Chew on This!!

**SmokenSherriff_** · 05-14-08, 01:32 PM

Alright,

Heres the deal........

As many of you know big the doggy dog built me a new comp. Process has been great and enjoyable. He is trying to teach me as we go bits and pieces but as he has alright figured im a tard when it comes to the lingo and technical aspects, i am smart enough to get gists and the big picture. So forgive me as he does when i talk this shit...

Here is what i would like to discuss and advice, whether i take it or not is yet to be determined. Big has been solid with his experience but being that im using a quad core and its intel (he has alot more amd experience) we are in some uncharted waters.
Todays topic is overclocking and 3D marks.

The gist:

MEM 1Gx2|OCZ DIII1333 OCZ3P13332GK
PSU ZALMAN|ZM750-HP 750W RT
VGA XFX PVT88PYDF4 8800GT 512M RT
HD 160G|WD 7K 16M SATA2 WD1600YS R
CPU COOLER ZALMAN|9700 LED RTL
SDCD ASUS|Xonar D2 7.1 RT
CPU INTEL C2Q Q6700 2.66G 65N 8M R

K, I believe i included enough info about what im dealing with.
How important is the 3d mark score? My score with everything on default was a intial slightly disappointing 9995. However the cpu score, registered at like 4100. So i have a really advanced set up with a solid/not the best graphics card.

K here is where i want some wisdom. Do quad cores with the little history they have due to being new, produce lower 3d marks?

My temperature of the unit was awsomely cool. The 4100 score was out perfroming all of the top dual core setups. When comparing the marks to others we found that we were right where we should of expected the scores to be. Then we overclocked her and she went up over 5500. However this only increased our 3d marks by like 400 marks. However the cpu score and power was insane. Basically the graphics card is the reigns holding this horse back i believe. Which is what we new at the time we decided on it.

Final analysis up for debate- My opinion, we chose to stay with this card because its solid its proven and the next steps up do not give you a return in performance for the price difference that is worth it. The setup should be solid in every area for the next two years with out exception. The graphics card will be the next change in 3-6 months if and only if i feel it is needed.

Now we are only discussing stats, marks, bullshit basically. Dog says that when playing wont be able to even notice that the reigns or what she could be doing with a better are being held back. If i can notice then there is a problem. We doubt we shall in games.

Clockspeed is the only thing that could be improved based on running the 3d marks. Hoever the increased clockspeed by overclocking didnt improve the 3d marks like we thought it would. Why? Quad cores just run lower marks? Plus why overclock and trade instability for a tiny bit of increased performance?

Some of what I have said may not make sense, may have misunderstood some things along the way but forgive and hope enough is here to have conveyed my points.

Anyone else gone through this experience or anyone else tried pairing similar hardware?

I was ready to spend like 2500 bucks and will come in way under that mark thanks to Big for those looking to upgrade soon.

I just get nervous, as i told Big i dont care about the marks or any of the hype. Care about when i play my fucking video games that my mouth drops open. If that happens then we have success. I have just enjoyed learning through the process little bits and pieces. I just get curious when somthing doesnt do what he expects. That can be to things not working well together, his expectations not being accurate; because its a diff beast or playing field, same experiences wont apply: , mis installation, insufficiency in some area, quality or power etc.

I completely feel that its just uncharted waters and want some opinions!

Thanks
Smoke

**Pineapple!** · 05-14-08, 01:38 PM

Smoke, I'm in the same boat as you. All that you said made no sense to me, what i got out of it was:

I got a new computer, it's better than my old one.
This new computer doesn't produce that huge ass 3d mark score like i thought it would.
It's still way better than my old computer.
As long as the games play awesome, I'm happy.

If I've got that much correct, then you have nothing to worry about. If bigdog says it'll run the games on high w/o problem, I believe him. And running the games on high is all I'd care about, as well, Smoken. Looks like you're in the clear for the next two years.

"Taking fire, need assistance!"

**iravedic** · 05-14-08, 01:42 PM

Like you I am largely computer illiterate. Bigdog built my box (dual core AMD) and fresh out of the box it scored 10,664 (I have an 8800GTS - factory overclocked). As to whether your machine will be good in game all I can say is that for me the day I got my Bigdog box was like getting a new game. You will be amazed at all the stuff in the games that just wasn't there before. Based on what I've read you will be more than statisfied.

**CivilWars** · 05-14-08, 01:42 PM

Smoke,

My 3d is ~8100, and I play CS:S maxed with good FPS. If all you care about is playing the games then you are fine. If you want to brag about your e-penis then you have work to do. I am not much of a techno nerd, but my benchmarks are how can I play the game, and you should be just fine with that system.

Civil

**WileECyte** · 05-14-08, 01:43 PM

That's just odd. My rig, with an AMD processor (X2 6000+) pulls almost 11,000 on 3DMark06. Something doesn't seem right at all. What OS are you running?

**SmokenSherriff_** · 05-14-08, 01:44 PM

LMFAO

You summed that shit up like a CHAMP!! lol
Instead of my tiring rambling ill call you next time i need interpretation of a thought made into a post.

But really you summed that shit up tight, fast, and short.

Fuck you for making me feel dumb. All the rambling about my lack of knowledge was to prevent that, and someone who understands less then me did it in no time almost before i hit the send button.
jk

LMFAO, YOUR ASS IS MINE PINEAPPLE!!

SMOKE!!!!!!!!!!

**SmokenSherriff_** · 05-14-08, 01:48 PM

All yall summed it up fast lol, i knew with his experience that ill be happy.

Heres the deal though im just trying to understand how the marks correlate to in game performance and play.

Are the marks complete BULLSHIT

I mean all i can compare is that if a guy is a carreer 3.10 hitter then he is a good hitter, if he is a 2.30 carreer hitter he sucks dick. Stats reflect some truth.

These stats dont? WTF?

I thought they meant somthing important and that you knew how they correlate to performance based on the way some of you guys go on and on about that shit. Like comparing batting averages, and to my ignorant ear i just think these guys no their shit.

Well the next time im gonna kick yall ass rambling on about somthing that you dont understand or makes sense. Next time you start talking ill know that basically yall are comparing stats as purposeful as comparing blondes to brunettes. Like theyre arent hot in both and like some determination can be made by their hair color. You talk marks and ill tap your girl which happens to be a brunette and then go to the bar while your overclocking and pull a hot blonde. While you play with your E-penis, ill put my real one to use. Get Some!!

Smoke

**CivilWars** · 05-14-08, 01:50 PM

The stats are accurate it is just that today's systems outclass most of today's games, except a few like Crysis. So if you go from 10k to 12k you won't get much improvement that the human eye can detect in most games.

**yungryder** · 05-14-08, 02:16 PM

I blame your card..Its a great card card for the price as well as running most games...But not a great card for benchmarking...

I have a 8800gts 640mb..the first breed of the 8 series...and an E6420 Intel Core2Duo...Both are outdated and my 3dMark was around 8200 stock..

Overclocking Both CPU and GPU will make a huge increase in your score..As I have done...I jumped up to 12333 3dMark score...Click my link...

What motherboard do you have BTW?

**WileECyte** · 05-14-08, 02:31 PM

There's nothing wrong with his video card. The 8800GT should power most systems to 10k+ unless you have a completely anemic CPU.

Under XP, I know there was some AMD drivers/tweaks for multi-core CPUs that were required to be installed. I'm not sure if Intel requires them as well. I'm not an Intel guy and don't run XP anymore so I couldn't tell you for sure. Someone here surely has to know.

3DMark is a good 'benchmark' to compare similarly configured systems, but it won't always translate into your gaming experience. Generally, 3DMark represents a 'worst case' scenario for your computer. It's designed to tax every aspect of your CPU/GPU so that it can truly test your max performance under a full load. In the real world, Source Engine games are not NEARLY as resource intensive as 3DMark and you'll typically see very high framerates from even an average computer system. That's one of the strengths of the Source engine.