I built this rig and it runs fine. I can run prime 95 and the Stability Test 5.0 by Jouni Vuorio at the same time w/ good results. I'm OC'ed with the ASUS software which will increase in 5% increments. I'm at 10%. My Gforce is also OC'ed w/ Rivatuner. My tenps are 30-31c on the motherboard and 40-42c at the CPU w/ both tests running. I've run 3DMark 05 my score was 1455. Compared online at 3Dmarks site it seems to me that this rig should do better. Am I missing something? The ASUS software (I'm in the bios) allows for 30% but it won't boot at 15%. How can I OC more? Is my chip maxxed or does the software lack something?
Don't take the scores other people post on the 3DMark site seriously. Most of them are faked just to enlargen their e-peen. Since I stopped working at a computer store I havn't kept my rig very up to date so I havn't even seen the latest 3DMark. I'd say though that you probably got just about all you're going to get out of that machine and any other tweaks you make won't be noticable in games.
Thanks for the feedback Eps. This is my first build and first attempt at overclocking so I can't help but second guess and question my work. Also when I mentioned the temps I shold have mentioned the watercooling! thanks again
If you want more reliable benchmarks, compare your scores to those from reviews on sites like HardOCP and Anandtech for games like F.E.A.R. (or whatever else you may own that includes benchmarks). 3DMark gives such mixed results (and as Eps mentioned, many people modify their scores or systems simply to boost their 3DMark score), so it should be taken as a secondary benchmark. SiSoft Sandra is a good indication of CPU power and it's easy to run. It can be found easily with a Google search.
I notice that you're running all that p5 horsepower through a GF fx6600. That card is only going to get so-so results, even OC'd as there are 8 pipes in it compared to 16 pipes in a 6800 or better. Your vid card is a weak link. Id say you ram and proc are most capable though of performing well.
