Video Cards

i have 2 main desktop pc's that are almost identical. the only differences are cpu and video cards.

one has an opteron 148 (2.2ghz/1mb L2) and the other is an athlon64 4000+ (2.4 (oc'd to 2.6)/1mb L2). the opteron box has a geforce 8600gts 512 ddr3 and the 4000+ has an ati x1950xtx 512 ddr4.

i just saw benchmarks that say the 1950 should kill the 8600, but even after oveclocking the 1950, i can't get it to even match the 8600. it's very close now, but i can't possibly see how it's supposed to beat it so easily as the benchmarks show - even with the faster cpu. i grabbed the ati tray tools and spent a couple of hours finding the limits for the gpu and memory clocks, even bumped up the voltage on both to make sure i was really hitting the limit.

i was wondering if anyone had any insight as to why my 1950 seemingly isn't performing up to par. i'm getting new mobo/cpu's this week but only one new video card so i want to keep the better of the 2. if there's a way to make the 1950 shine then i'll gladly keep it, but right now it looks like the 8600 is going to stick around.

[edit on 24-2-2008 by an0maly33]

reply to post by an0maly33


It may be because of the benchmarks used.

Did you test the cards with the same benchmarks?


PS: I am a little out of sync with the video card market because I don't have enough money to buy a new computer, but I think that the generic approach still applies.

the point of a benchmark is to test different hardware in the same conditions...yes i used the same benchmark software. =)

i did read somewhere that my cpu may not be powerful enough to let the 1950 run at full capacity. i guess i'll just wait till my new parts come and try both video cards on there.

What benchmark are you using? Run 3DMark 05 on the AMD box, get your number. Then pop the gforce in the AMD box and get your number.

Post the numbers