3dmark tweaking guide

[mackanz]

3Dmark 2001 Guide by Mackanz

Hi all tweakers!

I thought I could contribute with some experiences around the secrets of tweaking the system to the max for benchmarking.
I know that memory bandwidth is a must with this benchmarking program, but with a bad tweaked system, it really doesn’t matter how many GHZ and flops you got.
I am no guru when it comes to Microsoft program but I have tried all kinds of tweaks and combos now and I think I have found what works best for me and what I think will cover the basics for a 3dmark setup.
I think it is better to say that I have a AMD rig and some parts of this guide does not include an Intel setup as that system uses another software. (4 in 1)
First of all Win2K professional is a must, no other OS can provide speed and stability as Win2K.
Whether you decide to change cluster size on the HD and partitions, I’ll leave that up to you but I always try to have 32 or 64, not standard 4 which I believe win2K installs as default.
Oh and yes, NTFS is included in that as well.
The best is if you have 2 hd:s as it is the best to put the swap file on the first partition on a 2:nd hd, preferably not on the same channel as the first hd.
Install Win2K and SP2, you don’t have to install SP1 if you have the 2: nd.
Install via 4 in 1 version 4.37 since that version is the fastest right now. Then install DirectX 8.1.
Now proceed with the install of the important small programs such as Winzip or Winace and your internet setup.
Wait with the graphics and the tweak programs such as Rivatuner or Tweak3D.
Instead get a program called Drive Image 2002 and simply make an image of your now cleanly installed Win2K.
I have done too many reinstallations in the last 9 months without finding an image program that worked successfully as Drive Image 2002 does.
When the image is written and safely putted on another partition, proceed with the graphic drivers.
In my and in many others cases, it’s the Detonators.
I have noticed that mixing the 29.40´s with Via 4.37 gives me the best results by far and i have tested almost all other combos such as 4.39 and the newest detonators, but only to find that this combo is the best.
Defrag the HD as often as you can, all systems like that.
I find that the swap file is fastest if I set it to min 480 and max 480 with 256 of ram.
Don’t touch anything in the detonator properties, let Rivatuner handle that.
Uninstall all unnecessary programs in windows.
Find a file called sysoc.inf and delete the “hide� section in the lines where programs that you want to uninstall is. Leave the commas (,,).
Then go to install/uninstall windows programs and uninstall the stuff that you don’t need.
Run regedit and go to: HKLM/system/currentcontrolset/control/session manager/memory management and set the disableexecutivepaging(This has caused bootproblems for some members, be aware) to =1, Largesystemcache=1(this has also caused problems for some members, be aware), IOpagelocklimit=16384 in decimal, Secondleveldatacache=256 or the same as your L2 cache size in decimal.
Reboot and run regedit again and go to HKLM and turn off the fileprotection:
Software/Microsoft/windowsNT/currentversion/winlogon and change the value of SFCDisable to REG_DWORD “ffffff9d�.
Reboot windows and turn off OS2 and POSIX servers by finding and delete following files: OS2.exe, OS2SRV.exe, PSXSS.exe, OS2SS.exe and POSIX.exe.
In system.ini , add the following line under 386enh: ConservativeSwapfileUsage=1
Before hitting the start bench button in 3dmark, change the priority of the program to realtime in the task manager.

This is just a few tweaks that I have found all over Internet and I have tried them all.
There are probably a lot more to do but I shouldn’t write about things that I haven’t tried myself. I leave the Rivatuner guide up to MrIcee as I think he is far superior in that program than us other.
Some warning stuff though: This guide is NOT for a normal daily use partition and i strongly recommend backups and such before doing this and off course..i will not be responsible for any damage, this is totally up to you. I would vever got a 3dmark such as my 13200k+ without doing all this and tweaking Rivatuner, and just to be sure, i reinstalled the image and did this all again and i got the same points.

Happy benching!!

Thanks to mbrock for letting me know of some problems that this guide may cause.
It seems after some testing that the above warnings about the disableexecutivepaging and Largesystemcache problems is caused when combining theese settings with running Cacheman. At least that is what happened to me.

Mac

[damn1]

VIA Raid Perf Patch should be installed if you use RAID or SCSI on 8233, 8233a, or 8233c. I think it's up to version 1.05 now

[Marci]

someone make this sticky....

[Paul.K]

We need an admin in here.....

[DDTUNG]

Done.

DDTUNG

[2xD]

Don't know if you know it (chance is that you do ), but at the D3D settings at the Dislay Properties, there this nice selectbox, allowing to choose for "best quality" to "best performance".
Use the latter and see your nature scores rise up

(or is this cheating?)

[DisposableHero]

i set it to best performance from teh box just being blank... didnt seem to help at all

[mackanz]

It is blank because when using Rivatuner, you use much greater LOD than available through the driver.
When using the driver at "for performance" that is around -1 or -2 in the LOD in Rivatuner.
For 3dmark, that is way to much detail.
In other words:

Stay away from the driver details if you are using the Rivatuner and the LOD tweak within it.

Mac

[Gamer]

This could help the people with Win 98 or Me OS

First of all I want to say that the following tweaks are a composite of a lot of dedicated overclockers tweaks …bye NO means are they all my original ideas ! Over the years I have compiled a fairly large database of clockers that I respect and mix and match THEIR ideas to come up with this guide. I scour the various overclocking forums to pick up information and listen in on various ideas and try them out for myself. Some but not all of the guys whose ideas went into this guide are as follows, Macci, Gibbo, Digital Jesus, Chromozone, Mr Natural, Green Beret, the chillblast Borg and a lot more if I left you out I am sorry…but I do thank all for their input and help over the years.

Following OS tweaks are for Windows 98se and Me and Nvidea Cards.

First and foremost know your system, you should have a clean fresh install of your os, and all the latest drivers, Via 4 in 1, Direct X 8.1. Fresh clean install of all VGA drivers. Check out the system and make sure all is well , then Defrag.

Run a baseline benchmark and publish it for future reference.

Set typical role of computer to NETWORK SERVER.

Set Virtual memory to ½ of your system memory minimum

Set maximum to 2 times your system memory

Install Cacheman utility, Turn on “conservative file swap usage�

On the cache tab use the following values:
32MB:
Min: 6144
Max: 6144

64MB:
Min: 12288
Max: 12288

128MB:
Min: 25600
Max: 25600

256MB:
Min: 51200
Max: 51200


Open up system .inf file I notepad and add the following line under the {386EnH} section,ConservativeSwapfileUsage=1

Using notepad again, edit your config.sys file: Enter REM in front of all lines/entries.
Now enter [b] Stacks=0,0 on a new line
Open up Autoexec.bat file and add REM in front of every line.
Now go to START, select RUN, and type msconfig, go to startup tab and click on, Untick all the boxes except explorer and systray.

Right click my computer, select Trouble Shooting and disable System Restore.
Disable power savings in windows
Disable System Scheduler
Disable features in display properties to enhance image quality : like “show icons using all possible colors.
Have very few icons on desktop


Run clean disk
Run scan disk
Run defrag disk


Install RivaTuner or NVMAX…the following tweaks are for RivaTuner.

Open up RivaTuner: Select the tab that says Graphics card click on this.
Click on enable hardware overclocking…move up by 10 and test and apply (ex 220/460 stock go 230/470) now run a second benchmark to make sure everthing is ok, score will increase.

In RivaTuner Under Power Users Section enable mipmaps

In RivaTuner under DirectX, under Textures,set amount of RAM for PCI textures to 0
Enable 8-bit palettized textures.
Set Degree of anistrophy to “force level 0 (off use nearest point)
Disable Vsync
Enable Side band addressing
Set Lod Bias Range to 15
Then go into DirectX section and set the following values.
Car Chase – 10.0
Dragothic – 12.0
Lobby – 4.0
Nature – 3.1
Under Display set resolution at madonion default of 1024x768x32
Change refresh rate to 60hz

Run scan disk
Run Defrag

Run another benchmark score will increase

Shutdown , restart go into Bios and set your memory timings

Cas2-2-2
4 Way Bank Interweave
1t Command rate
Enable fast writes &
Side Band addressing
Note real power users KNOW their Bio’s setting better than Motherboard manufacturer's
They follow forums for latest issues and Bio’s flashes and know their Bio’s inside out and try all types of Very aggressive memory settings for that you have to research your motherboards strengths and weakness on various overclocking forums and YOU must have high quality ram and cooling.

The next tweak is to raise your FSB up as high as possible and remain stable it has been my experience that a higher FSB raises scores and FPS better than anything with exception of overclocking Graphics card… In other words 10 x 150fsb is faster than 11.5 x 130fsb even though they both = 1500 Mhz

Once you find out where your fsb is maxed out and stable go back and run another benchmark. Your score will increase, now go back and overclock your card in small increments and keep running benchmarks , your scores will keep increasing …until you start getting a load of artifacts back it down and there you are. Can you go faster still? YES with better graphiccard cooling,ram cooling and of course cpu cooling …but that’s for next time :-)

Now the disclaimer you do all the above Tweaks and tips at your own risk , No one is LIABLE but YOU…. I know other people who benchmark DON’T do things in this order and don’t defrag etc as much as I do but this method works for me…….. take care and enjoy………Bulldog

[CrawlingEye]

Trying a few of the tweaks now. I'll bench and post results after I'm back from class.

[shray]

Just a little tip for win xp users, try turning on 3dmark, then pressing ctl-alt-del and going to the processes and finding it, right clicking it, and changing priority to REAL TIME.

Worx for me increasing my score by 50 somethings points.

[BNN]

Can someone help with some LOD settings for the different tests with GF3?

[X Men SS]

I'm not 100% sure these are for GF3 but you can try them :

Car Chase - 10.0
Dragothic - 12.0
Lobby - 4.0
Nature - 3.1

[BNN]

Originally posted by X Men SS
I'm not 100% sure these are for GF3 but you can try them :

Car Chase - 10.0
Dragothic - 12.0
Lobby - 4.0
Nature - 3.1

Allready tried them but the score was lower than with fixed LOD 4. But with Ti 4600 these settings worked great.

[Kunaak]

wow dude your really hardcore...
I tried a few of the things that I could easily understand and got an easy 400 over my average.

the one that seemed to help me the most was 2 things, one I found in another post her about 20 minutes ago, but thats specifc to my motherboard.
the other that was helpful was setting the priority level.

[DuraN]

I have heard people talking about that running for example nature first, then drago, then car and so on, or something like that

What is the best order to run the different tests ?

[KingInge2000]

This guide is about 6 month old!
Are there any new tweaks and drivecombinations which work better?
Is W2K still the No 1 choice 4 AMD user?

[DuraN]

Win2k is still the OS for AMD users, yes. The driver combo that seem to give the best performance now is Det 40.52+VIA 4.45(or 4.43+4.40 AGP driver).

[Pimp!]

k im a bit confused, i looked through riva tuner, but... how do you set certain settings to certain bits of 3dmark??

im just dumfounded ;p

[FishaOfMen]

For most NVidia cards, 40.52 is best in Win2k. For the GF3 Ti200, however, 40.72 is the way to go.

[ALT-F13]

Ok. another 3 months passed. seems to me that it's time to update this guide. Sum questions that wasn't covered b4 and i think alotta people will find it pretty useful:

1. WHAT ABOUT ATI's CARDS? Best drivers, best OS? What do you think 'bout Soft9800 script?
2. Any tips for Intel users?
3. Is 40.52 still king of the hill? How 'bout 42.xx & 43.xx?
4. Alternative chipsets tips are welcome: nVidia, SiS (actually 655 for me is a good choice)...
5. And the biggest question: SPECIFIC TIPS FOR 3DMARK03!!! There are just a few over Net

All 5 questions a poorly covered in guides and tips that i've found (and i found plenty of 'em).

Now i'm working on russian guide for 3DMark2001 best performance, that's why i digged alotta forums and tweaking guides. Hope to translate it in English for your pleasure, 'cos that's a tons of small tips i've heard from different people (maybe about 50 something different threads in forums and guide used) and they are not united in one consolidated guide. After i finish that guide i will start digging for 3DM03 info...

[mackanz]

I have no problems if you guys delete this thread. Tech has grown a bit since this.

Mac

[IFMU]

I dont think it should be deleted, it is still helpful to some I am sure.
Now if others think so as well, I could see it being unstuck, but not deleted.

Alas, I will leave that to the 3DMark Mods to decide, Ill stay outta that.

[charlie]

Alt F13,
I'm sure everybody would like to see a fresh compilation of 3d tips...

[ALT-F13]

Ok, i'll translate it in english... I go for vacation next week and there i'll work on new guide. It'll be aimed on R9x00 & FX5900 probably. Too bad that radeons are so boring in tweaking.