Is this score good for this setup?

[michaelwest]

I have a:
AMD Duron 900 MHz CPU
128 SDRAM.
Geforce 256 overclocked to 160MHz(clock)/200MHz(memory)
Windows XP Professional

I get 2467 3dmarks. Is this score correct for setup or can it get higher?

Also is it possible to get more towards 3000 by upgrading any components? I could upgrade the CPU to 1.2 GHz Duron or get some DDR RAM. What would be better to buy in this situation?

[DocEvi1]

that is about the max score you will get.

CPU's exist at double the speed of your chip and the technology is far improved - for instance I run a TBird (available at the same time as your Duron) but it is far faster than your Duron....even if you upgrade to a 1.2 you won't notice that much improvement.
You can't get DDR ram, DDR ram uses a different motherboard slot, so you would need a new motherboard as well.

Stefan

[grimfandango]

you ask is this a good score?????

:eek:


woowwww!!


with my 1.7 p4 and 256mb sdr
with a gf2mx 200 all I get is 1400 at the most...



your scores are way too good!!
:)


well if you want better scores get a better video card, atleast 256mb of ram and ...
later on get a newcpu!

but you sys looks great now..

nice system!
:)

[omega31]

I have a PIII 750 and score 4313. Of course having 320 mb of ram and a geforce3 ti200 helps. If I put in my old geforce 256 sdr, I'll definitely get a lousy score, should be lower than grimfandango's.

Edit:
BTW, no overclocking done.

[grimfandango]

michaelwest

are you using a g4256 ddr???

my score is low cause of my crapy card
:( :)

:t

omega31
your scores are pretty goodtoo..
if you get a better cpu you should get atleat 6000!

:)

[omega31]

grimfandango, michaelwest is using the original geforce, which was called geforce 256.

Yes, I know I'll get a better score with a better cpu, but I'm waiting for the Hammer. :p And 'tis funny that I get a score more than twice that of a comp with a processor more than twice the mhz of mine. :r :t

[michaelwest]

I have a DDR/SD-RAM Motherboard so I would not have to upgrade the mb in order to get the DDR-RAM.

[grimfandango]

ok a geforece256..


does it use ddr or sdr ram?

[michaelwest]

I was sold the Geforce 256 under the impression that it was DDR ram in fact it even said that on the box.

Unfortunately I do not think it is DDR. I think it is SD ram since the ram speed orignally 160 MHz and most programs and speeds I get in them seem to be pointing towards Geforce 256 SD ram.

[omega31]

The sdr version has memory clocked at 166 mhz memory. The ddr version has memory clocked at 150 mhz, but since it is ddr, it is effectively 300 mhz.

Do you have the model name of your geforce? Maybe we could look it up and see the official specs.

[michaelwest]

On the box it says it is powercolor brand.

I don't think it is the origninal box for it though someone sold it to me.

The card is orange coloured though so I think it is powercolor.

[dawgtuff]

For now, I'd get another stick of 128mb sdram(at least) and a better vid card. This should improve your score and game performance without shelling out a lot of $.

The gef256 sdr actually compares pretty close to the ddr version. I think it's because the gpu is 128bit, the ddr is 64 bit.

BTW- What resolution/bit did you run 3Dmark?

[michaelwest]

I ran 3dmark 2001 with default settings (1024*768 32 bit colour etc.)

I put in another 128 MB of RAM bringing the total to 256 MB and overclocked the CPU to 1Ghz. Now I get 2572 3d mark points and most games are running a lot smoother.

Probably next I will look to maybe upgrade my video card but for the moment everything seems to be running quite well.

[dawgtuff]

Good! That ram really helps. As far as a vid card goes, you can get a darn good one for around $100(US). If you plan to upgrade soon, you can spend a bit more.

BTW- If you upgrade, go at least twice the CPU speed you have now. You'll need it for the games coming out next year. If you don't upgrade, no problem, you still have a good system.

[foxwolfen]

Originally posted by DocEvi1
that is about the max score you will get.

CPU's exist at double the speed of your chip and the technology is far improved - for instance I run a TBird (available at the same time as your Duron) but it is far faster than your Duron....even if you upgrade to a 1.2 you won't notice that much improvement.
You can't get DDR ram, DDR ram uses a different motherboard slot, so you would need a new motherboard as well.

Stefan

not entirely accurate... The Duron 1.2 uses the morgan core, essentially an athlonTB with half the l2, and a 100mhz fsb but with included SSE... the 1.2/3 morgan typically outperforms the p4 1600/1700 ... Sandra even estimates as high as 1896 on my machine... It also outperforms all first gen athlons and most second, with the exception of the XP... (my buddies machine is a 1.4 athlon (non XP), same memory, an ata 100 disk and i am usually 10 to 20 percent faster overall.

DDR memory is not going to give any real boost in perf... maybe a few frames a second.. I continue to remain unimpressed by it..

If you want a real boost in framerate, while spending little money, your video card is the place to start... if your MB can supply the juice, any newer card will give a boost (though with ATI that boost needs a boost in cpu...) A G3 or G4 MX will give an amazing boost.. you should have seen what the g4 mx440 did for my 500 mhz machine when i replaced the g2 mx200. (it was as dramatic as the switch from the TnT2 to the g2)

[michaelwest]

As I said I overclocked the CPU. It is at 1008 MHz which is 112MHz Bus speed and mulitpler 9. Also of course the RAM was also at 112MHz.

Now I have tried overclocking the RAM to 145MHz and left the CPU at 112MHz. Now I get 2642 3DMark 2001 points.

This is quite good to get these extra points but I was wondering if it is safe to keep the RAM at 145MHz, or should I put it back to 112MHz.

[michaelwest]

OK I changed the CPU and now the stats look like this.

AMD Duron 1.2 GHz @ 1452 MHz
256 SDRAM
Geforce 256 overclocked to 150/200

Now I get around 3028 3DMark 2001 points. Is this the right for this setup.

[dawgtuff]

Your vid card is holding you back. Still, good scores for a gef256!

[michaelwest]

Yeah the video card seems to be holding my system back. I will probably upgrade to a Geforce 4 soon.

[dawgtuff]

The gef256 was really an imazing card for what it was. Run it in 800x600 and it's hard to beat.

I went from my 256 to a KyroII, and then to a ATI Radeon8500 64mb. The Radeon really screams!

[$1500-P4 gamer]

First off I have alot of dif cpu's right here and I will tell ya. Comparing the P4 and the XP is stupid. They both run games IDENTICAL. My mothers XP1600+ is right on par with my P4 1.5gig in cpu performance and in real world useage. I dont go from hers to mine and go "OH wow this P4 is slow" NOpe not at all. And vise-verse. So I think alot of that is favotism and hype.

Now I took her cpu from a Duron 1gig to a XP 1600+. The dif was quite alot in windows/boot time and apps opening vs. the Duron BUT games were exactly the same. Load screens went quicker but FPS were about the same. The video card is more of the limit for games after 1gig. This has proven itself to me over and over again! But of cource with the radeon 9700 and the new Nvidia around the corner better up that once again to about 1.5gig and above will make no real huge fps dif.:t