Unlocking GF 6800NU + A64 OC

[Hajime]

Okay. Just got a BFG 6800NU to replace my old 5900XT.

Got a question.

What is the best way to test whether unlocking pipelines/vertex is successful?

I've heard 3dmark05, and I'm grabbing 3dmark03 for the heck of it.

Since FarCry came with the card, I'm seriously considering playing that to test.

Is there anything else that would be worth looking at/playing/whatever for testing to see if they all work properly?

And I'm also having a couple of weird issues with the occasional math calc, but Prime95 passes perfectly. What'd probably be the best route to test for video card working fine combined with possibly OC'ing an A64 a tad bit too far?

I'm not sure if I have there, as it seems to have more headroom, but I'd like to be sure 😉.

 

[Hajime]

And an update.

This is on a BFG 6800OC NU

I've supposedly unlocked all 16 pipelines, and all that.

I only scored 9908 in 3dmark03 with a non-oc'd Athlon 64 3200+, 512mb of PC2700 2-2-2-10 ram, and a GF 6800NU with 16 pipelines supposedly unlocked. Core is 350mhz, mem is 700. I also scored 3503 in 3dmark05 - again, this seems low, especially compared to other 3dmark05 scores.

 

[thegimp03]

10,000 is pretty good in 03 with a 6800nu, so is your score in 05. Another 512 mb of ram wouldn't hurt I don't think especially on halflife 2 or doom 3. Of course, they used a p4 in these tests, but check out THIS link.

 

[Hajime]

Update:

Reset the card back to defaults, I now get 3076 in 3dmark05 and 9064 in 3dmark03 only using the 12x1 and 5 vertex setup.

Seems a bit low for a gain of 4x1+vertex, though...

(Edit)
Weird. I rebooted, retested under '05 with 16x1 and 6, and I'm getting 3422. It's an improvement over 3k, for sure, and > 10%, but it dropped 100 points..0.0

Thegimp: Interesting. Thanks a lot for the link. I'll take a look at it.

 

[Hajime]

This is troubling.

I've read that an average for a 6800NU in '05 is about 3400-3500 or thereabouts. I don't get that untill I unlock my pipelines - suggestions on places to look for performance improvements? Ram's set to 2-3-10 1T/CAS2, so that shouldn't be an issue, but it -is- running DDR333 untill I get that 1gb of PC3200 replacement ram.

That's really the only thing I can think of - any suggestions on where to look/test?

 

[2Xtreme21]

Does it run fine in what you use it for? If yes, then it's fine. 3dmarks are just a number.

 

[Hajime]

2X: Yeah.

But I had a 5900XT that ran fine for what I used it for. And a Ti4400. And a ATI Rage..and...

It may run fine temporarily, but if there's a potential problem/can't get it up to speed, I'd like to know why - and if it's fixable.

3DMarks are "just a number", true, but just a number or not, they are a good metric for comparison when it's apples vs apples.

 

[Hajime]

Well, at ~3550 '05 after upgrading to 1gb of ram.

And I've just broken 10k '03 - 10050...

There's a slight performance boost I guess. Still not happy with my scores, though 😉

And after a bit of fiddling, I'm now at ~3650 after the upgrade.

I didn't bother to shut down anything or tweak specifically for performance either. This video card is starting to get real nice 🙂.