Help with setting up a bencher

[Chicken Patty]

Ok, so I had a bench session about two weeks ago and it was catastrophic. Runs sucked, overclock was crap, forgot a whole bunch of connectors and stuff so it just wasn't my night. I'm trying to give it another shot soon, maybe tomorrow night. Now my question is, what software needs to be installed to bench other than the obvious benchmarks and chipset/gpu drivers etc.

I'm talking like, .net framework stuff like that. I just have a feeling I'm forgetting something I need, my runs were really off!

[HITandRUN]

It all depends on what you want to bench. I mean you cant just install one OS and try benching everything. You need a goal for you benching session and prepare everything for this. That way you wont see any surprises you are not ready for when go cold. :thumbsup:

[Kal-EL]

Give us a rundown of the hardware thats to be benched on the rig.

[Patch]

I have a USB stick with files for new OS's.

Brief summary of what's on it:
AM3 (with patch), 01, 03, 05, 06, Vantage
Microsoft.net framework 2.0 (needed on a lot of stripped OS's to run 06)
CPU tweaker
Rivatuner
Afterburner (several different versions for different cards)
pifast, superpi, wprime
NVIDIA drivers (a number of them, depending on what cards I'm currently using)
Catalyst Control Center (multiple versions for different 32 and 64 OS's)
CPUZ
GPUZ
Eleet, Precision
SetFSB
ImageBurn

And a bunch of random other things that I haven't yet used, but want handy when I do. Like OCXspitweaker.

[Chicken Patty]

Well, I'm going to be doing a bit of everything.

Since I now am running tri channel as opposed to before when I had a dead RAM slot, I want to try and set a new personal best in wprime. But I also have some 5770's and a 2900xt to bench. The only operating systems I have is W7, and XP. I have both, 32 and 64 bit available for each.

[Neuromancer]

Dont forget Faststone capture 5.3 for grabbing screenshots :)

I also have some monitoring/stress software in my benching folder Prime 95 and 64 coretemp, AOD, hwmonitor and rivatuner (with patches for certain video cards) for brand new archs I am trying to learn about.

[Chicken Patty]

Dont forget Faststone capture 5.3 for grabbing screenshots :)

I also have some monitoring/stress software in my benching folder Prime 95 and 64 coretemp, AOD, hwmonitor and rivatuner (with patches for certain video cards) for brand new archs I am trying to learn about.
I got something for screenies already :) Looks like I am really not missing anything, guess I'll have to give it another crack at it.

[Witchdoctor]

Load it up, and let it rip bro ....

See what you get, then start building on those results ........... :thumbsup:

[Chicken Patty]

Load it up, and let it rip bro ....

See what you get, then start building on those results ........... :thumbsup:
:toast: I'll give it a shot.

[Chicken Patty]

uggggh, this is so frustrating. Matching clocks, and i'm about .4 seconds off my best in wprime. WTF is going on? The only difference is that the only spare HDD i have to load up a bench ready OS is a 1tb HDD, could that be it? I really need to invest in a SSD for my bencher :(

[FACE]

Yeah, it is very possible. Those 1tb drives are slower than smaller drives. :thumbdown:

[Chicken Patty]

Yeah, it is very possible. Those 1tb drives are slower than smaller drives. :thumbdown:
Dammit.

Well I gave my CPU VTT voltage a bump and it dropped my runs .2-.3 so maybe something is just set off.

[FACE]

How big is the partition you are benching on? I always install my 2d bench partitions first, as they are then held to the center of the drive. Keep the partitions under 50gb and you should pick some speed back up there as well. :thumbsup:

Don't forget to defrag a lot.

http://mydefrag.com

[Chicken Patty]

How big is the partition you are benching on? I always install my 2d bench partitions first, as they are then held to the center of the drive. Keep the partitions under 50gb and you should pick some speed back up there as well. :thumbsup:

Don't forget to defrag a lot.

http://mydefrag.com
haven't tried defragging. My partition is just one, 900+ whatever the size is lol

Right now my runs tseem to be on par, a tad slower, but I also got some new RAM since last time so I didn't notice and my timings were super loose. now the issue is I can't go over 4.6 GHz. I used to do that with my eyes closed!

[Chicken Patty]

minimal boints, but at least it's a start. I had not benched in a couple of months. Hopefully soon I'll get a SSD for the bench rig with some crazy fans so that I can use the PSU that I believe it was hit and run sent me. Then I'll expect better numbers. For now, not bad. Still on my quest to hit 30k in 06. what will it take????
http://img.techpowerup.org/100530/Capture099.jpg

[FACE]

Dude, that is sick-ass on air. :thumbsup:

My air clocks can't come quite to that w/out a/c help. Good stuff man.

[Chicken Patty]

Thanks dude. my goal was to hit 28k, but I can't get frustrated if the conditions are not right. First off I had my main rig crunching at 100% and folding at 100%. That added heat plus it was 101ºF today. With cooler ambients and a better HDD I'm sure I would have had much better results. I usually bench 3d at 4620 MHz, as you see I was at 4545MHz or something like that. In 3dmark 06 that could have been the 300 points difference between hitting 28k and not.

[Splave]

nice work CP :) 4.6ghz is amazing not on cold.

[Chicken Patty]

nice work CP :) 4.6ghz is amazing not on cold.
Thanks splave :toast:

4734 MHz is the most I've gotten out of this puppy without HTT for a super pi run

http://img.techpowerup.org/100602/Capture106653.jpg

[Chicken Patty]

Decided to do some AMD 2D benching on a Xiggy S1283 Cooler. THis is a closed case, one fan only daily rig.

So far I'm at 4080 MHz, 16.988 in super pi. Max temp 36ºc :D Screenies shortly, still going for more :toast:

[Chicken Patty]

Good for top 20 on air. This is a closed case setup, not bad at all with only one fan pulling.

http://img.techpowerup.org/100604/Capture128.jpg (javascript:SelectAndCopy('vbblink'))

[FACE]

Good scores CP... :thumbsup:

Man... I gotta get back to benching soon!

[Chicken Patty]

Thanks bro. I can't wait for my Crosshair IV and my X6 to arrive. I'll be slapping that on the tech station first and benching that, see how it does.

[Chicken Patty]

s**t, just noticed I have no memory tab, I have two CPU tabs. That's not gonna be valid on the BOT :(

[FACE]

I have done that sooooo many times. You should be able to hit those marks again... maybe even beat them. :thumbsup:

[Chicken Patty]

I have done that sooooo many times. You should be able to hit those marks again... maybe even beat them. :thumbsup:
One thing about having a unlocked multi, gott love the ease of overclocking.

boot at 3.9 Ghz. Set voltage to 1.55v, raise multi to equal 4.2 GHz, run mark :D

I'll give that another shot when the new stuff gets here, I wanna sit this puppy down on the tech bench and let the fans rip, got a feeling it has more left. I'll try this CPU in both boards see how it does :) I also need to give this board the latest BIOS too, it's using a BIOS update from last year, I think we have had a few this year already, especially since the release of the X6.

[Chicken Patty]

dammit, I have my first card ever which is a 2900xt dusted and ready for benching, now I get no display :( 2nd time it displayed, but drivers didn't want to install. I restarted and now no display again. Any ideas?

[FACE]

How long has it been since the card was run last?

Might have to give it a little heat love. :ohcrap:

[Chicken Patty]

How long has it been since the card was run last?

Might have to give it a little heat love. :ohcrap:
like four months or so, and it worked fine