frustrated, i mean my 7800gtx was pulling 7400. i even tried using the built in overclocker in the catalyst but didnt get much for gains.im using the catalyst that came on the disc with the saphire x1900xtx. is my system bottlenecking this card? i just feel limp compared to others scoring over 10k. any insight would be greatly apprecited.

 

[Polish3d]

Probably your processor... but don't worry, with AA and high res the cpu bottleneck will be less

 

[5150Joker]

Your CPU is holding you back. Also make sure you don't have AA/AF enabled and set your mipmaps to performance mode.

 

[fern420]

thanks for the help guys. so if i were to move up to a dual core amd i would see the correct scores on this card? what would be the best upgrade option? i dont mind dropping 700-800 on a amd if it will truly increase my gaming. im an AMD newb.

 

[TSS]

try running 3dmark06, and then comparing CPU scores to other users aswell as GPU scores. you'll most likely see the GPU scores are pretty consistent while CPU is low.

and dual core is the way of a future... i'd say go for a X2 if not OCing or a opteron if you are (and can get one cheap). DFI mobo's seem to be good OCers, heard a couple of good thing about asus too. a upgrade like that shouldn't have to cost more then 500 bucks in total.

but consider this: 3Dmark06 and 05 and just about the entire line of 3dmark does NOT reflect real world performance. in games, more then likely, you will not or barely see a performance increase. basicly, 3dmark IS NOT a good reason to upgrade.

wait for socket AM2 of amd, which should be out between march-july. your PC will more then last you that time in games and just about everything else. and you will be able to keep your memory if upgrading. AM2 will support DDR2, 939 does not.

 

[otispunkmeyer]

Originally posted by: fern420
thanks for the help guys. so if i were to move up to a dual core amd i would see the correct scores on this card? what would be the best upgrade option? i dont mind dropping 700-800 on a amd if it will truly increase my gaming. im an AMD newb.

right in 05 the cpu plays more of a part in your score the more powerful your graphics subsystem is

moving to dual core P4 wont really help your 05 score, but it will help your 06 score since that was built to take advantage of dual core cpus. but in the grand scheme of things no one plays 3dmark, and it doesnt really reflect what todays games will play like. its just a pretty graphics test.

very few if any games currently out take advantage of dual cores, but ATI and NV's latests drivers are starting to utilize the power of them, and some nice little increases have been seen.

AMD is the better choice for gaming, in both single and dual core flavours.period. but i wouldnt drop 700-800 on a new AMD set up just yet.....AMD are releasing yet more new socket types as TSS describes. i believe theres also socket F somewhere on the horizon.

way i see it, your P4 3.4 and a X1900XTX is more than enough, ok you will lose a couple of FPS in games where the cpu is used alot simply because AMD have the better architecture, but in reality 1) your P4 is far from slow 2) you probably wont notice the extra few FPS. just turn up the eye candy on that beast and enjoy you lucky ******!!

 

[JRW]

CPU would probably help with 3dmark but not sure how much of a real world gaming increase you'd get,Upgrading to dual core for its increases multitasking speed alone was worth it for me tho.

I ran 3dmark05 once w/ defaults & no overclocking and scored 9,647 (screenshot) with a single 7800GTX 512mb / AMD X2 4800+ combo.

 

[Bobthelost]

I wouldn't bother upgrading if i were you, just turn on the eye candy and gloat.