A7N266-VM 3DMarks??

[Touhey]

I'm getting 1745 with 3DMark2001se. Me thinks this may be a bit low for my system. Has anyone tested this mb using the nVidia GF2mx ???? Any suggestions ???

[Todd a]

What memory you got? Is it two sticks set up in dual channel mode. The integrated graphics really need this dual channel memory to provide enough memory bandwidth for the system and graphics boh. If you are using just one stick or you are using two sticks but you do not have the memory in the right slots, then you will get pretty bad performance (and basically defeat the purpose of this nice motherboard). I'm guessing you should be scoring closer to 3000 or more. I used to score about 1800 with my Duron 900 and Voodoo3.

The other thing could be the drivers. Also make sure things like texture sharpening (if avaluable with the drivers you use), V-Sync, Anti-Alasing, and Anistopic Filter are all turned off. Make sure you are using the latest drivers.

Memory timings in the system BIOS can effect the scores a bit, but can also make the system unstable. ASUS usually makes good boards so the stability will be up to the memory. Also Durons use a 100Mhz bus (200Mhz DDR). I'm not sure, but I think the nForce chipsets use sincrinous memory only. That means the memory is only running at 200Mhz instread of 266Mhz. If you are only using single channel then you are splitting the memory between the system and graphics with 200Mhz memory. On a dual channel memory with an Athlon running a 133/266Mhz bus you would have 533Mhz of memory bandwidth to split (2.66 times the memory bandwidth). My Duron uses 112 Mhz bus (x8) and runs the memory at host+PCI (for 149MHz) with max timings. My Voodoo3 2000 is running at 166Mhz (core and memory) with a 128 bit wide memory bus (twice as wide as system memory). That gives my system 482MHz worth of memory bandwidth for the system and graphics together, but the core of the voodoo3 is not as advanced as the GeForce2 MX (being a full generation or more behind) and has half the pixel pipelines.

All said and done you are still scoring about double most integrated graphics solutions thanks to what the nForce chipset can do. If the board supports AthlonXPs, I'd seriously consider dropping one in. The AthlonXP 1600 runs just over $50 on NewEgg and will increase your bus speed to 266Mhz. These two things will boost your system speed considerably with this motherboard. You might need a BIOS update to do this and your memory needs to run at 266Mhz (PC2100), but it should work.

[DuronClocker]

Score sounds a bit low, but not that bad. Actually, I was getting 2200 3dmarks or so with my Intel i845G, which is on par with my old TNT2 SuperUltra (nonUltra, but clocked at 160/225). I figure a regular GF2MX could probably pull 2400 3dmarks or so. For onboard graphics, that 1800 doesn't sound low, but I guess it should be beating my old Intel scores since the nForce is supposedly king of the ring of onboard graphics..

[dfgsd]

the vm board uses the nforce 220 chipset. there fore it has no dual channel memory. they sound a little low. but i wouldn't expect too much more from it.

[Touhey]

Thanks everyone for the replies. I'm using two sticks of ram ( 2100, 512 each, for 1gig), very latest drivers and bios. I have an old 3DFX 2000 (AGP) board I wanted to try, but the mb has a AGP4 slot that will not accept AGP1.
I do have the option of using a outboard AGP4 graphics card. Any opinions what AGP4 card gives best buy for the buck in 3d and is above average for 2d photography? I really appreciate your help.

[AMD Guy]

I have this motherboard, but not in front of me now to test. Your score sounds about equal to what I remember. Check this link out and you will see that the 220 chipset graphics are not that great. Still, for integrated video, they are very nice.

http://www.anandtech.com/chipsets/showdoc.html?i=1535&p=12

[AMD Guy]

Check out this link!!! Makes me feel proud to have bought this motherboard!!

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=6554

[Todd a]

Originally posted by dfgsd
the vm board uses the nforce 220 chipset. there fore it has no dual channel memory. they sound a little low. but i wouldn't expect too much more from it.

Didn't notice that one. Yup that would do it. What kind of money you want to spend. A good one for the system would be a GeForce4 MX 440 DDR ($50), Radeon 9000Pro ($85), GeForce4 Ti4200 ($120), Radeon 9500Pro (likely around $175 street price very soon), or Radion 9700Pro ($350). All will work fine, but I would get an AthlonXP 2000+ and GeForce4 Ti4200 (64MB version). You might find both for under $200 total if you look around (pricewatch is a good place to look around). If you are not going to replace your CPU, then I would just get the Geforce4 MX 440 DDR (do not get the SE version with SDRAM).

[Marvt74]

also it may help if you tell us your cpu speed or is it just me being VERY blind?

[Touhey]

Sorry about that. My cpu is 1700+ running around 1.45ghz.
SiSoft says: Internal video slows things down a bit. Hopefully, I have done the correct thing: I just ordered a OEM Radion 8500LE
(64ddr) new for $65. Maybe this will speed things up, without having to purchase a new MB.

[Marvt74]

that should bump your score up quite considerably.
that price seems good who is it made buy?

[RoadWarrior]

I just threw one of these Asus systems together a few days ago. My 3dmark was 1685, or something close to that. My sandra memory benches were only about 1000 as well. Those scores are with a 1.2Ghz Athlon, and a single 256MB stick of Crucial PC2100 DDR.

I remember getting close to 2500 with a V3/3k.

The video isn't a problem for me as this is a dedicated machine for distributed computing, but that memory score is piss-poor for DDR.

I recently had an experience with a GF3 where I was able to boost performance by over 40% just by changing drivers. When I have time I may play that game with this machine and see if I can find a magic combination that works better than what I am getting now.

...I was kind of hoping someone here would have an answer for that...

....Anyone....Beuler...?

[Touhey]

I purchased the Sapphire Radeon 8500LE (64DDR) from "BananaPC.com" ($65+5) Newegg has the same thing for $72 delivered. Hardavenue.com has a great review on the Sapphire Radeon 8500 LE.

[Touhey]

Update! I just installed the new Radion 8500LE 64DDR into my
A7N266-VM MB. Switched off the internal GF2MX graphics, downloaded latest ATI driver, and immediately did benchmark using Mark3D2001. System benchmarks at 7921 1024X768), without any tweaking. The stock internal Nvidia GF2MX would only do 1750. Without a doubt this $70 card is one heck of a buy.
Graphics and 2d look great.