was wondering how my computer compares to others.

I have a duo core 2.6 ghz, 4 mb ram and a 9600 gt, all stock.

running 3d mark at highest resolution (1280 x 1024 i think) I get a 3dmark score of 6197.

I think the quad cores dwarf these scores.

I am planning on some conservative overclocking (20% - 30%) of the core and card (50% prolly) to improve performance. I did the graphics card alone today as a test and COD 4 ran much better than it has, at the higher graphics settings.

I know that this is only a temporary fix and i'll probably need a new rig by the time COD MW2 comes out.

Anybody have any comparisn scores?

sailus

I built mine about a year ago and tested it but I don't remember what it was. I have a 3ghz quad core extreme overclocked to just over 4ghz 4 gig ram and 8800gtx graphics card with 768mb memory.. I think I have that overclocked to about 620mhz. All water cooled....

Will do some benchmarks during the week just for fun.

blindsided wrote:
I built mine about a year ago and tested it but I don't remember what it was. I have a 3ghz quad core extreme overclocked to just over 4ghz 4 gig ram and 8800gtx graphics card with 768mb memory.. I think I have that overclocked to about 620mhz. All water cooled....

Will do some benchmarks during the week just for fun.

Nice . . . cant wait to see how puny my computer is. I've already decided that I'm building my next machine.

sailus

Oh Im using 3dmark06 to benchmark.

I have an old build as well sail ... i got 8186 .

So I turned everything back down to stock levels and got this:

12966

Today or tomorrow I'll crank everything up and see what I get, although I've suspected for a couple of months now that my graphic's card has some issues... we'll see.

In the meantime you have probably been poking around already but these sites offer a lot of info:

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/index.php?

http://forums.overclockersclub.com/

http://forums.extremeoverclocking.com/

And just to see some really cool builds go here:

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=202620

blindsided wrote:
So I turned everything back down to stock levels and got this:

12966

Today or tomorrow I'll crank everything up and see what I get, although I've suspected for a couple of months now that my graphic's card has some issues... we'll see.

In the meantime you have probably been poking around already but these sites offer a lot of info:

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/index.php?

http://forums.overclockersclub.com/

LOL benchmark scores 2x my system before you crank everything up.

You're right, i'm in the read everything you can find on the topic stage. It's the normal way i tackle anything i know nothing about. It used to be, just go ahead and fix or replace it after you screw the pooch but I have changed my ways over the years.

Sail

http://forums.extremeoverclocking.com/

And just to see some really cool builds go here:

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=202620

Dam! From everything I've read, Dell's motherboards are true crap. The Dual Pentium D processors in my computer are easily overclocked and perform very well, but a number of articles say that, in Dell computers, the archetecture of the proprietary mother board is the limiting factor. I will be lucky to get the core overclocked from 2.8 mhz to 2.9 mhz without destabilizing the computer. At least I won't have to worry much about the heat, as overclocking the chips under 3.0 seems not to need voltage increase nor any additional heat sync and requires an increas of the FSB only.

I ran a few tests this weekend on overclocking the GPU alone and it too is very limited. Althought the 9600 GT is one of the best cards to overclock (large fan on the card keeps it cool even overclocked 50% and the card is famous for being overclocked) I am having trouble maintainnig stability with only a 50mhz increase in the core of the card and 50 mhz on the memory side. That is not much of an improvement (although I can feel it in gameplay, so it's something). Anyting over 50mhz fails benchmark and stability tests.

I think the GPU card so severly outperforms the chip/motherboard that I am reaching the limitations of my machine without a serious overhaul. Time to start thinking about my next gaming rig.

Thanks for the info. Blind, it has been quite an education. These resources are great.

Sailus

You already know much more then you did last week


The motherboard is probably the biggest obstacle when it comes to overclocking, stock mobo's for most "vanilla" pc's simply are not flexible in that regard.

I was wondering if/when you would run across that issue

As for the GPU, that's another issue, lot's of folks upgrade their graphics cards and wonder why the performance isn't any better... but in the end the GPU is only as good as the CPU/MOBO.

If you are willing to keep the same case, reasonable gaming motherboards and quad core cpu's can be had at reasonable prices.... you already have a great GPU.

At the end of the day I think you'll be much happier building you're own rig... but I also think 3 years is MAX before future generations of games/graphics makes it obsolete.

Stay away from "cutting edge" technology, the cpu that cost's $1000.00 today is $500.00 in a couple of months.

blindsided wrote:
You already know much more then you did last week

You got that right.


"If you are willing to keep the same case, reasonable gaming motherboards and quad core cpu's can be had at reasonable prices.... you already have a great GPU".

From what I read, nearly everything affects speed. Even the brand of ram can have an impact. Rather than add band aids to my problems, I think building is the best approach. With the 9600 Gt card upgrade, my system is running 100% better than it did. even with the minimal 50 mhz overclock the game runs muhc smoother (and the graphics, which were good, are even better). It will suffice for now. It also gives me an excuse when I suk.


"At the end of the day I think you'll be much happier building you're own rig... "

Agreed.


"Stay away from "cutting edge" technology, the cpu that cost's $1000.00 today is $500.00 in a couple of months."


I have to be careful of my obsessive personality. When I was younger, I raced A class catamarans and, when factory boats were not fast enough, I would build custom boats. I even learned how to use carbon fiber so that I could build lighter hulls from stock molds. The rigs became so overtuned that the cats could no longer be sailed from the beach (the sand would wear through the carbon fiber hulls in a couple of weeks) and nobody could sail my boats cause the rig was so overpowered that the boats either tipped over in a strong wind or pitchpoled mercilessly.

A few years ago I bought an old trimaran and have been rebuilding it in my back yard. My original intent was just to have a nice, speedy trimaran to sail around the Cape May area. While building, my old racing/building obsession took over and I have torn everything out of the boat to lighten it and make it faster. It probably added a couple of years to the rebuild. I'm setting the boat up so that it can sail offshore (dreams of ocean racing to Bermuda). The centerboard is made from Kevlar which, as I learned the hard way, can not be cut with normal tools.

I'm trying to avoid a repeat of this behavior in the computer realm if I can help it.

Sailus