Can't run 3dmark06

Hi Sharkfood! you know it's so funny how things come out. I bought this MOBO because I want to use 4 - 1 GB sticks that I have. but then I was told my platform is 32-bit and wont support the 4 GB only 3GB, so I took out 1GB stick, and I thought it will be ok, i was concerned before that my memory was running at 200mhz speed, so I ask and someone in the forum told me it was ok because it DDR, so two channels at 200 are the 400mhz supposed to be running at. Right now I'm gonna have to take out another stick to run the memory at the right speed.
Well, that's another story, I think I'll be ok with 2 GB running dual channel right? I mean for gaming purposes. When I get home today I will download and run the SiSoft Sandra's memory and let you know what happen, right now Im at work and this computer is runing 2-512 DDR-400 and I download CPU-Z and yes it shows dual in the channel field. :wave:

Yes, 2x1gig (2 gig total) in dual-channel will ROCK For gaming and gaming performance. Even the biggest memory hog games (Battlefield2, EQ2, etc.) run great with "only" 2 gigs hehe.

You can indeed run 4 gigs memory, but you'll have to do some tweaking in the boot.ini/do some tweaks with virtual memory extensions. It's generally not worth it though unless you're working with video or massive image editing (not gaming).

I'd try running SiSoft Sandra's memory bandwidth test first when you get home, then use CPU-Z's "SPD" tab to look at the 200mhz ratings area of your currently installed memories. Remember that when you go to 2 sticks, both sticks will run at the speed of your SLOWEST memory, so it's advised to choose the two with the lowest CAS latency/ratings if all three are not identical. Then it'll just be a case of putting two in the same-color slots on the motherboard (2 in the blue slots only, or 2 in the black slots)... boot up, verify dual-channel in CPU-Z then re-run SiSoft Sandra memory bandwidth test to observe a big jump in performance.

Wow! Thanks! I definitely learn something today about DDR RAM, here I'll upload the pictures to share the experience with others. It really boost the performance. Unfortunately I still have low FPS, I just run 3dmark06 again and it just improves to 2818, I've read that the score isn't a big deal, but what really bothers me is getting 10-12 FPS, when at least jumps to 20FPS it looks smooth and ok. but again it lowers my FPS to 12..10 even 8 FPS. definitely the tweak on the RAM was a great shot! I can even tell that my systems runs faster. But games aren't what I expect from a High-end GPU.
Well I leave you the pictures of Sandra and the new one from CPU-Z, BTW I still have a question, why is now saying disabled on the performance field?

Hmmm.. it's bizarre that performance mode is now disabled. This is a neat Asus-only trick (known as "Hypermemory") that bypasses a locked down feature in the i865 chipset.

Every little bit helps so it will likely be in your best interests to try and get this feature working again.

Be forewarned though, these Asus P4P800 series can get.. confused.. when making these kinds of BIOS changes. They may fail to boot-up and require being powered off/on a couple times to activate the overclock protection (even if you're not overclocking.. it just allows the BIOS to reset some settings to post once more). So if you save/exit and the PC just sits there... power down the switch on the PSU and re-power up.. and repeat as needed until the overclock lock-out resets and posts for another shot.

What I usually do if these P4P800's lock-out the Performance mode is:
a) In the Advanced Chipset Settings page, try changing the "Memory Acceleration Mode" from [Auto] to [Enabled]
b) If this doesnt do the trick, then go into Advanced page (where you would overclock) and flip the AI Overclock tuner to [Manual] and put your CPU's normal values in there also. In your case:
External Frequency: 200
(the rest Auto)

While you're not truly overclocking your CPU, manually setting the clock rates is sometimes needed to get Performance mode working once more if the BIOS determines it doesn't think your memory is up to it (with dual-channel seems to cross some auto-config threshold in your case).

Heck, with your newly low CPU temps, maybe you do want to overclock after all.. hehe.. I think 5% would likely be safe if you can keep your CPU peak temp under 60C.

Done! Performance mode now enabled after doing points (a) and (b). What's the next step? . Sorry for be so annoying with this issue but for sure this is the first time I'm tweaking memory and CPU, even though I have some experience building computers I was wrong thinking that more memory the better, the high CPU speed the better. Well back to the subject, I just run 3dmark06 and I'm still getting 10-12 FPS , what else can I do to improve this, I have to say that sandra get even better, now I got 4762MB/s. and my system looks to be loading up much faster. So, what do you say...

Well, we've gotten all the CPU and Memory stuff all done. Bravo too since you're now getting beyond most Socket 775 performance numbers hehe. These P4P800E's really rock for performance.

What's left now is to analyze your scores and try to define where the bottlenecks left are located. I'm honestly not sure what is normal for a 7800GS AGP but you may want to submit your scores and use their ORB for comparisons, being careful to look at clock speeds (there are a LOT of people with overclocked cards submitting scores).

Aside from 3dmark06, what games are sufferring from low fps? This might also yield insight into whether you need different Forceware drivers or may have some driver settings that need some help.

Thanks to your help my system is running much better now! I'm happy about that, but I guess it's time to tweak my video card. Which scores should I submit? and what does ORB stand for?
Just for the record my 7800GS is not an overclocked version. The games I'm having problems with is NFS Carbon and Oblivion, I haven't test FPS on AOE 3, BF2 and Fifa06 because they seem to run pretty good, but on the others I run a program named FRAPS and is giving me 20-25 FPS at 1024-768, (I'm playing at that res right now. But I want to go 1280-1024 and there's my problem cuz I got 8-10 FPS and becomes unplayable. I been looking where to find which version of forceware im using but can't find where is at, I have the installation file and I guess is the 93.71, Thanks again!

Hi again!
ORB is Futuremarks Online Results Browser. When you submit a score (and create a profile/email address), you can store up to five(5) test results and compare with other systems with the same cpu and same videocard. They have millions of uploaded results to peruse.

I'd surf lots of scores though as most of the people submitting scores usually have pretty overclocked systems. Usually there is a spot in the submitted system details though that will have the clock speeds listed so you can be sure that awesome 4500 score on a 7800GS is really one running at twice the clock speed and liquid cooled! hehe.

Common causes for the 7800GS that can cause performance problems:
1) Proper chipset settings. Try CPU-Z's third tab and make sure it has AGP 8x , 3.0 and sidebanding enabled.
2) Different versions of the Forceware drivers. Guru3d has a complete archive of many whql, beta and past Forceware drivers at:
http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?id=10
3) AA Settings. TAA and other advanced AA mode can really cramp performance. Also, whenever possible, leave the Forceware drivers at "Application Preference" and set AA and AF in games that support this. Of course, they will have to be forced in the drivers for games that do not.

Hello Again Sharkfood! I did search the ORB and found a couple of systems same as mine with 3717 score and some others with a slower processor with a 3514, Also check the archive of all the forceware drivers but I'm confused I can't tell which one will work better with my card. Like I said before my 7800GS is not overclocked (main clock is 375Mhz) and the ones with the scores mentioned has OC at 450 Mhz, but somehow I believe is not necesary to OC my card to get a decent FPS. I check all the points:
1) I checked and everything looks ok. AGP is 8X 3.0 and sideband is enabled.
2) Indeed I have the 91.73 forceware. May using a different one will help?
3) Even I like very much AA I disabled to see if performance increases but no luck. I mean it helps but not much. the best I can get with AA off and V-sync off is about 25 FPS at 1280x1024. And yes I have "spplocation preference" selected at the Forceware control panel.

I believe maybe my Card is not properly configured or I really have some background program that is killing my FPS but I always close everything I can when I start playing.

I still have a couple of questions (i promise the last ones on the FPS subject)

1.- In a system like the one I have. what is the average FPS I could get? I think I heard some people get over 100 FPS right? well even it that was true LCD's can't display over 75 right?

2.- Do you think HDD could affect directly the gaming performance? (FPS) because I have the first version of SATA (150M/s) and is not in RAID (even though I have two identical HDD)

3.- I'm thinking to upgrade to Vista, is there a chance to get the gaming performance upgraded or I'll only get more trouble, I've tried vista and seems ok but haven't tried on this computer.


Finally if you could recommend any good software to keep an eye on the clock and memory of the 7800 GS I will appreciate. Sorry for the long post and thank you for your time reading the issues I have. :wave:

anyone for an opinion on my last questions? any good software to tweak the 7800GS...

Sorry for the late reply! I'll try to address your questions as best I can:

Correct, but I'd look for scores with similar CPU and 375mhz gpu clocks in order to determine if your system is running average or below average. ORB is helpful for this.

It depends on the games and settings. I always use benchmarks with fixed settings in order to determine performance.

For example, FEAR's expansion pack- you'll be hard pressed to average 60 fps even with 7900's in SLI or a Crossfire X1900 rig. It's just that heavy on performance.

3dmark tests, Source Stress Test, Aquamark and others are good ways to compare with SAME systems in order to see if your own, near identical system, is performing as it should.

Slower HD access can slow load times or paging if you're low on memory, but you're not low on memory and if it's a constant fps issue (i.e. doesn't go away a few minutes in), it's more than likely unrelated to HD performance. SATA w/o RAID is still no slouch. You can also use HD Tach to benchmark your HD's too.. nice tool with comparator of similar drives/systems.

Anyone's guess what DX10 may yield for cards once drivers mature. I'm of the *OPINION* things will be just fine. DirectX 9 applications recompiled under DX10's SDK already enjoy some nice performance improvements in CPU bound conditions as Microsoft has optimized a lot of cpu bottlenecks in the API. Graphics bound conditions? I'd guess the opposite.

Riva Tuner is a nice tool for tweaking Geforce cards.. but I still prefer CoolBits and the stock NVIDIA forceware panel. This is a personal thing though as I also usually dont use 3rd party tools much.

Hello! Thanks for all the Help!! I forgot the idea to upgrade to Vista due compatiblity issues with software that I use a lot (like Nero and McAfee).

About HD Tach, I just run one test this morning and got 124M/s, is that ok? I think it is since the HDD says 150M/s but the benchmark gave me the lowest position on the Chart. Once I get home today I will upload a picture to let you know what I mean.

Here are the pictures:

Those look great for your system! I honestly wouldn't change anything, unless you were considering a third harddrive and RAID configuration.

Realize the P4P800E-Deluxe has all sorts of complicated methods to implement hard disks controlled by the "Enhanced Mode" and [SATA], [PATA] and [SATA+PATA] switches in the BIOS. It also has two SATA controllers (Intel ICH5 and Promise) along with Intel's PATA IDEx2.

EDIT- The flexibility of drive configuration on this motherboard is second to none. I've even considered EBAY'ing my two since I've been watching them USED sell for like $300+ US for people seeking them out!

Intel's ICH5 SATA has a "compatibility" mode that will allow Windows XP to use SATA drives as if they were UDMA5 mode drives. This caps the xfer rate at 133mb/s. As you can see, your drive speed is less than this so you are fine. If you decided to stripe/raid them, only then would you want to consider using the native OS/SATA mode, which would raise the xfer boost to 150mb/s and beyond.

The problem is, if you set your system for native SATA mode, Windows XP install wont be able to see your drives (needs you to make an F6 floppy for the install with the SATA drivers and BIOS switches). You'd also have to re-format/re-install. Your two drives are obtaining an avg read of 50mb/s and 54mb/s (burst is the overall top mem-only/cache burst speed of the drive interface, not your drive's actual sustainable speed). So raising the 133MB/s ceiling to 150mb/s wouldn't really gain anything for you if you assume both drive's combined throughput is about 105mb/s. Definately not worth re-formatting, making an F6 floppy and starting over.

So it's readily apparent any performance concerns you are having are likely completely unrelated to your HD's or HD performance. >120MB/s burst speeds is very, very fast.. >50mb/s sustainable read speeds are also fast.

I'd look into the NVidia coolbits registry and/or Riva Tuner to monitor your 3d card's 3d clocks and temps. It's possible slowdowns may be clock throttling. Looking more into your 3dmark scores- they seem about right, honestly. It will be confusing though since NOT all 7800GS's are the same! The Gainward 7800GS AGP series from Europe.. they have 20 and 24-pipe 7800GS's (pipe-opened 7900 chips slapped on them) whereas most of the US distributors are 16-pipe 7800GS's. You could very well be at the peak fillrate/performance for a 16-pipe GS.