Ok heres the deal, i just benchmarked my video card and computer, and im very unhappy with the results.
I have a amd 2800+ with the barton core
a MSI k7n2 delta motherboard
a radeon 9600 pro with 256 DDR 8X agp running directx 9
512 MBs of DDR Ram using dual 128 bit channels
120GB hard drive with 8 meg cache

Im not computer illiterate at all but whatever i try i cant get a good benchmark score.
Does anyone know programs that are good to use that will benchmark and give suggestions on how to increase power/efficiency?
or else does anyone know any good tricks for increasing performance?
Tom

Get a Mac.

ummm that would be decreasing my performance. i hate macs. very crappy for gameing and overpriced.

What did you use to benchmark?

i used 3dmark03 and aquamark3

what did you benchmark?

like 11,780 on aquamark and i forget what i got for the other.

Use 3DMark01. 3DMark03 utilizes DirectX9 to its fullest extent, and there simply are not that many applications/games out yet that take advantage of DX9. 3DMark01 just provides better real-world results.

How do you know that your benchmark numbers aren't what they should be, did you compare them to people with similar systems? If you aren't a big gamer I wouldn't worry what your benchmark is. The majority of tweaks concerning graphics are done with drivers, and BIOS settings. Tweaking your AGP bus and RAM to work as fast as possible is the only way to get more out of what you have. On the other hand, pushing your hardware to the limit only decreases reliability... When you turn up the heat, random lock ups, graphical anomalies and general instability will increase.

I know I don't have to put in my .02 on this, just consider it said. And Dane, you really should know better, Mac, hahahahaha.

I walked Tom through the simple things to get his graphics working better... Turns out he was using the default video drivers that Windows installs on its own. :slap: Had him install the latest Catalyst drivers and voila, doubled his 3DMark2001 score.

I should be making the big bucks...