Getting lower 3DMark score when overclocking

[Daniel Czajko]

I have a Radeon 9700 Pro. Using powerstrip 3.4, I overclocked the card to
various levels and ran the 3DMark03 build 340 benchmark. The unusual
results that I get are that when overclocking the Core and Memory by +15 MHz
and +15 MHz respectively, I get lower scores than if not overclocking at
all. And if I overclock the card to +20/+20 or +25/+25, I get higher
results than with stock settings (as expected). Does anyone know why the
lower score when overclocking at only +15+15? I tried this several times
over and over, with VPU Recover and without, still with the same unusual
results. Any clues?

 

[Sham B]

this happened to me, and this is what was causing it for me...

Sometimes, I found that powerstrip (or is it the card itself?) doesn't seem
to like certain clock combinations and resets to the defaults (or lower).
When this happens, the screen goes black for a second of so. When I
re-applied the same clock settings, all was okay. I wonder if that is
happening to you?

Check the actual clocks that powerstrip is displaying (Performance Profiles

Configure) after the benchmark when you get odd results. If they are at

the default or lower (sometimes they can even be 'undefined' and the sliders
are all the way down) then you need to reapply the settings and try again.

S

 

[Chocolate]

If you can clock it even slower, maybe you'll turn it into an 9900 or
something?

 

[stu]

I have a Radeon 9700 Pro. Using powerstrip 3.4, I overclocked the card to

various levels and ran the 3DMark03 build 340 benchmark. The unusual
results that I get are that when overclocking the Core and Memory by +15 MHz
and +15 MHz respectively, I get lower scores than if not overclocking at
all. And if I overclock the card to +20/+20 or +25/+25, I get higher
results than with stock settings (as expected). Does anyone know why the
lower score when overclocking at only +15+15? I tried this several times
over and over, with VPU Recover and without, still with the same unusual
results. Any clues?

Your card is too hot and as a result you get lower scores.
Cool the cpu and ram down.

 

[Dodgy]

Your card is too hot and as a result you get lower scores.
Cool the cpu and ram down.

Unless the 9700pro has automatic overheat detection and clock step
down circuitry (like the P4), I don't think you'll find this is true.

Excesses of temperature cause digital noise. In memory this will show
up as image/data corruption. In the processor it results in crashes
and lock ups.

OP: I've found in the past the repeatedly running 3dmark will actually
give a lover and lower score (certainly did with 2001se). I suspect
it's not tidying up very well after itself. I always do a full reboot
before running it.

D0d6y.

 

[Chip]

Unless the 9700pro has automatic overheat detection and clock step
down circuitry (like the P4), I don't think you'll find this is true.

Doesn't sound right, does it.

But it is. I didn't believe it myself, but some months back I also
discovered this to be true: Overclock your card too far and your scores
drop.

Chip.

 

[Dodgy]

Doesn't sound right, does it.

But it is. I didn't believe it myself, but some months back I also
discovered this to be true: Overclock your card too far and your scores
drop.

I can't believe it's due to heat though... More like the on board
oscillators can't make the grade and miss beats.

D0d6y.

 

[Chip]

I can't believe it's due to heat though... More like the on board
oscillators can't make the grade and miss beats.

Maybe. That sounds plausible.

Chip.

 

[Idbbs01]

The unusual

Your card is too hot and as a result you get lower scores.
Cool the cpu and ram down.

Why is it faster at +25 then? Before giving incorrect advise read the entire
message.
Have a nice day!

 

[Nil Einne]

I have a Radeon 9700 Pro. Using powerstrip 3.4, I overclocked the card to
various levels and ran the 3DMark03 build 340 benchmark. The unusual
results that I get are that when overclocking the Core and Memory by +15 MHz
and +15 MHz respectively, I get lower scores than if not overclocking at
all. And if I overclock the card to +20/+20 or +25/+25, I get higher
results than with stock settings (as expected). Does anyone know why the
lower score when overclocking at only +15+15? I tried this several times
over and over, with VPU Recover and without, still with the same unusual
results. Any clues?

Several times but if you just did everything the same, it's not going
to help. For example, did you turn on powerstrip before doing all
benchmarks (Even stock)? If not, this might be affecting it. Did you
always run the +15mhz after doing stock? Again this is might affects
things. What you should do is do turn of comp, and do cold boot after
10 mins and try it at +15mhz then stock. Then turn it off for 10 mins,
do a cold boot and try at stock then +15mhz. Then turn off for 10
mins, cold boot then try only +15 mhz. Then turn off for 10 mins, do
cold boot then only 0 mhz. Then repeat cycle at least once.

Of course, you probably don't need to do it this many times but since
you are already doing it a lot of times, you should try a better way
of doing it.

 

[Nil Einne]

Your card is too hot and as a result you get lower scores.
Cool the cpu and ram down.

Whipeee....... That explains why my processor is slower then other,
wait a minute it's not..... Hmm maybe that explains why my HD is
slower here in hot Malaysia then in winter in NZ wait a minute it
isn't.

Do you have any idea what you're talking about? Heat itself barely (if
at all) affects scores. It might make the card more unstable or more
prone to artifacting though. If the card had some kind of error
correction then maybe or it if cut clock speed when it got too hot....

 

[Nil Einne]

Doesn't sound right, does it.

But it is. I didn't believe it myself, but some months back I also
discovered this to be true: Overclock your card too far and your scores
drop.

It depends what you're talking about. I saw something like this. I
remember once I overclocked to a high level. Things were going very
slow. But there were tons of artifacts all over the screen and other
shit and it crashed not long after that so I didn't really bother
about it. I hightly doubt you'd get lower speed on a stably
overclocked card...........

 

[Daniel Czajko]

Several times but if you just did everything the same, it's not going
to help. For example, did you turn on powerstrip before doing all
benchmarks (Even stock)? If not, this might be affecting it. Did you
always run the +15mhz after doing stock? Again this is might affects
things. What you should do is do turn of comp, and do cold boot after
10 mins and try it at +15mhz then stock. Then turn it off for 10 mins,
do a cold boot and try at stock then +15mhz. Then turn off for 10
mins, cold boot then try only +15 mhz. Then turn off for 10 mins, do
cold boot then only 0 mhz. Then repeat cycle at least once.

Of course, you probably don't need to do it this many times but since
you are already doing it a lot of times, you should try a better way
of doing it.

I'm going to give it a try tonight. I'll probably also try a different
version of PowerStrip, or a different OC utility all together. This issue
is so weird I'm on a mission to figure out what's causing it.

btw, what's another good OC utility besides PowerStrip that I can use?

 

[Daniel Czajko]

Why is it faster at +25 then? Before giving incorrect advise read the entire
message.
Have a nice day!

Exactly what I was going to say

 

[Daniel Czajko]

I checked the PowerStrip after the benchmark, it never indicated that the
Core/mem speed levels were lowered by PowerStrip. But your post still give
me something to go on. I might try a different PowerStrip version or a
different OC utility

thanks

 

[Daniel Czajko]

Your card is too hot and as a result you get lower scores.
Cool the cpu and ram down.

If that was the case why isn't it overheating when I overclock it more than
+15+15? Read my original post for more details on what OC settings I used