HD 3870 XT problem

I have just upgraded from a X1900XT card (or so I thought)
When running it seems slow so I have run 3d mark 01 se on it mainly as it is a quick download

With my X1900 i get @ 28000 marks
With the hd 3870 I get 9000 marks

SO i guess there is a problem
I have tried

drivers that came with the card
version 8.4 & 8.5 catalyst

Full reformat & reinstall of windows

none of the above work

My specs are
185 opteron socket 939
Asus A8R - MVP mobo (crossfire)
2 x 1 gig Geil memory
2 x 250 gb hdd
windows xp sp3
Tagen 550 watt psu

I have made sure the 6 pin cable in connected & working
All fans are working & temps low

The only thing i can now think of is the pci-e slot on this mobo

Could this be it or can you think of anything else?

thanks

A few things

1) Use 3DMark06. Quick download or not, 01 doens't tell us anything with todays cards.

2) There is no such thing as a HD 3870 XT. There is an HD3870 and an HD3870 X2. Which one of those is it?

ok 3d mark 06 scores

4641 with 3870

SM 2.0 Score 1573

SM 3.0 Score 2507

CPU Score 1229


5613 with x1900xt

SM 2.0 Score 2195

SM 3.0 Score 2448

CPU Score 1892


Name on card is power colour HD3870 XT extreme, it is the single core version but has better cooling fitted & is slightly overclocked out of the box

just a thought there is a molex connector to boost the power to the graphics slots when running in crossfire
is it going to cause any problems trying it with a single card inserted or will it make no difference?

That's not exactly why that connector is there; the card needs the extra power, whether in crossfire mode or not. Connect the appropriate 4- or 6-pin PSU lead to the card if you haven't already done so.

no the 6 pin connector is attached to the card, but this board has a molex connector by the second pci-e slot for when running in crossfire mode, it's that one i am wondering if it would make a difference?

The molex connector is to be used if you are using a 20pin ATX adaptor instead of a 24pin.

any ideas after seeing the 3d mark 06 results?

Sorry about that, misunderstood you about which molex connector you were mentioning. :)

You ran both cards at the same resolution with the same features enabled, like AA or AS?

did you disable vsync when doing benchmarks?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Midknyte

You ran both cards at the same resolution with the same features enabled, like AA or AS?

did you disable vsync when doing benchmarks?

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Hi

yes i did, i'm guessing my asus board just hasn't got the horses to run this card at full speed,
posting on other forums I am getting some feedback that my x1900xt isn't running as fast as it should so maybe it has been holding that back as well but not so much that it was as noticeable as with the 3870

just ordered a new Asus P5K3 deluxe board with an E8400 chip, lets see if that removes the bottlenecks

What slot do you have your card installed on? And do you have the switch card installed in it's slot? Should be and the vid card should be installed in the bottom slot.

yes switch card installed in top slot & card in bottom one

Bottom slot running a 16X

yes it was the board, just completed the upgrade & now 3dmark 2001 is at 48000 and 3dmark 06 is at 10K+