x800pro performance...

[The Saint]

I have just acquired a x800pro, and i have it in a system that is:

p4@ 3.0ghz w/1mb cache
ASUS motherboard with a 800Mhz FSB
1 gig of DDR 400 ram
80gig HD w/8mb cache

It seems okayish but when i run a 3dmark03 benchmark..i only get 8048!!! I have read other reviews and people seem to be getting at least 8800 on a (slightly) comparable system?

Is there something wrong with this spec? Is there a bottleneck that i can open up and if so how???

HELP!!!!

[rewt]

format and do a fresh install of your OS. then install all the latest drivers for your system (chipset, video, audio, etc.) also could do some help to tweak your BIOS settings for max performance.

[The Saint]

Thanks,

However i am fairly new to PC's....what exactly in my bios do i need to tweak.

Also wrt the drivers etc....i just got the PC last Friday! And is it not possible to just update the drivers wo having to do a whole re-format?

[rewt]

ok scratch that idea. i didn't realize you were a new user, with a new computer ;)

see this guide for BIOS tweaking

http://www.thetechzone.com/articles/overclocking/bios/index.shtml

[Arioch]

Well if you are new to PCs then I suggest you start with simple things like downloading the latest 4.6 drivers off of ATi's website if you don't have them already - they add quite a boost to X800 scores.

Also keep in mine most websites like to test the video cards with a high end PC, which is usually some sort of AMD 64 CPU right now. You have a good PC, but those are somewhat faster.

[The Saint]

Thanks a lot! Just flicked through that stuff, didn't understand much of it, but i'll give it a shot :)

[The Saint]

Well if you are new to PCs then I suggest you start with simple things like downloading the latest 4.6 drivers off of ATi's website if you don't have them already - they add quite a boost to X800 scores.

Also keep in mine most websites like to test the video cards with a high end PC, which is usually some sort of AMD 64 CPU right now. You have a good PC, but those are somewhat faster.

Incidently, my PC is "supposed" to have alot of fans (it makes enough noise so you'd think so :)

But the top of the case gets very hot....what can i do to cool it down (wo requring:

a) a degree in engineering
b) having to fork out a small deposit for a car on someone who does...?

[The Saint]

Is there a way i can cool my graphics card that doesn't require completly dismantling my PC

[The Saint]

Is there a way i can cool my graphics card that doesn't require completly dismantling my PC?

[quik0ne]

Most likely no, you are going to have to take in apart to a point. How many fans do you have in it right now.

[Assi9]

Is there a way i can cool my graphics card that doesn't require completly dismantling my PC?

There is a way... unfortunately it requires some $ and you will have to open your case and open an expansion slot.

http://www.mikhailtech.com/articles/cooling/gwcaf12/

I've been using these suckers for a while now. Great cooling for video cards IMO.

[jimmyjames123]

You probably need to update your drivers. The official Catalyst 4.5 drivers result in a relatively low 3dmark03 score, while the 4.5 beta, 4.6, and 4.7 drivers apparently boost the score significantly.

[kahloq]

There is a way... unfortunately it requires some $ and you will have to open your case and open an expansion slot.

http://www.mikhailtech.com/articles/cooling/gwcaf12/

I've been using these suckers for a while now. Great cooling for video cards IMO.

The problem with this unit from the thread is that its going to be blowing air over 2 pci slots and not directly over the AGP port for one thing. Also, since all vid cards now and last generation have a fan right on the vid card, that unit will interrupt the air flow coming away from the vid card and will cause turbulence(bad for case cooling). Although some ppl may get this to help some, its not going to get the same results as the link suggests, especially since that link shows an extremely OLD AMD Duron processor in the test system and that system has no video card with a built in fan(ie voodoo 3)

[kahloq]

Wanted to add one more thing. There are PCI slot fan sloutions that Actually will blow air OUT of the case that comes directly off the vid cards fan flow. So, the vid card fan blows the hot air down, the pci fan slot thing catches that air and immedietely dispels it out at the back bottom of the case. This CAN help, especially since the hot air coming off the vid card doesnt get circulated in the rest of the case and then finally dispelled out the back TOP. These pci slot fans arent too expensive either, I think like 19.99 or something and I have seem them work.

This link shows one example and its only 7.95. Cant beat that! And if it doesnt help too much, then you havent wasted much of anything

http://www.pctoys.com/ProductDetails.aspx?ProductID=138