Ok, this is my own guide on what to set for ATI driver while benchmarking. Everything here is what i set when running 3dmark01/03/05. Hope it can help you guys when running benchmark. Everything here is done on Catalyst Driver.

First, install the drivers from ati here: www.ati.com
Now, before benchmarking, set to the settings as like below:

1) AA/AF set to "Let the applications decide"
2) Catalyst AI set to "Advanced"
3) Mipmap detail level set to "High performance"'





@ Smartgart inside the ATI Catalyst Control, make sure your AGP speed is "8x".
The rest of the settings i just leave it untouch.



ATI driver have a feature call "Overdrive". Its a OC tool/temp sensor from ATI.
Overdrive is ONLY activated if you are using the following cards:
9600XT/9800XT/X800XT/X800XTPE/X850XT/X850XTPE/X1800XL/X1800XT
Beside this, the rest of the ati cards doesnt support overdrive



I dun overclock with it, i dun feel it good, thats why i use Atitools.

The above are the settings i set during benchmarking.
These are the points to take note of:

1) If you are using nvidia, use driver cleaners to remove the nvidia driver before installing the ati driver.

2) You can install ati newer driver over the old ati driver, ati installer will delete the old files.

3) Check out online to see how much your card should get.

4) CPU/RAM timing dun really play a part much in 3dmark05, but 03 and 01 yes, esp 01, its a sensitive benchmark when every single change will affect the scores.

5) Make sure your card is cool during benchmarking. Idle time, u can set the fan speed to low, but during benchmark, its best to set the fan speed to max. Speed control can be done using 3rd party software like Atitools or ATI tray tools. Both are diff do take note.

6) Change to a better cooler if you feel that the stock hs cant give high scores and runs hot.

7) If there is a power molex on your card, pls CONNECT it!

8) Disable VPU recovery, sometime, it will cause your card to hang, even tot it can still go higher.

9) To play safe, disable any background programs running like MSN, BT downloading, anti-virus, anyspyware. Or you can try gongkia2000 way:Simply go to "run", type msconfig, then select diagnostic startup and restat. It will only boot with necessary drivers/programs. Much cleaner. Assured lower cpu usage.

can u tell us what graphics card are u using...?
and whats ur benchmark score after u've applied the settings above??

personally, i dont like ati drivers cause it slows down my startup time... and it utilises more background memory than omega drivers.

edit : typo error

This post has been edited by swhung: May 1 2006, 01:10 AM

i am using Radeon X800 XT Platinum Edition

Why set AA and AF to application preference? Why not force it down? Any reasons at all?

Some apps actually use a min of AF (Aquamark sets 4x AF by default) so by forcing it down say to 2X, you actually can get marginally better results.

Are you ragnarok95 from VR-Zone forum. your "own" guide looks exactly like THIS one from VR-Zone.

As the shroud making guide.All the guides this guy post is from VR.
Atleast give credit to the orriginal guider by including the orriginal location link.

mayb ragnarok95 is come from butterworth lor