Maxing out Powerstrip

[zakelwe]

Hello All,

I am trying to get a good score with a Rage 128 Pro in Windows 2000 and am present am 3rd in this subcatagory. My XP1600 is at 1815Mhz - that is fine - but I am having problems with the Rage 128 PRO card in that I am maxing out powerstrip at 158/158 or so.


Pilsy put a tweak up using a clever combination of a Rage3d web site tweak and Powerstrip, but I believe this will not work for a lowly Rage based card as rage3D's website says it's Radeon only. I could give it a try I guess.

Rage 128 Tweaker does not give enough range also.

With extra choice I think I could push the envelope on this chip to the dizzy heights of 175/175 before I need to look at a better heatsink than the seemingly silver plastic one that resides atop the vpu at present.

Any thoughts guys ?

Regards

Andy

PS My score is 1216 at present

:banana:

heh heh..

[N8]

Wish I knew a thing about ATi cards :)

Hopefully someone can help ya soon, zakelwe...good luck :D

[zakelwe]

Originally posted by [N8]
Wish I knew a thing about ATi cards :)

Hopefully someone can help ya soon, zakelwe...good luck :D

Thanks N8.

Although to many this will seem a bit of a waste of time with an old card I really enjoyed myself yesterday getting it up from my first attempt of about 700 to 1216.

After all, enjoyment is what it's all about, the edge of the seat feeling when you think it might hang, the many frustrating events when it does and the joy when that number pops up ! You get the same with a Rage Pro, I can assure you :) , it's just that the numbers aren't as high at the end.

Think of it as jousting with donkeys and lolly pop sticks .. rather than stallions and lances.

Also it would be nice to have the top score on one of these junior classes as a goal.

I've got 4 new things to try tonight.

Regards


Andy

[zakelwe]

Well I managed to get fastest Rage 128 PRO overall in Windows 2000 and 2nd at default settings. The overall score was obviously helped by my fast XP1600 compensating for me hitting the max clock in Powerstrip for the vpu.

For some reason the whole of the first page on the overall for all operating systems is WIndows 98 / ME so I assume the Windows 2000 driver is a pile of poo.

Nevertheless, I am determined to get best overall score for all operating systems and top for Windows 2000 at default.

The upcoming Xp2400 should help ;)

Regards

Andy

overall

http://www.aocb77.dsl.pipex.com/overall.jpg

default http://www.aocb77.dsl.pipex.com/default.jpg

[zakelwe]

I have now worked out how to get around the max Powerstrip values on the slider for Rage 128 Pro's and will try it tonight . At present I am running at 161/161 which above the slider max value :D

This is when the outside temperatures are cool and my latest cooling hardware , see pictures, is put into operation.

Regards

Andy

Yes, this is overclocking on a shoestring

http://www.aocb77.dsl.pipex.com/cooling1.jpg
http://www.aocb77.dsl.pipex.com/cooling2.jpg

[Jeff]

I have to say thanks! I haven't ever gotten into 3DMark because I'm basically into computers for non-graphical reasons. But as soon as I read your thread I felt ok enough with running the test with an ATI Rage card. ;)

Here's my best attempt so far...
http://service.madonion.com/compare?2k1=4874578

Boy is this fun. :am: On a different note, I'm proud to say that I am the person who actually came up with the :am: smiley... surprise, surprise. ;)

[zakelwe]

Hi Jeff :)

Nooooooooooooooo ....

I thought I was safe on this site as everyone would have ATI Rage 9700 Pro's or Geforce Ti4600's :eek:

Nice result Jeff ! :toast:

Sadly for me I cannot call your nature score into question ( a la OPPAINTER and DJ ) coz we don't do them ;)

Ok, so I'm going to open the bedroom window even wider tonight, or even open the Window on the right .........

Your "evil reign of terror" at the top will soon be at an end heh heh.

I have a Thermalright SK6 heatsink I am quite prepared to use my angle grinder on if needs be :eek:


Regards

Andy

[Jeff]

Today was the first time I ever tried PowerStrip out and I didn't run into any MHz limits. I downloaded a beta from MajorGeeks here (http://www.majorgeeks.com/article.php?sid=718).

I can push up to 164MHz and then I get some artifacts. But still, it's pretty cool pushing this old, slow card to such heights. ;) I like it! :banana:

I do have an XP2400+ that I could try out but I'm more than happy playing with my AGOIA 1600+.

:toast: And thanks again!

[zakelwe]

Hi Jeff,

Tonight must be the warmest night ever in Britian, for the end of October, sadly, so your score looks like it might be out of reach. I've tweaked this Abit BIOS a bit more and will see how I get on.

My card came to me at 119/119 vpu and RAM clocks rather than the default 125/143 and powerstrip put 40MHz on each to give the 159/159 score whereas normally I would imagine it would give 165/185 for the maximums. Anyhow it now gives a maximum of 214/214 which is obviously more than enough after editing the INI file that it uses.

First run of the night with a 2521 with my original settings so those BIOS tweaks did not do much !

Regards

Andy

[zakelwe]

Originally posted by zakelwe

I have a Thermalright SK6 heatsink I am quite prepared to use my angle grinder on if needs be :eek:


Regards

Andy

While I await my Xp2400 I cut through an Sk6 with a 9 inch angle grinder( in less than 4 seconds ) and modded the Rage 128 Pro.The Sk6 is just the right size to make a nice tidy fit to the vpu and RAM when cut in half.

http://www.aocb77.dsl.pipex.com/phot7.jpg

Regards

Andy

[Jeff]

Now that's cool! :toast:

[zakelwe]

Thanks Jeff!

As you can see I have not beaten your impressive score as I am awaiting a XP2400 before I try again. Before I modded the card I had pushed the vpu/RAM to 162/162 up from 155/155 and got no imporvment in 3dmark. I think this is because the card does not have hardware T@L and so it is limited by the cpu at present. My thinking is that the XP2400 will once again push the limiting factor the card and so then the mod will help.

Anyhow it was fun. Stay tuned for tears or wahoo's on Sunday :D

Regards

Andy