Low computer performance...

[Paddy]

Hiya guys.

I have recently upgraded to a Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe with a XP3200+, 1GB (2 x512MB) of 400MHz DDR running in dual mode, 2x 120GB WD SE SATA drives and a AIW Radeon 9800SE.

I am running the nForce 3.30 Extreme unified driver set with the 4.09 audio driver. I also am using the 4.3 Cats on XP Pro SP1.

I have ran 3DMark 2003 (latest ver.) and I am only getting 1720 Marks. Now I dont want to get into a debate as to the validity of this benchmarking tool, however this figure is less than half of what I would expect.

Can anyone suggest what might be contributing to this sub par performance?

[Paddy]

OTH, Unreal Tournament 2004 runs fine at 1280x1024 with all settings to the max - so I am not worried

[Jon P. Inghram]

Be sure you didn't have AA & AF and v-sync on when you tested 3DFarce 2003.

[Paddy]

Changing the cat driver to application preference (middle setting) rather than all settings to the max, I get 3800 marks.... that's better, but still a tad low....

[Tempest]

I get 3680 on my 9800SE AIW/XP 2500+ combo using Cat 4.2. With the 8 pipe softmod I get 5179, but I also get artifacts
So your score might be right, or a little low... Dunno how much of a bottleneck the 4 pipes are.

[Paddy]

got a link for the soft mod??? I've been itching to try it out

[Tempest]

These are the easiest ones... Pre-modded Catalysts for your enjoyment. Basically just install & enjoy (if you're lucky)

http://www.ocfaq.com/softmod/download.php

Edit: Check the FAQ section first to see that your card is the right kind.

[Paddy]

The FAQ lists my card as being able to go from a AIW SE to a AIW 9800. Unfortunatly when i use the softmoded driver and then try to run a game the computer locks

[Tempest]

I know the feeling. That kinda sucks, but I guess there can't be a free lunch for us all...

Most 9800SE's one can buy have probably already been tried out and returned to the shop. I got mine quite early during the 9800SE softmod rage, but was out of luck all the same - I get the "checkerboard" effect in video and 3D. Some people returned 9800SE's like 6-8 times until they got one that would run with all pipes enabled, but I didn't bother going for the SwapManiaâ„¢ - guess I'm too honest (or just plain lazy) for that.

[Paddy]

me too

I managed to kill my 9700pro so i didn't mind gambling on a AIW 9800se

[ayoub_ibrahim]

Originally posted by Paddy
I managed to kill my 9700pro so i didn't mind gambling on a AIW 9800se

damn bad luck Paddy!

[Paddy]

yeah the 9700pro just died on me C'est la vie

[Marshmallowman]

WTF is "nForce 3.30 Extreme unified driver set"

I use the standard nvidia 3.13 driver set

and with 9600 pro with a single ddr 512 @3200 (cpu 11.5x200)

I get around 3300 in 3dmark 03, thats with a7n8x deluxe rev 2.

[Paddy]

google

It is a modified driver set based on the 3.30 release by nVidia. The Asus website only lists the 3.13 revision.

If you want to try the non-modded version head over to nvidia.com

[Marshmallowman]

Only 3.13 is listed on the nvidia site?

I think I'll wait for something official. My machine is very stable and I am happy with the performance...nvidia nforce driver updates can get rather nasty somethimes, the first time I tried installing the 3.13's my machine stopped booting.

I have been wary of some driver floating around the net, as they have higher version numbers but are dated before the 3.13's?, but there does appear to a legitmate update availble from MS update.