A8NSLI with a64 3500 - need to optimise!

[Bobby B]

Hi guys!
So I finally got my system up and running yesterday with some great help from you guys, and now im wondering if I can call on you gurus again o help me get my system optimised!

Here is my system specs so far:
Asus A8NSLI mobo
AMD64 3500 CPU with Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 CPU Cooler (so it's nice, quiet and cool)
x2 512MB Dual DDR400 RAM
ATI Radeon x800 256mbDDR3 GPU (PCI express)
SB Audigy Soundcard
Winxp (clean install)

As metioned I did a clean install and have managed to install all the latest Nforce/graphics/sound drivers without issue and decided to install 3DMark2005 to see what score I could get. I ended up with a score of 4,790 (or similar) which was a little lower than I expected to be honest. Im just wondering if this is average for my setup, and if not - how can I optimise/tweak my system to run to it's full potential?

P.S. What is the best software to analyse my PC so I can see memtimings etc

Thanks in advance


Edit: Also I wonder if you guys could clarify something for me - I just updated my BIOS to 1004 final (2004) and suddenly started getting a error on POST saying my voltages are abnormal. When I check them out it's displaying my 5V in red as it is at 4.8v . This doesnt seem too bad to me as all of the other Voltages have a similar amount of difference (2-5%)

Everything is running stable so is it safe to just put ignore on this setting?

[scorpian007]

First of all, make sure you've got all the latest drivers, etc for your system. Then ensure nothing is running in the background when you run 3D Mark 2005.

I get 5183 on my system so you should be getting a bit more. Here are my specs:

AMD Athlon XP 2400+ @ 3000+ (2x145MHz Bus)
1Gb PC3200 DDR400 Geil Dual Channel
256Mb Leadtek GeForce 6800GT @ Ultra speeds.

While 3D Mark runs quite well, most games do too (with only slight noticable slowdown in some parts, but that would be my aging CPU). Also get a program called TuneXP, its very good for fine tuning some parts of Windows to run a little faster.

Hope that helps.

[Hudson]

Bobby B said:
Also I wonder if you guys could clarify something for me - I just updated my BIOS to 1004 final (2004) and suddenly started getting a error on POST saying my voltages are abnormal. When I check them out it's displaying my 5V in red as it is at 4.8v . This doesnt seem too bad to me as all of the other Voltages have a similar amount of difference (2-5%)

Everything is running stable so is it safe to just put ignore on this setting?



You seriously need to read this:

http://www.pcworld.com/howto/article/0,aid,113931,00.asp

[TerminX]

Hudson said:

Bobby B said:
Also I wonder if you guys could clarify something for me - I just updated my BIOS to 1004 final (2004) and suddenly started getting a error on POST saying my voltages are abnormal. When I check them out it's displaying my 5V in red as it is at 4.8v . This doesnt seem too bad to me as all of the other Voltages have a similar amount of difference (2-5%)

Everything is running stable so is it safe to just put ignore on this setting?



You seriously need to read this:

http://www.pcworld.com/howto/article/0,aid,113931,00.asp


Screw the article, he seriously needs a new power supply. http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

[Hudson]

Well.. that's what I was trying to get at http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[groovie]

I have that Same board except I'm running sli 6800gt's I have an enermax 600w power supply. I think you could use a better power supply.

[dark_angel]

A GooD PSU for a Geforce 6800 GT/Ultra card should has a minimum of 25 amps on the 12V+ rails.

[DudeMiester]

Once you get a good PSU, look for these programs:

CPUZ (Check system settings)
ClockGen (Windows overclocking utility)
A64Tweaker (memory timings)
RivaTuner (videocard settings)
Prime95 (Run for a few hours to test for stability)
memtest86 (Like Prime95, but for memory stability)
SuperPI (Test you comps speed. Get the one that show milliseconds)
3D Mark01/03/05

That should be enough.

[Jeff]

You probably already knew this, but set the aperature size to half the video RAM, and turn Fast Writes on. As for the CPU, if you don't have an AMD heatsink, turn off Cool & Quiet, because you need an AMD heatsink to use it. For the RAM, leave it on auto detect settings, unless you like to overclock. Disable any ports that you're never going to use. With mine, I've got the serial ports (the ones that look like your VGA connector, except they are onboard) disabled, Parallel ports, and my onboard sound, and joystick port. You can also turn the USB to use 2.0, which is "Hi-Speed", not "Full Speed". Disable your floppy drive on POST, because unless you're updating your BIOS, you'll never use it. If you're not going to be using your secondary master/slave channels, then disable those. The primary one is for the DVD-ROM or DVD+/-RW in my case, since I've got 3 SATA drives.

I'll come up with some more later.