In the first fi rst of a new series
we ask a record-breaking
overclocker to tell us how to
get the best scores in a major
benchmark. This month pro
tells how to get the best from
3DMark 01.
Which version of the benchmark should you use?
3DMark 2001 SE
What’s the best thing about this record? It takes a lot of
dedication, effort and skill. 01 is not the type of record you
can take just by having the best hardware or best cooling;
you need to understand every test in individually.
What’s the worst thing about this record? The time it
consumes! I could easily spend a full day trying to get the
best score out of my system, then come back the next day
and do the same.
What are the most important components and settings to
over clock? All system components should be overclocked.
The most important are the CPU speed and GPU core, but
you must look at system memory and GPU memory as well
or your score will be sloppy. The performance level of your
CPU is really critical too.
Which processor is best and why? Core 2 Duo E8600 at the
moment because the extra raw MHz makes it outperform
i7 and Phenom II. i7 also suffers from a much lower frame
rate in the Nature test which really hurts the overall score.
Which motherboard chipset(s) is best and why? Arguably
it’s Intel’s X48 and P45 for the single card world record.
Most users are running X48 with DDR3 RAM but,
depending on the speed, memory ratio and memory
timings, a P45 can be quicker. For the multi card world
record, consider Nvidia’s 790i or X48 again (depending on
what brand of graphics card you are running) while bearing
in mind the limitations of the X48 chipset. For your best
chance at both, using one board, get an X48.
Which graphics cards are best? For single card I would
defi nitely run Nvidia’s GTX 295. This card holds the world
record and all surrounding top spots. For multi card, a
record-breaking pair of Nvidia GTX 280s is followed closely
by ATi 4870s. Be certain to pair Nvidia cards with Nvidia
motherboards and ATi cards with Intel motherboards.
What hardware should you avoid? Core i7 and AMD
platforms are defi antly a no no. Use micron memory,
unless your Elpidas or Samsungs get exceptional
performance on your chipset.
CPU settings We are looking for a high FSB as most tests
gain nicely from it especially lobbies and dragos. I would
advise against disabling cores, once you go to one core
you can see performance loss in 01. The only time I’d use
single core is if you get signifi cant extra MHz from the CPU
by doing so.
RAM settings RAM is dependent on your platform. For 790i
you’ll probably push your RAM clocks fairly high and your
primary timings might be slightly looser to accommodate
this. On X48 you need to keep a fairly-tight timing package:
your primaries would be tight CAS 7, secondaries also very
tight with a performance level of maybe 9 or 10. On P45
you’ll be looking for super-tight timings with a 1:1 RAM
ratio. Anything other than CAS 4 is not going to cut it, and
all your sub timings need to support this.
Other BIOS settings Always disable anything you will
not need during your benchmarks (ethernet ports,
14 WWW.THEOVERCLOCKER.COM
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