Hello everyone, new to the forums and 3DMark. I hope to pick enough of your brains to get my PC running at the performance I need for my gaming. Currently I'm having some problems and questions I hope you can help me with.
I've had this build for a year or so now, but have been too busy to have time to play around with it. Lately with more free time I've been trying to do some PC gaming as I intended to when I built it.
I feel like something isn't right with the performance based on my hardware specs. Before I get to into it, I'd like to post the results from 3DMark06 and hear some opinions. If further reports from other software are needed I'd be happy to post them. http://3dmark.com/3dm06/15590803
I know my RAM could use an upgrade, but I wouldn't think it would impact my performance so badly. But I am trying to get some extra money together to get 2GB of 800mhz Corsair to replace the 4 sticks I have in there now.
Also I should mention, I just upgraded to Win7 x64 about a week ago. After doing this performance in my game Borderlands was significantly increased. It then ran better on high video settings than it did on low running 32 bit XP. Unfortunately with my game Dragon Age it didn't seem to make a difference.
Basically I'm just wondering if with my computers hardware I should be getting better results from both 3DMark and my gaming.
And because 3DMark doesn't post my PSU info, I'll mention that I have a Cooler Master Silent Pro M 850W.
Swapping just RAM to faster modules on such a low end system would be total waste of money. You won't see a difference.
Unfortunately only real "upgrade" for old Pentium D + DDR2 + 9600GT setup would be a total system replacement - new board, new CPU, new memory and new GPU (and most likely new power supply). Sorry. It is just such an old system already that any attempt to upgrade it "piecemeal" would be a waste of money. Any modern video card would be bottlenecked by the CPU. Any modern CPU + motherboard + memory combination would then be heavily bottlenecked by the video card.
You really need a new system for modern games. Sure, most of them will still run on that, but only barely.
I agree with Jarnis. Keep Windows 7, your monitor, keyboard, mouse, HDD and PSU (or case if it's good enough), sell your old components and without spending you can build a new system good enough to handle your gaming needs.
Yeah, I'd love love to get a new build started but with current finances It isn't much of an option. I'd have to take a look on ebay to see what I might me able to get for my current dated hardware but I don't think it would be close enough to the number I would need.
In the meantime I'd like to do some overclocking. I've just recently started learning about overclocking and from what I'm understanding I really need to get some higher mhz RAM do be doing anything significant with it. The price tag on ddr2 800mhz isn't too bad, and can always come in handly down the road. And it would be easy enough to sell when going to a new socket type with a new build.
I messed with a little overclocking in the last day and noticed some inconsistency. Going to 3.2ghz brought up my 3DMark score to 3570 from 2925. So i tried a little higher, and ended up with a lower rating. Here's the results i was seeing.
3.4ghz - 3347
3.3ghz - 3543
3.7ghz - 3045 yeah, I dont know if I should've went so high, but I said wth and went for it, PC booted up fine and CPU temp stayed mid 70's so...
back to 3.2ghz - 2829
I'm sure there are plenty of people here who know about overclocking. I'm eager to start doing some and would appreciate some help/advice.
Thanks for the responses guys.
Yeah, I'd love love to get a new build started but with current finances It isn't much of an option. I'd have to take a look on ebay to see what I might me able to get for my current dated hardware but I don't think it would be close enough to the number I would need.
In the meantime I'd like to do some overclocking. I've just recently started learning about overclocking and from what I'm understanding I really need to get some higher mhz RAM do be doing anything significant with it. The price tag on ddr2 800mhz isn't too bad, and can always come in handly down the road. And it would be easy enough to sell when going to a new socket type with a new build.
I messed with a little overclocking in the last day and noticed some inconsistency. Going to 3.2ghz brought up my 3DMark score to 3570 from 2925. So i tried a little higher, and ended up with a lower rating. Here's the results i was seeing.
3.4ghz - 3347
3.3ghz - 3543
3.7ghz - 3045 yeah, I dont know if I should've went so high, but I said wth and went for it, PC booted up fine and CPU temp stayed mid 70's so...
back to 3.2ghz - 2829
I'm sure there are plenty of people here who know about overclocking. I'm eager to start doing some and would appreciate some help/advice.
Thanks for the responses guys.
Total system replacement is the only option worth pursuing.
You can find some very nice upgrades on eBay or in the BST forums here. Even a Core2Duo would be a nice upgrade from what you currently have, and grab a GTX 460 along with the CPU and RAM and you'd be set. You could update your system for as little as $250 if you shop the used market carefully.
In addendum:
If you are financially unable to replace your system, attempting massive overclocks probably is not a good idea.
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