i have decided to wait a few more month before upgrading my graphics card. so i was thinking of overclocking it. now i did some research and started overclocking the core and memory. from 398 to 450 core and 202 to 243 memory. then i did some benchmarks. pcmark05 (graphics only) but it showed me something odd: CPU 2.2Ghz GPU 398/202 = 1193 marks CPU 2.2Ghz GPU 450/243 = 1331 marks CPU 2.8Ghz GPU 398/202 = 1216 marks CPU 2.8Ghz GPU 450/243 = 1316 marks as u can see i get more marks when my gpu is overclocked and cpu running at stock speeds.. hmm that weird i think. or is it? any advise or well anything will be apreciated thanks ATi Radeon 9600 PRO AMD Athlon 64 3700+ Gigabyte K8NSC-939 1Gb Team Group DDR400 Maxtor 200Gb 450 Watts PSU 4 vents

Are you sure you have a 9600PRO? It's reference specs are GPU @ 400MHz, memory @ 300MHz (DDR600). True ATI cards will adhere to the specs, but cards made by 3rd party manufacturers using ATI chipsets can vary. If your stock memory speed is 200MHz (DDR400), I'd be willing to bet you don't have a *true* ATI card. http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/131 Regardless, I think you're wasting your time. No matter how much you overclock, the gains will be minimal & you're only gonna stress the card. Like I've told you before, you have a solid system with the exception of video...your 3700+ will never live up to it's gaming potential with such a weak card, overclocked ot not. What program are you using to overclock? You should be using ATiTool...it will take all the guess work out of it for you. It has a small window with a spinning cube that measures FPS as it increases the GPU or memory, or both. PCMark will show you numbers, but what do they really mean? Sure higher is better, but was does it translate to when it comes to FPS in games? And one of the benefits of ATiTool is that you can setup different profiles...with a couple of clicks you can load your O/C settings & play a game. You don't need your card overclocked if all you're doing is cruising the internet, so a couple of clicks will bring it back to default settings again. http://www.techpowerup.com/atitool/ Ideally, you should upgrade your card. There are plenty of decent AGP cards out there that will blow away your 9600PRO & you wouldn't have to spend a lot. IMO, the X1600PRO is the best "bang for your buck" in AGP right now.

hmm ok thanks ill set everything to default. and yeah it does seem weird that memory clock at 200 but thats what everything says it is. 256MB should do the trick right? even when im willing to play 1600 x 1200. ofcourse 512 will do better but.. for COD2 which i mainly play 10xx X 7xx is the best resolution to play. you wont lose data or speed. 1600 x 1200 is better looking but not nessesary because the engine runs at 10xx X 7xx aswell. so there is no converting involved. thanks :D ATi Radeon 9600 PRO AMD Athlon 64 3700+ Gigabyte K8NSC-939 1Gb Team Group DDR400 Maxtor 200Gb 450 Watts PSU 4 vents

ooh and i used Radlinker/Radclocker ATi Radeon 9600 PRO AMD Athlon 64 3700+ Gigabyte K8NSC-939 1Gb Team Group DDR400 Maxtor 200Gb 450 Watts PSU 4 vents

"i used Radlinker/Radclocker" Use ATiTool! The link is provided above....download it & try it! "256MB should do the trick right? even when im willing to play 1600 x 1200. ofcourse 512 will do better but.." It depends on the card. 512MB is useless on all but highend cards, but card manufacturers know that most people think more is better, so they take a lower end card, slap on some cheap 512MB memory, then jack up the price. 256MB is plenty for a mid range card & depending on the card, 128MB may even be enough.

okay thanks X1600PRO 256MB it will be then. any advise for the manufacturer to go with? like Club3D or Sapphire? also i see most X1600PRO's come with DDR-II does that make a big difference?? thanks ATi Radeon 9600 PRO AMD Athlon 64 3700+ Gigabyte K8NSC-939 1Gb Team Group DDR400 Maxtor 200Gb 450 Watts PSU 4 vents

Sapphire! They're probably the top manufacturer of ATI based cards (other than ATI). I forgot where you're from but I don't think it's the USA? But if you are, you have two more days to cash in on this deal before the rebate expires: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102666